( Warning...this is a long one! )

I have not weighed myself in over a week. There was the combo of seeing 253.5 last Friday (Up 3.5 lbs mind you), then having a long stressful 4 day weekend with my wonderful but ADHD/ODD/OCD 9 year old son which led to a lot of off plan eating that included a celebratory "Thank God the weekend's over" dinner on Monday evening at my ex-favorite (I had to break off the relationship when I started to eat healthier) Mexican place where I overate AND drank two XL Margaritas, suffered through a work day with a hang-over, just finished up TOM and only minimally stayed OP for this week, even having my old standby cereal and milk before bed 2x. All in all, I did not have a successful week.

One thing I have learned, this go 'round, is that when I am feeling crazy out of control, what I need to do is clamp down tighter than ever, reign myself in and really just take back my control-track every morsel, plan a menu, shop to the menu...etc etc. I wanted to fess up to all of this plus get back on the scale today to see what my new starting point is, get back on the wagon, blah blah blah....GUESS WHAT?? After all that crap I ate, plus the alcohol, plus the TOM, not counting calories or tracking my food, eating 400+ calories right before bedtime a few nights...

I am at an all time low (well, this time) of 248.2 this morning. I woke up, peed, stripped off my pajamas, stepped on the scale 248.2, that can't be right, re-set the scale, stepped on again 248.2. HUH??? Grabbed a big bottle of shampoo (gonna trick this scale!!) that I know weighs 2 lbs, weighed myself again 250.2?? Put down the shampoo 248.2 Finally accepted that this might be right.

I guess all I can say is for those of us here that really wonder WTF is going on when we are on plan 100% and the scale doesn't move for weeks IT IS TRUE what some people have said...what you eat today doesn't necessarily show up on the scale tomorrow or even next week...I was on plan really well for about 2 weeks prior to my mini-meltdown and lost only .5 lbs then to chuck it all, not because I gave up but because I let life get in the way.

This is getting rambly but I want to add one more thing...Thank GOD, I got back on the scale today. I didn't weigh myself thinking I'd see any success but rather a gain. I wanted to own up to that and move on. If I hadn't, I would have just went with the " I am a fat slob who can't stick with a plan, loses it just because of a little stress " mode I have been in and gain a ton of weight back. Whew. I might have just dodged a bullet!

Great insight !

Yup. Bodies are not checking accounts. Changes show up whenever it is they do, not instantly.

Good for you! And stick with it!

A.

Thank you for this timely reminder, Michelle. I've been especially frustrated with the scales this week. I guess I need to trust my body to work as it's been created and in it's own time.

I love that!! So true! It's only now that I have been paying close attention, mostly weighing daily & tracking what I eat that I see the truth in this statement.

that's great. I know I'm guilty of expecting to see the direct results but rarely do.


Michelle - congrats on the loss! great motivation to keep on going!

I have sooooo been there! I joke sometimes that the beer and junk food diet is the best one. I seriously think of the scale as a magic 8 ball. It does its thing up and down in no apparent relationship to what I do. The one thing that does seem to be comfortably reliable is the long term trend. I have lost weight since last December because I have cleaned up my diet and begun exercising. Today, last week, next week, etc not so relevant. Keep the long term approach to weekends like last one, too. 2 days out of 90 is not a trend. (Not to use as rationale for the behavior before hand but to keep yourself from spiraling afterwards.) I think persistance matters so much more than perfection. We all have weekends like yours but its those of us that get back on track as soon as possible that ultimately succeed! Great job on doing that! You've made great progress this year!