Month: December 2018

Gain

Well, I suppose it had to happen sooner or later.  After weeks and weeks of consistent, steady losses, I had a gain this past Saturday.  A pretty big one, too: I gained nearly 6 pounds over the past two weeks.

Sure, I was traveling for part of those two weeks, and we have had plenty of parties, luncheons, get-togethers, Christmas cookies, and other random temptations.  We also had a death in the family and various stressors that I could have done without.  It’s not an excuse, by any means, but I let it all pile up and get the best of me.  I gave up.  I ate whatever, and my workouts dwindled to the bare minimum.

I had expected a gain, but not that much. I was horrified as I stood on the scale Saturday morning.  Wow, when I let go, I let go like I mean it!

In the past, this gain would have led lead to another one.  Six pounds would turn into ten.  Then fifteen.  Then twenty.  Then, eventually, I would be back at my starting weight, miserable, frustrated, feeling like a failure.

Not this time, ladies and gentlemen.  I am taking control back right now.  Christmas or no Christmas, I am determined to re-lose as much of that six pounds as I possibly can this upcoming week.  I am going to roar back into action with a vengeance.  (*Cue applause, cheers, shouts of “You go, girl!”, and vigorous fist-pumping.*)

Funny thing was, I got two compliments on my weight loss yesterday.  I didn’t mention my weigh-in or gain to anybody, since I was upset about it, so I know the comments were not elicited by my disappointment about my gain.

I got dressed after weigh-in and was happy that a sweater I haven’t worn in years fit nicely, so I put that on.  As soon as my husband saw me, he said, “That sweater really shows off how much weight you’ve lost.  You look skinny.”  One of the kids said, “That’s because she is skinny!”

Later that evening, we went to one of our favorite restaurants for dinner, and a waitress we haven’t seen in a while came out to say hello to us.  She looked at me and said, “You look like you’ve lost weight! You look great.”

I really needed those compliments yesterday.  It helped me realize that even with a gain, I still look much, much better than I did a few months ago.  I still have a nice weight drop under my belt.  And I am not going to gain back even one more ounce!  I worked too hard for this.

Now, if you will excuse me…I have a sweaty, intense, heart-pounding workout to do!

Silly

Is this the worst possible time of year to try to lose weight, or what?  Between parties, luncheons, and gifts of candy and cookies, there is temptation up to my eyeballs everywhere I turn.  I came into work this morning and discovered a huge box of doughnuts, a plate of cookies, and a tray of peanut butter cups in the kitchen.  I had to just laugh.  For whatever reason, Christmas is synonymous with eating around here.  I just need to keep my head on straight and not get carried away.

It was hard just coming to work this morning.  My husband was in a particularly silly and goofy mood, and as soon as the alarm went off, he started melodramatically declaring that he had somehow mortally wounded his back in his sleep, he couldn’t move (all while tossing his arms about for emphasis and flair), and he needed me to stay home with him today.  To prove his point, he started moaning and fake crying…very loudly, I might add!  I tried to hush him so he wouldn’t wake up my stepson, but once he gets going, he is like a freight train on a downhill track: there’s no stopping it once he’s gained momentum!

I got out of bed despite his protests, and despite my own strong preference to stay right there, snuggled under the covers with him.  Today is going to be a good day.  I got all of my gift wrapping done last night, just in time for the kids to arrive this evening for Christmas break with us.  I’m excited for the kids and my husband to unwrap certain presents that I am pretty sure they will be happy about!

If the kids’ ever-declining grades are any indication, nothing has improved in their other home.  So I am also happy that they will be with us for a few days, where I know for sure they are safe and supervised and actually taken care of.  Hey, maybe Psycho’s new year resolution will be to finally start parenting…nah, I won’t hold my breath!

Even with so much to wrap last night, I still fit in a workout.  I skipped my planned morning workout today, but I am glad I did.  Laughing at my husband’s silliness got the day off to a happy start.  And I will have all evening, after the kids get here, to get that workout done.

Now…just need to avoid the heaping piles of calories and sugar in the kitchen for the rest of the day. 🙂

Shocked!

Since I couldn’t run last week, I tightened up on my eating and really watched my calories.  I searched for more intense and longer weight training workouts that wouldn’t aggravate my plantar fasciitis, and I added non-running cardio workouts.

I figured I wouldn’t gain but wouldn’t lose much, either.  I stepped onto the scale Saturday morning and read it wrong the first time.  For some reason, I had the wrong number in my head from last week and calculated I had lost maybe half a pound.  I sighed, disappointed, then stopped and weighed myself again.

Four pounds gone!  I couldn’t believe it.  I even had to enter my weigh-in into MyFitnessPal and let it confirm for me that I had lost that much.  All I can think is, being extra strict with my calories and shocking my body with the weight training workouts shook things up enough to drop four pounds…even without running!

Of course, everyone who has commented that I would still be able to lose weight, even without running, was right.  Thank you for all of the comments and support during my week of irrational panic!

Over the weekend, I decided a week was long enough, and I went running, just 4 miles.  My foot didn’t hurt any more than it usually does afterward, which I took as a good sign.  I’ve been rolling it on a frozen water bottle every day, which helps a lot, and I received my second pair of inserts over the weekend too, which I put into my other pair of sneakers for non-running cardio and weight training workouts.

I was so motivated by the four-pound loss that I bought some new, heavier dumbbells this weekend, so I could increase my weight with squats, lunges, bicep curls, etc.  I tried them out yesterday during my workout and definitely feel it today!  My legs and arms are wonderfully sore.

To top it all off, I decided to try on some clothes in my closet last night that haven’t fit in a long, long time.  One top hasn’t fit in such a long time that there was actually some dust on its shoulder!  I can’t even remember the last time I wore it, but it fits now.  Just needs washed first, ha ha.

I have a bag of clothes in my car waiting to be dropped off at Goodwill, all clothes that are now at least 2 sizes too big.  I love cleaning out the “fat” clothes and slowly but surely fitting into the smaller sizes in my closet!

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