Damn !!!!

Well after the stressful week I had last week, I should have been prepared a little for not such great numbers on the scale.     Plus it is commonly known that after having a large weight loss one week, your body can sometimes make up for it by making it harder to drop more weight the next week.   Add in stress from an insecure woman at work, family stress, and 2 people you really love and care about have been given bad health news relating to their cancer diagnoses , I allowed my little devil a bit more control this week then my little angel wanted.

Sure, anyone who may have had the week I had, would justify and understand how the emotional drain tired me out.  Left me with little or no energy to feel like exercising at the end of almost every day last week.   But as much as I could justify my decisions as being part of every day life occurrences, that thinking is not going to help me get to my goal.  

But exercising wasn't the only thing my little devil had her little horns wrapped around.   I had gone 3 days in a row without tracking in my food diary.   When I back tracked to enter my foods, I was embarrassed to find out some of my healthy eating choices caused me go over my calorie amounts for those few days too.  My little angel even pointed out reminded I had I been tracking, I would have only had 2 margaritas instead of 3 on Saturday.  Plus on other days, I would have replaced the starchy carbs with fruits or vegetables - not only preventing me from going over my calorie limit, but eating foods that help make my body burn fuel better than some carbs.

It became very evident especially yesterday morning when I noticed I was almost at the same weight on the scale as the week before.  So that's when my little angel encouraged me to do some exercise after work last night and get back on track with tracking my food diary.  

When I woke up this morning, I felt good about today.   Even if the scale was the same as last week, that would be OK.  I learned my less and was still on target of reaching my first goal of the program-shed 24 pounds by the end of the 12 week program.   Surely I could to shed the 3.8 more pounds in these final 5 weeks.   My little angel and I were once again renewed, feeling strong, and motivated again.   More importantly, my little devil had been scolded and put back in place.

Unfortunatly, there was just one minor little problem that neither my little angel, devil or myself remembered to take into account when figuring out what number would pop up on the scale this morning.  And that problem was.....   

You cannot control Mother Nature!  

Much to my chagrin, I failed to take into account my other little calendar and newest monthly pimple that appeared on my face.  Needless to say, instead of just showing me at the same weight I was last week - the scaled double beeped this week, an shockingly showed I GAINED 1.8 pounds!!!!    

My first reaction was to just be angry at myself.  Had I been more on track and not let emotional stress and people sabotage my efforts, I could have still shown a loss on the scale, despite Mother Nature making her monthly visit. 

Immediately, however, my little angel kicked into full gear and reminded me that if I dwell too much on the things I should have done, it will give my little devil back some of her power.  Over the years I was my own worst enemy.   But I'm learning that if I "beat myself up" over what I "should" have done, it does little to help.   Worse, it usually leads to feelings of guilt and being a failure, which used to then lead to slowly giving up.  

Well not this time!  My little angel is still in control.  We both agree that I've learned from my mistakes.   We're just going to look at the positive sides of what I learned this week about myself.

  

1. I learned that my body does need exercise no matter how I'm feeling.

2.  I now understand how important it is to track my food diary throughout each day, so I can plan each meal better.

3.  Since "the time of the month" causes be to gain an extra 3-5 lbs in excess water weight, by next week, I can show an even greater weight loss amount.  Which seeing how I only need to shed 5 more pounds to get to my 24 lb weight loss goal, I'm still on target for doing.  

So yes, this week wasn't the greatest according to the scale.  But I'm still considering it as a little win for my little angel and me.  To sum it up, I'll compare it to the Chutes and Ladders, since I just played with my niece, McKenzie.  In the past, when days liked this happened, it was like landing on a chutes space where you slide all the way back to the start of the game.   But today, I was able for the first time to make more like just a little step back, but next week, I'm rolling the 6 that I need to take the next ladder up!    

Side Note - I shared my Mexican Chicken Recipe (see below) with my group and they loved it.  I told them how many of my supporters told me I should make a cookbook with all my recipes and explaining my inspirations and thoughts along my weight loss journey to a healthier life.  They loved it and said they would all buy copies!   So thank you to all of you who continue to inspire me!   There will always be a special place in my heart for all of you!