08willbegreat's Journal, 29 March 2008

Don't weigh yourself so much. Hormones can cause you to hold water. Weigh one day a week. If you don't lose this week (or gain a pound or two), if you keep following your plan, you will likely see the loss plus more the next week. I have been on WW since Dec., and some weeks, even though I did not cheat, I lost nothing. But I have now lost 43 lbs. I have stopped worrying about my weight week-to-week and focused on eating/exercising according to the plan. Relax! 

Leo has a good point. If you look at your weight a week ago, you've lost 0.6 pounds. If you kept up that rate of loss, you would lose close to 30 pounds a year, which isn't bad at all! I used to weigh every day, and then I got so obsessed, I started weighing twice a day, and then it seemed like every time I passed the bathroom, the scale was calling to me! Now, I weigh in twice a week. Once on Saturdays to post my official weight, and once on Tuesday or Wednesday, to see how I'm doing for the week. It's a lot less stressful than seeing the daily fluctuations! You might want to try it! 

Our bodies don't always cooperate with what they should be doing. There is so much going on under the surface that we can't know for sure what will show up on the scale. But you can rest assured that your efforts will be rewarded. My guess is the new exercise has caused a temporary stall with some water retention and that you will see a greater result for next week. You are doing everything right so just continue with your fantastic effort and know that it will all balance out in the long run.  

I love your To Do lists! It's such a pro-active way to tackle what you perceive as disappointment (but what the rest of the world thinks is you doing an amazing job.) And your list of steps are exactly what I'm currently obsessed with -- so it makes me excited to see them. I TOTALLY subscribe to eating a large leafy green zero point veggie salad BEFORE every meal. I started doing that and was so tired of chewing (like you said), full, out of time, that I ate less of my calorie-dense protein/carb entree. I am also TOTALLY on board with frequent snacking - I've been eating almonds and walnuts like there is no tomorrow for the last few months because YOAD said I should, even though they were previously taboo due to high fat and calories, but I'm losing/winning because the good fat and satiety signals have worked their magic. I started portioning 1/4 in a baggie or counting out 4 walnuts/8 halves (for 100 cals) or 12 - 15 almonds. And upping exercise as long as you don't overdo it an get overuse injuries (story of my life) or get too tired and run down if you sacrifice sleep. Can you add Get 7-8 hours sleep. Period. To your list? Sleep is SOOOOO IMPORTANT for weight loss physiology, curbing hunger and carb cravings, stress and emotions, ETC.  

And another thing! :D Because you joined Evelyn64 in the couch25K, I felt soooooo left out so I went for a jog this morning!!!! There are advantages to cyber-peer pressure ;)