"You must be getting close."

Music to my ears! That's what Frank said when I weighed in this morning. I've lost 52 pounds but I still have 30+ to go. No, I'm not getting close but I'm making good progress.

I didn't realize I hadn't posted since January. I had an eventful winter and spring. We sent our two dogs to Dog Heaven. My father died. We adopted a sweet but fearful dog. And I continued to suffer nausea and stomach pain courtesy of the antibiotics I've been taking for chronic Lyme disease.

It still doesn't feel like I earned my weight loss. But I'm starting to think maybe I'm actually eating better. I started an injected antibiotic a couple of weeks ago, partly to give my stomach a rest and partly to switch things up. I've continued to lose weight.

Still, I'm currently on a screwy diet in an attempt to see if food sensitivities may be causing some of my fatigue. I don't feel any less tired. But I've been limited in what I can eat so I'm not yet confident that I'll continue to lose weight after these external forces are no longer there.

But, hey, I've lost over 50 pounds!

"Deathly Ill Becomes You"

That's what my leader said when I weighed in this morning. Before I got on the scale I told her I'd been deathly ill all week. I lost 4.4 pounds this week for a total loss of 36 pounds. It's the least I've weighed since I joined Weight Watchers. I'm also no longer obese, and haven't been for three weeks.

I was sick all week with a really nasty cold. Even though I barely moved for two days, I also ate very little for most of the week. That, and I'm still taking the higher-dosage thyroid medication.

So, instead of crediting my weight loss to strict adherence to the new Weight Watchers eating plan, I have to give the nod to my thyroid meds, the nausea-inducing antibiotics, and an appetite-sapping rhinovirus.

I'm not complaining, mind you, but I am concerned that I won't be able to keep the weight off if I have to reduce my thyroid meds as my weight declines, or when I finish the wretched antibiotics and recover from all the bugs circulating. My leader is awesome and she understood my reluctance to celebrate while also congratulating me.

My concern is one reason I'm contemplating going back to the Simply Filling Technique (although the last time I was on it, it was called "Core"; what is it with Weight Watchers and all these jaw-breaking names?). If I can learn what it's like to eat until I'm satisfied while I'm losing weight for other reasons, maybe I'll be able to continue eating that way later.

Back to the Future

At my last weigh in, I lost another 1.5 pounds for a total of 25.4 pounds lost. I'm back to having lost over 25 pounds and being below the 10% mark. Unfortunately, I haven't been following the new PointsPlus™ plan to lose this weight.

The glass-is-half-full perspective is that 1) my metabolism is finally getting what it needs to function properly with the latest increase in my thyroid meds and 2) I might again be eating to satisfaction instead of for sport.

The glass-is-half-empty perspective is probably more accurate: I'm taking three antibiotics for Lyme disease and the third one (Flagyl) upsets my stomach, making eating fairly unpleasant. I don't mind losing weight but I'd really rather learn to control my eating. PointsPlus™ is a good plan and I'd really rather follow it. Instead, I'm eating what I can when I can.

On a completely different note, I've been thinking about how PointsPlus™ puts emphasis on protein, which is tough for a Carb Queen. But I'm okay with that because I know I need more protein and should eat fewer starchy carbs. So, even with my tummy troubles, I'm working on feeling satisfied with higher-protein foods.