When you are first starting to lose weight and you are really focused and trying your darnedest, it's very disheartening to go a week and not lose weight, to stay the same. It's even more demoralizing when you actually gain weight!!!
That was me, last week.
My weigh in day is on Sunday. I weighed in and to my horror (No, I'm not being dramatic!) I had actually gained a pound. Sad face.
Here goes my tale of woe. I'll try not to go on and on. Maybe you can relate, though. Maybe you are going through the same thing.
And maybe I just need to get this off my chest.
If you remember, I told you about my cheat day last week. I decided the cheat day was not for me. Occasions where I might want to have a piece of cake or some Maui Onion Chips may not fall on a Tuesday. A whole day of eating crappy food and hence feeling crappy is not really my idea of a lifestyle change. And I never toot my own horn when it comes to cooking (because I'm quite mediocre at it), but the next day I made the most amazing stew. It wasn't a low calorie recipe (It was Pioneer Woman recipe, enough said.); but I had to make it. Yes, had to. Once I saw a picture of it, my mouth began to immediately water.
Other than that, I stayed under my calorie goal and Zumba'd EVERY DAY.If you don't know what Zumba is, just know that it makes you move and it makes you sweat. I may do a post on Zumba one of these days.
So, after a week of really watching what I ate and exercising every day, I expected to see those numbers drop even if by just a little. Drop, yes. Maintain, maybe. Gain, No!
I've only been on this journey for a little over a month and to me, it is a journey. It's not a sprint to the finish line and then I can go back to way the life used to be and eat whatever I fancy. I knew I couldn't throw in the towel. I knew one little setback shouldn't get me so down. But, it did. I wanted to quit. I was kind of ticked that I had worked so hard and got no reward.
I agree this is a little dramatic. I'm just being honest.
So I did what any disappointed girl would do, who had been saying no to fried, fatty food and sugary treats. I cooked myself up a bunch of tator tots. Yea, I went there. I love the tots. Not so good for you, but good tasting. Oooooh.........so good.
"Take that, stupid diet," I mumbled under my breath while popping the tots into my mouth.
I won't lie, the tots were awesome. But after I had simmered down, had my little pity party and counted up the calories, I decided to go back to my eating plan for the rest of the day. I knew the tots were a slippery slope. No matter how mad or bummed I was, I had to remember why I was trying to lose weight. It's not just about the weight.
I thought about the last 5 weeks. I feel better. I really do. I'm exercising. I wasn't doing any physical activity before except for the occasional walk with the kids. I'm getting stronger. I don't want to go back to how I felt before.
What to do next? If something isn't working, you can't just do that thing again and again and hope you get better results. I looked back at what I did that last week and what I ate and found some areas where I could change. I decided I needed to drink much more water, due to the suggestion from a fellow buddy trying to lose weight also.
I feel like this week has been going well. I've felt like I have been making good food choices. More fruits and veggies. A lot more water. Have I had my occasional dove chocolate and a second slice of pizza? Yes, but I have said no a lot more than I have said yes to foods that aren't good for me.
Here's to more water and less tator tots!
