Sack of Potatoes for Sale!!

Week 4...I don't know any week that I actually look forward to weigh in, but this week I seemed to dread it even more than usual.  It wasn't because I did badly during the Super Bowl...actually, I think I handled that pretty well.  I guess I, for some reason, just felt like it was an "off" week.  As I mentioned in my last post, I didn't really feel well on Monday - and Tuesday wasn't a whole lot better.  Overall, when you don't feel well you just want to eat comfort food and not worry about how many points they're worth.  It's not like I wanted pizza, chips, or candy or anything bad like that.  But sometimes you just want to eat whatever is going to make you feel better no matter how good or bad it is for you.  So, I did.  I figured that if it's what my body was honestly telling me it wanted, and really nothing else sounded appetizing, then I shouldn't deprive myself.  I kept things within reason, but didn't really count the points so much.  By Wednesday I was back on track, but still had a long way ahead of me.  I made my usual choices within my points "budget," however I just still felt off on my weight loss.

Friday I had a friend date at Red Lobster, and I actually was really smart about it!  I looked online for a website that calculated the point values for restaurants and looked up the items that I usually choose.  Overall, what I normally got wasn't that bad as far as points...the cheesy biscuits, however, were pretty wicked.  One biscuit was worth FOUR POINTS!!  (for a point of reference, a plain grilled chicken breast is generally worth about three...)  I nearly fainted!  Now, we didn't go to Red Lobster all that often before this journey, but I could easily put away three biscuits and my meal when we would go.  They just taste so good!!!  Anyway, I planned out what I was going to eat for dinner, then had myself a light breakfast and lunch just in case.  I told myself I was allowed to have one cheesy biscuit and my meal.  No drink (other than water or diet coke) and definitely no dessert....don't even get me started on how many points their desserts are worth.  I got a garden salad with balsamic dressing on the side and one of my usual dinners which I had preselected.  Then I did one of the smartest things I've ever done while eating out.  I allowed myself the one biscuit I had planned for...but I waited to eat it until it had gotten a little cold.  It still tasted good, but not nearly as good as when they come out fresh, so I wasn't tempted in the least to have another one!!

The weekend was pretty uneventful, though I did do some baking on Sunday.  I love to bake!  For me, the hard part is not being tempted to eat what you've made, because I genuinely enjoy baking things for other people and not necessarily myself.  The hard part happens WHILE I'm baking.  Got a little cake batter on your finger? Lick it off. Spill some chocolate on your hand? Lick it off. Pretty soon, you've licked yourself away a ton of points.  This was my first time baking sweets since I rejoined Weight Watchers, and I made a serious conscious effort to NOT do that...and it was hard!!  I made an absolute mess out of one of my kitchen towels, and I think I washed my hands more during the time that I was baking than I have in any other whole day.  But, I did it.  And it's the little victories that count.  You can't climb a mountain in one leap...you have to take it one step at a time.  (I totally just made that up!  Though I'm sure someone else has said it before...)

Anyway, the Super Bowl came and went.  Like I said, I did pretty well.  I ate one slice of pizza.  I took some tomato salad that I made and ate that.  I had a few slices of celery that someone else brought, though I passed on the buffalo chicken dip that was meant to go with them.  I did try a very small amount of an onion dip that a friend brought, but overall I was good at staying away from the dippy things.  And my proudest moment...I did not eat any of the extremely delicious looking candied bacon.  It sure did its best to call my name, but I crunched out the noise with my celery stick.

Despite making some pretty good choices this week, Monday I just still wasn't feeling it.  So I was a bit worried about weigh in, and decided to eat light that day.  And, I did something I don't think I've ever done before.  Instead of going to eat lunch with my coworker, I went home and got in a quick workout.  WHAT?!?!  WHO AM I??  Passing up food to work out??  Don't get me wrong, I did eat something for lunch, but it was just a quick bite I ate at my desk after I got back to the office.  When I first started this journey/blog, one of my supervisors suggested going for a walk during my lunch hour.  I distinctly remember saying to myself..."chyeah right, I like my food too much to pass it up for a walk."  Somehow in four short weeks, I've already changed that mentality.  Granted, I'm not making a regular habit of it...I still like my lunchtime - and I like using it to socialize with people - but, just maybe it isn't quite so bad to give it up once in a while to get in an extra workout.  Then again, I haven't mentioned the best part yet.  I BOUGHT A WII!!  Frankly, I've been wanting to buy one for, oh, at least a year now, but I finally let myself do it.  I bought it earlier in the week, I believe Tuesday evening.  I had had the intention of getting the Wii Zumba with it, but they didn't have it at the store when I went to get it.  So, I got Just Dance 3 and Dance on Broadway instead...how perfect is that?!?!  Dancing game + Broadway Music = MAJOR SUCCESS!!  Anywho, I've been playing one of the two games almost every day since I bought it.  Such a great way to get in some extra movement.  The dances are kind of great and they are so much fun!  It's also so much easier to get people to do it with you!  If you call up a friend and say, "hey, wanna do a workout dvd with me??"  and they're going to tell you that you're crazy.  BUT...if you call up a friend and say, "hey, wanna play some Just Dance with me??"  They'll be at your place in a heartbeat!!

Back to my Monday, though.  So I'm fretting about weigh-in as usual, though maybe worse this time.  I had convinced myself that if I lost anything it would only be a little bit, but I probably didn't lose any.  Then I started to think about what I would say on my blog if that happened.  And what would my faithful readers think if I had a bad week?  Then I realized - they would totally be okay with it...and I would be okay too.  Sometimes, you will have bad weeks.  Sometimes, your body needs to just adjust to what it's going through.  Sometimes, your body has a mind of its own.  So, I was on my way to my meeting and I was debating on whether or not I would stay because I had to be back on campus by 6:45 for a work thing and my meeting runs from 6-6:30 and I still hadn't even had dinner.  I told myself that since I didn't stay for the meeting last week when I was sick, I really needed to stay this time.  However, I would sit in the back and leave a few minutes early so that I could grab food and be back on campus in time for my event.  I had just pulled in to the parking lot when I got a text from one of my friends wishing me luck on my weigh in and she was just so confident that I was going to hit my ten pounds.  I told her thanks but to not get her hopes up because I wasn't feeling it.  She said, "Ooo ok.  Well fingers and toes are still crossed.  I believe!"  That one little phrase made me feel so much better.  Even if I didn't lose anything, or even gained a little back, I knew that I had people in my corner who would root me on and help me dust myself off and start right back in again.  So I went in, went to the bathroom one last time (yes, I make sure that I pee right before I weigh in...every little bit helps!!), and went out to the scale in my shorts and tank top.  The leader of my session was weighing me in that day and she asked how my week went.  I said, "Eh - it was just okay,"  but instead of asking me what was wrong, or what was hard about my week, she asked me what was easiest.  I was totally thrown off guard.  But, it really helped that she wanted to focus on the positive part of my week and not the negative.  In a way, it really helped me turn my attitude about the week around no matter how the scale ended up.  So, once she was ready for me I stepped on the scale to face the music.  Then she said, "looks like you're down another 1.6 pounds - guess your week wasn't so bad after all!"  I was shocked!  Not only had I lost, but I'd lost another pound and a half AND went over my first ten pounds!!  I decided right then and there that I was staying until the end of the meeting because I wanted to get my second five pound star.  The meeting was good as usual, I got my star, and then I RAN out the door!  Thankfully, there is a Subway right next door to the center, so I grabbed a quick turkey sandwich and was only a couple minutes late...but it was a couple minutes well worth it.  Just as a visual to help you all understand how excited I am about this - 10 pounds is a large sack of potatoes.  The next time you're at the grocery store, I dare you to pick up a 10lb bag of potatoes and literally carry it around the store.  See how long it takes for you to get tired of it, then realize that I have just taken that much weight off of my body.

Initial weight: 257.2
Week 4: -1.6lbs
Total weight loss: -10.8 lbs
Current weight: 246.4

OH...and I want to tell you all about my new in"cent"ive program!!  I totally came up with this on my own (though with a small idea from my weekly WW pamphlet).  So, the meeting this week was about tracking (writing down everything you eat and how many points you've used)...and frankly, I kind of suck at it.  I'm usually good with breakfast, lunch, and snacks...but I get to dinner and I make sure that my points don't go over, but I really suck at actually tracking my dinner every day.  Well, in the weekly pamphlet, there was a woman who said she sticks a dollar in a jar every day that she tracks the whole day.  Then, she uses that money to buy herself new WW stuff like their snacks, a food scale, a new calculator, a cookbook, etc.  That's not so much an incentive for me because I feel like if it's something that I really should have I'm going to get it and not wait until I've tracked long enough to be able to afford it.  So I came up with my own in"cent"ive program...with the emphasis on the "cent" since it deals with money.  I am going to try the dollar for every day that I actually track, but I'm going to go a step further and also put in money for what I lose every week.  One pound = one dollar.  So, since I lost 1.6 pounds this week, I now owe my jar (or whatever I decide to use) $1.60.  Then, when I have tracked diligently and lost some weight, I will have some extra money to put towards a vacation.  And I mean a good vacation...like the Bahamas, or Europe, or some other cool place I've never been before.  I love to travel - so I think this is a much worthier cause for my fund.  Anyone wanna join??