Weigh-in: Week 4

I lost 1.2 pounds this week, which brings my total to 3.8. So I'm still shy of meeting my goal of one pound a week, but I'm gaining ground.

My final weigh-in for the month will be next Thursday (instead of Friday) because I'm heading out of town Thursday morning. I'm really hoping I can make a little more progress. My goal for the month was 5 pounds. I feel so close yet so far away.

Also, I'm surprised at my progress this week. I had two major slip-ups -- A Big Mac from McDonald's and a giant cheeseburger and fries from Carolina Ale House. Apparently, I was craving cheeseburgers this week.

I've got a few stressful situations coming up, so I'll have to be extra vigilant if I'm going to stay on track through the end of the month. I know it won't be easy, but I hoping that advance planning for pay off.

A bad day

I was an emotional wreck today. It started early this morning. I wasn't sleeping well so I turned on the TV. I kept wanting to fall back to sleep, but it just wouldn't happen. As I was binge watching Criminal Minds, I thought that maybe I'd stay in bed all day.

About 7:45, I took a shower and dressed for the day. I even did my hair (something I don't always do on the weekend) because I knew my boyfriend and I were planning an outing later in the day. For those who don't know, my boyfriend and I live together. He works nights so we have a general agreement that he gets to sleep until 11 a.m. or noon. Usually, that works out fine for me because I catch up on DVR'd shows and go to the grocery store.

Today just didn't go according to plan. My boyfriend startled me when I got home from Harris Teeter about 9:30 a.m. and things seemed off all day after that. I'll spare you the details except to say that the day ended with me in tears and him wondering what went wrong.

A lot of things went wrong today. Nothing so bad that you'd expect me to be blubbering as I was. I've probably mentioned this before, but I'm a planner. I have a lot of anxiety because I spend my time thinking about every possible scenario. Every time I let my guard down, I get disappointed. When things don't go as I had planned (and I didn't anticipate a different scenario), I'm thrown and it never ends well.

With each hurdle today, I tried so hard to recover. By the end of the day, I just couldn't do it. My poor boyfriend had no idea how the train went off the tracks so quickly. Unfortunately, I saw it coming before I even got out of bed. There should be some sort of alert system. Maybe I could say: "Honey, the train might derail today. Buckle up."

Luckily, I have a boyfriend who actually went to sleep (because he has to work tonight) probably feeling like crap but telling me how much he loves me. What he should know is that I AM the lucky one. In the big picture of life, I'm so lucky to have found him. And the fact that he tolerates my emotional outbursts makes him a prince.

Also, I should mentioned that my emotional breakdown was triggered by planning dinner. Although it was tied to deep seeded issues in my personal life, the trigger was food. We ended up eating frozen pizza because that was simple.

PS - For those following along with my progress, my boyfriend and I made it through 19 hours of our fast. We couldn't take it anymore so we had a pickle, two olives and some carrots with ranch dip. Then we had a lovely dinner of chicken, rice and green beans. It was a failure and a success at the same time. I'm glad I tried it. I don't think we'll be doing it again.

Weigh-in: Week 3

I made a little progress this week. I'm now down 2.6 pounds total. That's still shy of my goal of averaging a pound a week. But a loss is a loss and I'll take it.

I didn't have a good week when it comes to making smart choices. I ate a lot foods I shouldn't have and I didn't track my points a single day. I know that tracking is the No. 1 tool for success. Why can't I do it? Probably because I'm eating the wrong foods and I know the tracking won't look good. I was tempted by giant muffins, pizza, wine and cake this week and I gave in easily.

In hopes of jumpstarting my efforts for this coming week, my boyfriend and I started a 24-hour fast after dinner yesterday. Luckily, I'm working from home today so I'll be able to better handle any lightheadedness or fatigue. I'm allowing myself a little coffee this morning because I don't think giving up caffeine on the same day I don't eat would be a good idea. Beyond that, I'll be drinking lots of lemon water and green tea. I've not done this before, but I can see the benefits of flushing out the toxins and trying to reset my system.

We're planning a light dinner tonight and then tomorrow I'll be back to planning meals in advance. And tracking!!!!! My boyfriend and I are going to Charlotte for two days at the beginning of September. I'm really hoping to stay on track until then. That way I won't feel bad about splurging during our trip.

Weigh-in: Week 2

Bad news. I gained 0.4 pounds. That brings my total lost since I restarted my journey to 1.8 pounds.

The setback is disappointing. I let emotional eating get the better of me this past week. I've been under a lot of stress and I haven't made the best good choices.

There's no excuse ... but it didn't help that we had pizza in the office twice this week. And then there were treats from the new Publix. Today alone we've had chocolate chip cookies, cake and chips with queso dip. I resisted the sweets early on, but the cheese dip proved to be too much. I had just a few, but more than I should have.

I'm having dinner out tonight. I have a plan that includes healthy choices. I just need to stick to it.

I'm going to regroup tomorrow and plan meals for the coming week. My goal is an average of one pound a week. I'll have to make good progress this week to catch up and stay on track.

Wish me luck!

Weigh-in: Week 1

Weight lost: 2.2 pounds

While I'm not ready to publicly report my actual weight as I used to do, I do want to report on my progress each week. Friday's are my official weigh-in day. I'm happy I lost weight this week, especially since I had a few setbacks along the way.

I feel like I'm off to a good start, but this past week wasn't perfect. What I'm happy about is that even when "splurging" I still made better choices than I made a week ago. I also cooked a lot of healthy food.

One area where I wasn't successful is exercise. I walked only one day and didn't reach 10,000 any days. Sigh

That said, I'm already planning meals for this weekend and next week. Saturday will be a challenge since I'm going to Ribfest. But I think I should be able to continue my progress the rest of the week.

My ultimate goal is to lose an average of 1 pound a week. I think I can lose 1 pound this week.

Day 5: I slipped!

The day started off on the wrong foot. I was feeling rushed before work and I just couldn't ever get a handle on the day. I had a healthy breakfast and lunch, but by dinner time, I couldn't keep it up, I had a couple of drinks after work and then a turkey wrap and a few fries for dinner.

You're probably thinking that I didn't do so bad. You're right. But I didn't do so well either. I should have stopped at one glass of wine and I should have skipped the fries and eaten less of the wrap. I'm not beating myself up. I'm simply acknowledging that I didn't make the best choices today.

All in all, today was a good day. I often feel like I make poor choices when something bad happens. On good days, I need to make good choices.

That said, it was a good day. I had a great, spontaneous dinner out with my boyfriend. We talked about a million different topics and laughed a lot. We were silly and ridiculous. I'm so lucky to have someone who supports me and who's willing to change our plans on the spur of the moment because I decide I want to go out to dinner instead of eating at home.

So it was a good day.

So far, so good

As the end of day four approaches, I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. I slipped a little Sunday (the wine made me do it), but I've definitely been eating much better. And the scale has been very friendly.

Sunday was actually the hardest day so far. So the fact that I made it through and I went over my daily points allotment by just a little bit makes me happy. Today, at the office, I also had to resist the pile of Kit-Kits on the counter. It wasn't easy!

I've got a few more pitfalls facing me this week. I have a working lunch Tuesday (I've ordered a salad) and I'm going to the Sharks baseball game on Thursday. I haven't figured out how to approach the game. Hoping a good idea will strike before then.

The good news is that I'm thinking about what I will eat and really trying to plan ahead. Planning ahead is a major key to my success.