Ups and Downs

So my weigh in from Week 1 showed that I gained 1.1 pounds. Gained!

I cried. Seriously. I couldn't believe it. How could I gain? I mean, maybe not lose, or only lose a few ounces, but gain?! I started to think maybe I had one of those 50 pound tumors you read about people having.  It's not my fault at all -- it's that crazy growth! I'll just go have it removed and be wearing a size 4 by the weekend!

Then I remembered logic. It was that lovely bloating and water-retaining time of the month when I weighed in. And I'd gone back to eating carbs and fruit full-time in that week.  The sadness and frustration had to take a back seat to logic and reasoning. Once you let frustration win, it's all over.  So none of that! No giving up. Giving up means you might as well get the film crew from TLC ready, and I'm just not having that.

It was time to re-focus and think about this new Points Plus program. Having the freedom to eat all the fruit you want is not necessarily a good thing. And I'm finding that I have, on average, at least 5 points left after dinner (usually more, actually), which is just ridiculous.  So in my mind, I'm counting at least half of my fruit according to the old points structure. It keeps my fruit consumption in check.  More anything = more calories.  Well, not celery, but you get the idea. Just because it's good for you doesn't mean you should eat it non-stop.

I decided I would take my measurements, as well, to keep the numbers on the scale from being the only thing I was watching -- because those numbers are sometimes deceiving and downright baffling (how could I possibly weigh 5 pounds more at night than I did in the morning?!).  So in addition to my one weigh-in a week (on the same day each week, and at the same time), I will be measuring my waist, hips, and thighs.  Don't really care about anything else. I mean, I hate my arms, but even when I was skinny I hated my arms -- so in a weird way I've just learned to accept them.


The net result of this re-focusing? Today's weigh in shows that I'm down 2.6 pounds. Awesome! Of course, I would love it to be faster, but slow and steady wins the race, right? Oh, and a little NSV (that's a Non-Scale Victory, for those of you who don't know) -- I bought a pair of capris at Marshall's yesterday in a size smaller than I've been wearing lately, and I didn't try them on because it was just too hot to try on clothes.  They fit! Thank God I don't have to return them (or, more realistically, let them sit in the closet with the tags still attached, collecting dust). It's the little things that make me happy :)

My biggest issue is getting motivated to get moving. I'm having an extraordinarily hard time with that, and the heat isn't helping me at all. If anyone has anything inspiring to say, I'd love to hear it. I have to start slow, due to recent back issues, and the fact that I haven't done a damn bit of working out in months, but I'll be happy to hear any suggestions!