Once a week I step on the scale. This week, I was dreading not looking forward to doing so.
If you’ve looked at my progress page, you’ll see that I’m
losing weight at an incredibly slow pace. Of course, I’d like to see results
faster, but I know that feeling restricted will lead to overeating. So I’m OK
with this. However, I admit (and I’m probably not alone) there are those days
when I just don’t want to see the scale go up. I have noticed that this feeling
usually coincides with unusual eating.
Last week was one of those weeks. Apparently I was hungry.
Plus, it was a long weekend. AND our fabulous friend stayed with our little
bears overnight at our house, so hubby and I had a night of fun at a friend’s
house.
Details of the unusual eating included:
- Buying a package of Heshey's chocolate kisses at work (on sale from Valentine's Day!). First time I have bought chocolate at work since I returned from mat leave in May. Good news is that I gave half of the package to a colleague and ate the other half over a two days.
- Accepted a piece of birthday cake from a work colleague.
- Forgot to bring a snack while running errands. So I picked up a Tim Horton's wheat and carrot muffin. For lunch, I decided to have a piece of toast with hummus with salad, but instead I ate 1.5 grilled cheese sandwiches that hubby made before I got home.
- Went to a tapas restaurant for dinner with friends; we shared several dishes, including a beet salad, hand cut french fries, calamari and a glass of wine. The festivities continued after dinner, including a small whoopie pie from Starbucks, sharing two big bags of chips, plus I pretty much ate an entire bag of Werther's Original Toffee Crunch myself.
- The next morning we went out for breakfast that included eggs, homefries, toast and bacon.
- Hubby runs out to buy a few groceries since the stores are closed on Monday for Family Day. While he is out, I eat a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup and walnuts. Hubby comes home with a small New York style cheesecake. I have a small piece.
- Our original plans for Family Day fell through, so we ended up at McDonald's for lunch. I usually order a cheeseburger and split an order of fries with the kids, but this time I ordered a quarter pounder combo.
- While watching the Bachelor, I ate another piece of the little cheesecake. Plus, I go back for subsequent slivers of cake thereafter. Thankfully, hubby puts the little cheesecake out of its misery and eats the remaining quarter piece.
- Just when I think everything is returning to normal, the managers at work serve pancakes for Pancake Day. I grab two: no butter, no syrup (tasty just on its own). At lunch, I head to the kitchenette to make my lunch; what is in there? The leftover pancakes. I eat three more.
After all that eating, I thought for sure I was going to see a gain. Sure, I ate well the rest of the week, but I obviously did some serious mindless eating this week.
So what happened when I stepped on the scale on Wednesday? I'm down a pound. Wow - the results on the scale can be so random.
Yes. I call it "fickle."
ReplyDeleteHa, it's totally fickle.
DeleteThe scale is a mad house. It isn't always consistent, but if your decisions are - it will cooperate. Be well!
ReplyDeleteMad house, I like that too. I like how you put it. In this case, this was a week full of inconsistent decisions, which was completely out of whack from my usual eating routine.
DeleteI honestly think that your slow pace, along with your belief that you're doing it "your" way is the key. But then again who knows? The scale may be up next week. And even if it is, you know what to do...
ReplyDeleteTotally. We speak the same language.
DeleteHow about exercise this week? Maybe you were eating less at other times or your body was catching up. How are your clothes fitting? Sometimes I lose nothing while being particularly normal in my eating, then I eat off my plan and drink and kablam! 4 pounds gone. I wonder if our body appreciates the variation. Bigger variation than we might think. Keeps it guessing. Maybe you are saying "See, you are not starving, so feel free to drop that pound" and then the following week you eat less calories - giving it the switcheroo.
ReplyDeleteMunchberry logic. All mushy.
I like munchberry logic. I do think my body was craving a little bit of variety.
DeleteI took a bit a literary license to add in a bit drama to this post, but I think I've figured out why I saw a loss. I think I had a loss due to my effort the week before.
Plus it was monthly gift week (which for me, it's more like every three weeks) and I find that the monthly gift causes me to retain water and I get a little backed up.
Exercise was good, walking daily and one swim workout. I was in a faster lane as well, so I pushed myself a little harder than before. Last night we swam 2300m in total, my arms feel strong today!!
Meh, best not to question weight loss too much I guess, except a little logic would be nice.
DeleteCongrats on moving up a lane. Do you pretend like there is a shark behind you? 2300m is almost a mile and a half. 1.3 miles approx. Well done.
I totally agree. We have to realize that the scale is unpredictable!
DeleteThe coach puts us on a pace time that is spot on for our ability, so I keep pushing (another advantage for having a coach) myself to keep up with the pace time. Plus, there is an older man swimming behind me, so I could see him acting a shark!
Wow, you must really feel like you dodged a bullet.
ReplyDeleteI find that sometimes these things may take a week or two to show on the scale.
Hope you nip it in the bud before it really gets away on you and that you won't be too disappointed or surprised if it shows up next week.
Okay, I didn't mean to be negative nelly here, but I would hate to see you start sliding down a slippery slope cause it doesn't seem to 'matter'.... you are doing well, and keep it up! :)
It's nipped in the bud. This sort of eating may have spiralled out of control before, but not now.
DeleteIt was a very unusual week - we rarely go out for dinner and that is the first time since our kids arrived (except for the night before I had my second boy) that we've had an overnight to ourselves.
The rest of the week was bad planning and not making an actual decision on whether or not to eat something, I was just sort of going on auto-pilot.
I haven't been tempted lately, so I haven't had to resist either. This week showed that I have to make decisions, instead of letting the temptation decide for me!
Hey Kara, I got your comment about your comments not showing. For some reason you are going to SPAM. Have been for a while, but I do see them (eventually) and publish them. I am not sure how to rectify it except to keep reporting that you are not spam. Sorry~ I know it is annoying. Apparently Google thinks you need moderating. LOL
ReplyDeleteI wonder what I did to get flagged as spam. Weird... Thanks for letting me know!
DeleteIt's not what we do in one week, it's what we do over time. The scale is a bitch.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. I knew I was fine because I wasn't going to let it become a habit!
Delete