I lost 3.4 pounds this week for a total loss of 22.4 pounds. It's, um, been a while since I've seen this weight on the scale.
Was I happy? Are you kidding? I was ecstatic!
How did this happen? Oh, gee, I did something very simple (and very difficult): I tracked. Yep, followed the rules.
Am I surprised? No way. Since my first diet at the age of 14? 15? 16? I've known that the way to lose weight is to count calories.
The only time I did not have to count calories was when my thyroid "mal-functioned" and gave me energy and the ability to eat sensibly. Silly me, I thought I'd figured out how to keep my weight down and my energy up by exercising and eating well.
My thyroid crashed nine years ago and I've been trying to find a way to live with the change ever since. Oh, I've had some other physical challenges along the way -- Lyme disease, fibromyalgia, periodic leg movement disorder (a sleep disorder), restless leg syndrome, depression, chronic fatigue -- but the primary challenge as far as my weight is concerned has been mental. I just could not make myself stick to a program.
I joined Weight Watchers because I knew I could no longer manage my weight without help. And so I've kept at it regardless of the numbers on the scale because I know I'll probably never be able to go it alone again.
One week's tracking doesn't mean I've overcome the mental obstacle that has made it so difficult for me to track. Still, it's the most disciplined tracking I've achieved since I joined Weight Watchers in October of 2007.
Tomorrow I'm flying to Michigan to see family. It's a full day of eating challenges. I've bought, counted, and prepared a day's worth of meals and snacks that should help me avoid the temptations of airport food. Next I'll face a full week of eating challenges because I'll be eating out a lot while in Michigan.
I've just learned that I might not have Internet access for a while in Michigan. What? No eTools? Yikes! Regardless of how I do without eTools and what I see on the scales at my next weigh-in, I know I'll be back to tracking ASAP.
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
New Resolve
I haven't posted for a while because I've been doing so poorly. My current weight loss is 19 pounds. I gained three weeks in a row. I was definitely disheartened.
Then I did two things.
First, I realized that I've got to work the program. I just have to. There are lots of other things I'd like to improve about myself but I've decided that weight loss gets top priority. For me, working the program means tracking; as much as I like the idea of Simply Filling Technique (still a lousy name compared to Core), I can't seem to stick to it right now.
After last Saturday's meeting, I knew I just had to knuckle down and start tracking. I've often started the week with the paper tracker but never finished a week with it. I'm rarely far from a computer so I'm tracking completely online with eTools. This is Day 3 of my New Resolve and I've stuck to the program so far.
The second thing I did was to realize that I needed to treat my Lyme disease. I have chronic Lyme, which some physicians say doesn't exist. Well, maybe it doesn't exist for some people but it definitely exists for me. I continue to test positive for Lyme and I still have symptoms despite five years of daily antibiotics.
About a year ago, I decided I'd had it with all the pills and the rigorous schedule (four times a day, evenly spaced, no dairy or minerals taken within two hours either side of taking the antibiotics . . . you get the idea). So I stopped.
I'd been thinking for a while that I needed to do a short course of antibiotics to clear my system. Last week I finally finished up all the annual reporting projects I had on my plate and decided to take antibiotics for four days. It had occurred to me that I couldn't stick with the program because those nasty Lyme critters were interfering with my willpower.
When one takes antibiotics, many of the bugs die at once and release toxins that make one sicker than before. It's called a herx (short for Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, first observed with syphilis patients) and it's miserable.
After four days of aches and pains and brain fog, I'm feeling much better. And I'm having no trouble sticking to my New Resolve!
Then I did two things.
First, I realized that I've got to work the program. I just have to. There are lots of other things I'd like to improve about myself but I've decided that weight loss gets top priority. For me, working the program means tracking; as much as I like the idea of Simply Filling Technique (still a lousy name compared to Core), I can't seem to stick to it right now.
After last Saturday's meeting, I knew I just had to knuckle down and start tracking. I've often started the week with the paper tracker but never finished a week with it. I'm rarely far from a computer so I'm tracking completely online with eTools. This is Day 3 of my New Resolve and I've stuck to the program so far.
The second thing I did was to realize that I needed to treat my Lyme disease. I have chronic Lyme, which some physicians say doesn't exist. Well, maybe it doesn't exist for some people but it definitely exists for me. I continue to test positive for Lyme and I still have symptoms despite five years of daily antibiotics.
About a year ago, I decided I'd had it with all the pills and the rigorous schedule (four times a day, evenly spaced, no dairy or minerals taken within two hours either side of taking the antibiotics . . . you get the idea). So I stopped.
I'd been thinking for a while that I needed to do a short course of antibiotics to clear my system. Last week I finally finished up all the annual reporting projects I had on my plate and decided to take antibiotics for four days. It had occurred to me that I couldn't stick with the program because those nasty Lyme critters were interfering with my willpower.
When one takes antibiotics, many of the bugs die at once and release toxins that make one sicker than before. It's called a herx (short for Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction, first observed with syphilis patients) and it's miserable.
After four days of aches and pains and brain fog, I'm feeling much better. And I'm having no trouble sticking to my New Resolve!
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