It was the greatest week, it was the not-so-greatest week.
Monday and Tuesday I stayed home because of a major snowstorm. It was awesome! I was at my desk writing, then planning new and more wonderful things to write, spending time reading and watching a few shows with my son who was also off from work. All that good comfy sit-sown stuff we all like to do when it's snowing outside.
Did I exercise? No.
Did I shovel snow? I thought about it, but no.
Did I eat? You bet I did. I didn't overeat, but I ate well.
I worked the last three days of the week without a hitch- I even got a little more exercise (once my knees started working) climbing over heaps of plowed snow trying to get to clients who couldn't shovel their walkways. Ice and arthritic knees are not a good combo, but I persevered and got through each day without injury.
I had two chicken cobb salads during the week, then ran out of salad stuff. We had no intention going back to the mobbed stores filled with storm-panicked customers, so I ate leftovers and did without my salads the rest of the week.
Remember that birthday celebration dinner I mentioned last week? Well, we enjoyed the heck out of ourselves. I tried to hold off eating the entire day, but decided to stop trying to eat one meal a day all the time- this was the weekend...and I'd planned on eating two meals on the weekends- why was I trying to cut down my intake even more?
So I had a little leftover meal about 2:00 pm, and went out to a late dinner with the family.
I had soup for dessert, and so did my son!
I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. We both got soup for an appetizer (cream of chicken rice), and we liked it so much, that when everyone else was ordering dessert, we both decided to have another order of soup instead, because nothing desserty sounded interesting.
Was I hungry for it? Nope. But I ate it anyway. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Everyone who had the soup liked it so much, we said we would have everyone back on Sunday and make our own version- which is exceedingly popular, by the way- and end the weekend with a night of soup, homemade strawberry swirl cake, and a few games of Catan.
The superbowl wasn't watched for more than a few minutes, just to see if the commercials were good. We turned off the TV after the first few commercials and continued playing Catan instead, which was much more fun!
I had three helpings of soup, and a slice of that strawberry cake (which was only slightly sweet- more like a bread). It was so good! I promised myself to toast a slice of that stuff on Monday and slather some butter on it.
But wait. Wasn't Monday my weigh-in day?
Oh crap. I forgot again. Sort of.
My mind whirled at the possibilities of what would happen on Monday. I'd eaten my cobb salad twice that week without much else on the salad days. I'd had bread maybe twice that week, not including the strawberry bread. But all that yummy soup and the fruity bread this weekend? Had I just tossed the entire months' progress out the window?
I had to measure myself too. Egad. What would the numbers say?
I immediately started thinking of Plan B. There is another section of the book to try in case you bottom out your metabolism, which is what I thought I did. The last three months were slow progress- especially the most recent month. Could I already have put myself in metabolic limbo? If I had, Plan B was to do the 5:2 plan- open my up windows more on at least four of the five days, and have the cobb salad or a homemade soup on the down days.
Then I read something that made me rethink what I was doing. I'm hypothyroid. I've been overweight for decades. My resistance is probably really high. Yet, I've been trying to regulate my eating hours!
Instead of up and down sporadic eating windows to knock my metabolism into high gear, I've been doing the opposite- trying to lower those windows- and keep them low- for as long as possible! I need to feed the machine on the up days- and here I've been trying to cut down my weekend hours. Maybe this weekend was a sign that I needed to feed myself to get those metabolic motors restarted.
I also knew that one weekend does not a monthly matter make!
Then it was Monday. Weigh-in day. Also measuring day. And the measurements weren't looking good, folks.
I'd lost an inch in my bicep, but gained an inch in my waist? I'd gained one-half inch in my hips and gained two inches in my thigh? Uh oh. This didn't look good.
I went to the scale with a feeling of doom. I saw the number, stepped off, blinked a few times, then stepped back on just to make sure I was reading it right. I'd lost six pounds!
Here are the numbers:
Original numbers: 4 weeks ago: Now: Difference:
Weight 363 lbs. 336 330 6 pounds
Biceps- 23" 21" 20" -1"
Chest- 61-1/2" 59-1/2" 59-1/2" none
Waist- 58" 55-1/4" 56-1/4" +1"
Hips- 69-1/2" 64" 64-1/2" +1/2"
Thigh- 32" 29-1/2" 31-1/2" +2"
Neck- 18" 17-3/4" same none
It was right in the middle of the sweet spot! I still don't know why the measurements and the scale tell a different story- but I'm so grateful it did!
I'd lost a total of 33 pounds so far! WOOHOO!
Apparently this weekend, I needed to feed the machine. I think it also helped a great deal having those robust salads and staying away from bread. Come to think of it, I cut down on the chip snacking as well. Something to think about.
Oh, and after I came home from work? I'd had two slices of that strawberry bread, toasted and buttered. It was better than I imagined. I also ate soup, and had a small meal of sausage and rice with my husband when he came home. I think my total window was four hours.
I'm also going to get to the store in the next day or two to buy my salad stuff, and maybe a few things for a hearty, healthy soup. It's the beginning of a great new month!
Yay!
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