It's all in how we look at things #positivethinking

photo by Connor Fyfe

Today, I took the dog for his morning walk. The ground was completely covered in frost, turning everything white. It was incredibly cold out, but my dog Mercury needed to go for his walk regardless of the weather.

I bundled up and reluctantly stepped outside. But that's when my attitude went through a transformation. Outside, with everything coated in a layer of frosty ice, all of the rubbish and litter was hidden away, being covered in the same white frost as everything else. And the sun was out, so everything sparkled and glittered in the sunshine, the ice of the frost reflecting the sunlight in bright twinkling sparkles off of every surface. I started to enjoy the beauty of it, and I was no longer a reluctant participant of the walk but someone who felt at peace and let the warmth of the sun and the beauty of the natural glitter take her mind off of the cold of the day.

Which leaves me with my message to you:

Instead of only feeling the cold of an icy day, learn to see the sparkle in it.

-----

You might be asking how this message pertains to weight loss, so I will make the connection for you (even though it's a very loose one).
Many of us have let ourselves go a bit over the recent holidays, and some of us will be stepping on the scales today and seeing a number we won't like. But instead of chastising ourselves for the weight gain, try and remember how much fun you had over the holidays and how much you enjoyed the treats you allowed yourselves, and keep in mind that the weight will come off again. There's nothing to let yourself get depressed over.


Tweet

Bloat

Okay, this is the first time I've had a gain that nearly put me into tears. Mainly because I wasn't expecting it. My Wii Fit, up until three weigh-ins ago, always weighed me pretty close to spot on with the scales at my Slimming World meeting. So I always knew ahead of time what the scales would say once I went for my weigh-in.

Then three weigh-ins ago, the scales at the meeting started weighing me lower than my Wii Fit was weighing me. Well, I had no problem with being weighed lower, and since the second time it did it again in the same amount difference, I was able to still look at how much the Wii Fit had said I lost from my Wii Fit weigh-in the week before to see how much I had lost on the Slimming World scales.

Well, this week, it seems the Wii Fit and the Slimming World scales have synced back up again. When I stepped on the Wii Fit, it showed that I had lost half a pound. Considering that I had just started my period (a week EARLY), I was pleased to see this, because lately, starting my period usually means a gain on the scales for me.

But when I weighed in at Slimming World, the scale said the exact same weight as the Wii Fit, which meant a TWO POUND GAIN for me. I literally felt tears pricking at my eyes. I was THAT disappointed!

But I've decided not to let it get me down. I'm still eating healthily. I'm still getting a healthy amount of exercise in each day. I'm happy with my progress so far.

And it's not like this week has been easy. On top of my period starting, I've had some very sick young children to deal with and very little sleep. I have learned in the past that when I'm not getting enough sleep, my body retains more water. I don't know why this is, just that it is.

And, for the month of September, I still finished at the end down 3 pounds from the beginning, despite having my period TWICE. And today starts a new week and a new month of weigh-ins. And this month, I should only have my period once instead of twice (hopefully), so I am going to plan for at least 5 pounds off by the end of October.

Five pounds is a reasonable goal that will not push me into extreme behavior.

Besides, I've been noticing other signs that I'm losing. In just this one week, despite my weight going up two pounds, my shirts have become looser on me. And I'm still down a total of 114 pounds overall, which is still really good progress! A little temporary water retention can't take that away from me.

So what do you do to stay positive when your weight loss or fitness goals hit a roadblock, however temporary it may be?

Weight Gain

I had my weigh-in yestreday, and my official weight gain is 5.5 pounds for the week. I'm okay with that, because 5 pounds is actually what I expected. This week's weight gain was PLANNED. (I'm also okay with it because the scale was showing a FIFTEEN POUND weight gain last Friday. Thank goodness a lot of it was just water weight!)

Now, my body should be completely out of starvation mode, and I am going to have to make sure that I don't over-exercise and that I eat plenty of good, healthy food from now on. I lost my weight in a healthy manner all the way up until about a month ago, and I want to go back to doing this the right way.

The idea is to be healthy and strong, not just slimmer.

Robert's body wasn't in starvation mode like mine was, but he used the past week to splurge a bit with his eating and put on 8.5 pounds. He's not overly worried about it though as he takes weight off quite quickly and easily when he wants to. He's decided to try and get at least half of it off by the next weigh-in.

Nine Pound Gain?

I won't have my official weigh-in until tomorrow, but as of today I'm up NINE POUNDS! I could cry! On Friday, that number was FIFTEEN! I'm hoping some more water weight will come off by my weigh-in tomorrow and I'll give you the number, no matter how much I dread it.

I knew it was going to happen. My weight loss kept slowing down, and I'd respond by doing more exercise and eating less, until I was eating way too little and exercising for too many hours in a day. So my body was effectively in starvation mode.

This was my week to try and get my body back in a normal mode. I spent the first four days eating lots of junk. I weighed myself Friday morning and cried for a while when I saw how much my weight had gone up in just four days, and then started eating healthy again but without limiting the amount of healthy food. I've also barely exercised this week.

I'm hoping that, in the coming weeks, my body will allow me to lose weight without starving myself and killing myself with exercise. It's okay to exercise, but I really was doing way too much.

But yah, even though I knew I was going to gain this week, I had no clue how MUCH it was going to be. *sigh*

My goal is to be HEALTHY, not just to lose weight.

This Week's Weigh-In

Last night's weigh-in was not good. Despite putting in a lot of effort this week, I gained a pound. It is really depressing thing to have happen. To exercise and eat healthy and feel really good about how you've done during the week and then to see that you have actually gained a pound instead of losing the two pounds you were hoping to lose is a frustrating event.

I did not do my elliptical crosstraining exercise because the machine is still broken, but I made the effort to do 30 minutes to an hour of Wii Fit aerobic exercise each day and I went out in the freezing cold with my husband each night to take the dog on long walks. I ate even better (low calories and fat) than usual.

Robert did really well this week too, but he still saw a gain of one and a half pounds on the scale.

This is my biggest one week gain since I started this healthy lifestyle, and this is the first time Robert has seen a gain for two weeks in a row, as well as the first time he's seen a gain when he's actually tried for a loss.

I keep thinking, What more can we do?

I can do one of two things now. I can just say, "Screw it," and let myself feel discouraged enough to quit trying, or I can suck it up and keep trying and hope to see a loss on the scale next week. Guess which one I am going to do.

Almost Forgot To Mention My Weigh-in!

Oh, and I was UP half a pound this week at Monday's weigh-in despite being really good with my eating and exercise this week. I guess it's all down to the upredictability of being at this stage of the pregnancy. *sigh*

It was still frustrating to see.

But I am still down 46 pounds.

Gained

Well, the verdict is in and, despite all of my hard work, I am up half a pound this week. Still, I'm 38 weeks and 3 days pregnant, so I am still doing pretty good, and maybe I'll see a loss next week as long as I keep up the hard work.

My Slimming World consultant asked if I'd be okay with being featured in our local paper about my 43 pound weight loss while pregnant. I think it'd be interesting to do, and it might help me keep my motivation too.

This Week's Weigh-In

Extra exercise was not enough to counteract the Chinese food I ate on Saturday. I went up half a pound at the weigh-in. However, I am due to give birth in 3 weeks and 4 days, so a half pound gain this week is not as horrifying as it would otherwise be. I am certain I will lose at least one more pound before this baby arrives. I will just keep working at it.

And I'm still down a total of 41 pounds.

No giving up!

Kick In The Teeth

I gained a pound! I am telling myself all the rational arguments about being in the later stage in my pregnancy and the baby gaining weight, etc, but it still feels like a kick in the teeth.

It's my first gain throughout this pregnancy, and I am still down a total of 35.5 pounds, but knowing all of this doesn't make me feel any better about it.

But it's just strengthened my resolve to be even better this week, and to exercise no matter how much my SPD/sciatica pains me.