Spring has sprung! Which means that the weather is turning warmer, the days are getting longer, and fitting in outdoor activities is a whole lot easier. Spring is a time of renewal, and in the spring of 2014 I’m living my life in full bloom! Now that I’m in the home stretch of my weight loss journey, all the pounds I lose this spring are just like extra petals on a flower, making my life just a bit more beautiful. I want to enjoy each day of this season, soaking in the sunshine, blue skies, and happiness. Sunday weigh-ins will keep me accountable through the weekend, and will give me a positive goal to begin each new week. My Sunday progress updates will be called Super Spring Weigh-Ins.
Week 52 (somewhere along the way, I got off on my count of post-op weeks, but since this week was my 1-year surgiversary, this week is obviously Week 52). This week was busy again (notice a trend?) and because of that, I made sure to fit in early morning workouts so that I’d be able to fit it all in. I made some adjustments to my food plan, and I saw a bit of movement on the scale (sort of).
So, what did the scale show?!
Once again, for the 5th week in a row, my weight is exactly where it’s been – 180 lbs. But, I’ve lost 97 lbs since surgery! I’ve lost a total of 135 pounds from my highest weight!! I have 30 pounds to go to my ultimate goal weight of 150 pounds. I did see movement on the scale this week – it dipped down to 178ish, but it bounced back up after a day of fun yesterday. While I’m frustrated that my weight is still the same, I’m glad I went out with friends yesterday to a baseball game and enjoyed myself. I indulged quite a bit with my food/adult beverage choices, but the great thing about my sleeve is that it helps me keep things in control in terms of portions. Plus, I got in a great calorie burn yesterday, which is exactly what living in maintenance would be – keeping a balance. The thing is, I don’t want to be in maintenance yet – I still have pounds to lose before I’m done.
First of all, let me just say that this is the last week where I won’t see a loss on the scale. It’s time to kick things into high gear and make some changes. Here’s what I’m thinking…
Weigh-In Day Change – For the past year I’ve weighed in on Sundays. I did this for a lot of reasons, the two main ones being that Sunday is the start to a new week and to keep myself accountable through the weekends. Because I was so focused on my weight loss journey, I wanted to make sure that my Sunday morning weigh-ins were as good as they could possibly be, and this meant that I passed up on a lot of social activities because I didn’t want to have to weigh in the next morning after going out. Which worked for me while I was really in my major weight loss phase, but isn’t going to work that well for me as I enter into this next phase of my life. Summer vacation is about to hit, which means a lot more social engagements, not to mention that I joined Match.com again, and I’m hoping this means a lot more dates, too. My point being, I don’t want to skip out on the fun this summer because I’m worried about my Sunday morning weigh-ins. So, I’m changing my weigh-in days to Wednesday. I weigh in everyday anyway, so changing the day I report my weight on this blog doesn’t seem like that big a deal, and will make a huge difference in my social life.
Food – I did well this past week with eliminating some of the snacks that the nutritionist recommended I avoid: nuts and popcorn. Occasionally those snacks are fine, but I was eating them every day, and neither one has enough protein. Nuts have a bit of protein, but are so high in calories and fat that they’re just not a good payoff. Popcorn is low in calories and high in fiber, but has virtually no protein. I’m not going to completely forgo either of these snacks, but they need to be more of a once-in-a-while thing rather than my daily go-to. Instead, I’ve been eating turkey wrapped around string cheese, cottage cheese and veggies, etc. I also changed up my breakfasts a few times, going from protein shakes to Quest bars and Greek yogurt; the variety has been nice. My dinners were always on point, so I kept those the same.
Exercise – I did really well this week with waking up at 4:15am to fit in my workouts, which makes me really proud of myself. I have to say, I love getting my workouts done first thing in the morning, but 4:15 is really early. Which is why I’m so glad that next year I’ll have a first-period prep so that I can go in a bit later some days, and not have to wake up quite so early. But for these last two weeks of school, I’m going to keep up with the early, early morning workouts. Since I like writing my workout plan for the week on Sundays, I’m going to start separating the workout plan posts from my weigh-in posts, beginning today, so look for a separate workout plan post, later today.
Today’s quotes go well together, and I think they’re indicative of my philosophy of weight loss (and life in general). Whatever I set my mind to, I accomplish, and this last phase of my weight loss journey is no different. I have every confidence that I will accomplish all of my goals, including getting to the 170s this week!!
Until Wednesday, my friends. I hope the scale treats you well, and that you have a wonderful week!
Bella on the Beach 