Weighty Wednesday -- Frustrations

Though I was really a slacker with my tracking last week, I managed to lose 0.6 lbs--and that was with yoga pants on and not shorts.

--and I have no idea how that happened. It was probably a fluke.

I never bothered to weigh myself at home trying on one set of clothes and then the other, I just went with the yoga pants because it's been a little chilly here in the morning.

Six more pounds to go to get back to my goal weight.

Yeah, it's just as frustrating as it was to lose-plateau-lose-plateau-gain the second time around as much as it was the first time.

It doesn't help that the candy making process has been severely frustrating this week.

I thought I'd knock out 5 1-pound boxes of sea salt caramels and then all I'd have to do to fill the 15 varieties of truffles for the next 5 1-pound boxes.

Well, nothing goes astray like a well-laid plan.

I did manage to get the milk chocolate parts of three boxes finished, but then things didn't go my way.

Sea Salt Caramels (what they should look like!)

--the chocolate was slightly too warm causing the fork to stick to the caramel

-- AND the entire caramel to collapse when it dried.

--I made the sizes for the caramels too small

--I made the sizes for the caramels too large

--I made two fresh batches of caramel, but they managed to be too soft, which means they started melting under the heat of the lights.

Frustrations of standing and working the candy for three hours only to end up with about three pounds of Sea Salt Caramels that I can't use because they won't fit in the candy forms in the boxes.

*sigh*

Back to square one.

Make a batch of caramel AND when it's firm, I'm putting it in the freezer for a day or two BEFORE I go through the process of dipping the chocolates.

Repeat this process three times.

I know I'll be using these caramels, so making extra won't be a killer.

It's simply frustrating.

Just like losing weight. Sometimes you have to wipe the mental slate clean and start back at square one. This can happen anytime on your journey. The key is to heave a great sigh, forgive yourself, and start the next day with a brand new well-laid plan.

Later, Peeps!

Weighty Wednesday -- Back to Square One

Sort of, but not really. Mentally, yes, I was back to square one.

Weight-wise, it isn't as bad as it was when I joined WW, but I have managed to lazy my way back into poor habits.

And how do we nip those naughty habits?

By going back to what works, and what worked for me in the beginning of this journey was focused tracking, measuring and weighing.

I knew I was heading down this slippery slope for about a couple of months now, but I hadn't reached the point of no return. . .  until I binged on my Easter candy. Last Sunday, was the last straw when I managed to eat two monstrous bagels from Panera Bread, not just bagels, but cinnamon crunch ones with lots of honey-walnut cream cheese. And then, I topped it off by enjoying my homemade heart attack pizza, which is loaded with all sorts of processed meats and cheeses.

No, none of this was 'fat-free'.

And I enjoyed every single bite of it . . . until I weighted myself before going to bed.

If you want to scare yourself straight weigh yourself prior to going to bed, AFTER a sodium-, carbo-loading day. Talk about a weight gain! Oy!

I managed to gain 7 pounds over my goal weight!

Wowzers!

On Monday, I weighted, measured, and tracked.

And discovered that I wasn't eating ENOUGH food.

Yes, you read that right. I wasn't eating enough . . . of the right kinds of food. I had to scramble at 8 PM to eat the last 8 points of my allotted 26 WW points (I changed my tracking option to weight loss mode).

On, Tuesday, I had to scramble to eat 4 extra points.

Which means, I was getting a handle again on spreading my points throughout the day AND marking my healthy check boxes.

And yes, I was stuffed both days.

And yes, I amped up my walking pace for both days (cold days had made me slower).

And I weighed myself this morning.

I was only 1.8 pounds over my goal weight of 132 pounds, instead of 7 pounds. Yes, I know most of what I gained was water weight due to elevated sodium and the bread carbs, but it's too easy to get into bad habits and I had to do something about it. This week, I'll continue tracking, weighing and measuring my food and go to my Tuesday meeting to weigh-in.

Oh, and I didn't NOT eat carbs or 'bad' food on Monday or Tuesday. On Monday, I had a hotdog {8 points--Hebrew National bun length hotdog (5) and bun (3)}, and on Tuesday, I ate a cheeseburger {13 points--cheese slice (2), frozen hamburger (8), and bun (3)}. These points were calculated directly off the nutritional information provided on the packages.

It can be done.

In just two days, I also realized that I tend to have 'binge' days along with 'not enough food' days. This was an interesting discovery. When I 'binged', it usually was a carb-loaded day, not a food-loaded day.

Does that make sense?

Carbs, in general, calculate out to huge amounts of points. It's very, very easy to go over your daily points and into your weekly points without eating, and enjoying, anything 'bad'.

Everything you put into your mouth is a CHOICE. Sometimes we choose to eat unhealthy, but we have to face the consequences of our actions, usually in the form of a weight gain.

It's okay to have a day like that, but the key is to face up to what happened and focus on the now. Odds are you won't suffer any lasting damage from the one day.

Food for thought.

Later, Peeps!