Okay

Have you ever had a week that was just okay?  Not good, not bad, just okay.  That's how my last week was - not great, not bad, just okay.  This was actually the first week that I've really struggled to write the blog cause I didn't have any super exciting news or insights to share! 

Last week at work was not super busy, but it included a few later nights, which took a major toll on my workouts.  I started duty again on Wednesday, but I hardly got any calls all week so that wasn't really an issue.  I had a banquet to attend on Friday, but we had a reasonably healthy menu and I made some good choices there.  My youngest brother came to visit for the weekend, and while we went out to eat several times, and I honestly didn't really count points for what I ate, I made some reasonably good choices.  Though he was a little concerned that he was throwing me off and didn't want me to gain weight and it be his fault.  I assured him that any choice I made was my own and I would take whatever results came of it.  When we went to Cracker Barrel, I chose the chicken over the beef and as soon as it arrived, I cut the chicken in half and pushed one piece away because I knew I wouldn't be eating it.  I ate all of my vegetables and half the chicken and felt comfortably full.  In the past I would have eaten the whole thing and not blinked an eye...and probably considered getting dessert. 

But, like I said, work took a toll on my workouts.  Between pulling some later days, having several "after-hour" commitments, and just being overall exhausted, I didn't really get any workouts in.  I did get in some walking between meetings and have noticed that I walk to other places on campus more and take the elevator less, which helped.  However, there was no traditional "workout."

When it came time for weigh-in, I went not expecting a great one, but confident that it wouldn't be bad.  I didn't have the panicked "I hope I didn't gain anything" feeling, but I also knew that it wasn't going to be a stellar weigh-in.  I had decided not to stay for the meeting since my brother had stayed an extra day and we invited some of my friends over for dinner.  I got there early and it was a different receptionist, but the regular leader was at the other scale.  I stepped up on the scale and she told me that I was exactly the same...and I was totally okay with that.  Once my leader had finished with the woman she was helping she asked how I did and I told her that I just had an okay week and that I stayed the same, but that that was cool with me.  She said, "you've had two really big weeks, it's good to have some stability."  And I found that I really agreed. 

One of my favorite musicals is "Into the Woods" by Stephen Sondheim.  In the show, one of the characters has herself a little romp in the woods with a prince, then he tells her that it was "just a moment in the woods".  Of course she sings a song about "moments" in life, and in her song she says, "oh, if life were made of moments, even now and then a bad one! But if life were only moments, then you'd never know you had one."  I feel like that's a great comparison to this week.  The last few months have been made up of weight loss "moments" some good, and some bad.  But sometimes you need to have a week of no moment to help you better appreciate when you do have moments.  At some point, it will start getting harder and harder to lose weight.  I may not regain the weight, but there will come a time when I'm not losing weight every week.  And it's during that time that I will need to remember that it's times like that that will make the "moments" even sweeter.  Someday I will start having "just okay" weeks often, but that will make the great moments even greater.

Initial weight: 257.2
Week 14: -0
Total weight loss: -27.4 lbs
Current weight: 229.8