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?

Lost Another 2.5 Pounds!

I lost another 2.5 pounds this week. My total loss today is 116 pounds (8 stone 4 pounds).

I love that I am doing this in such a healthy and laid back way. I eat lots of food. It's all healthy, except for the occasional treat that I allow myself. And I am getting some moderate exercise each day without over-doing it.

I am able to enjoy the process of making my lifestyle healthier, but not be consumed by it. And I still get to lose the extra weight I am carrying. What could be better?

At next week's Slimming World meeting, we will be bringing food again. It's another Bring & Try night, so we'll also get to try other members' low-syn dishes. It's a Bring & Try party night in honor of Slimming World's 40th birthday.

Beautiful Day

Today was sunny and not too cold. Robert and I took the dog for his usual Saturday morning two-hour walk to a local park near us with a lake. Usually we just walk along pastures full of sheep, but today there was one full of cows, and the cows (mostly bulls) loved coming up to the fence to have their ears scratched. We brought some bread and fed the ducks. The swans were eating out of our hands.

For some reason, our dog Mercury decided that the cows were a threat and growled menacingly at them, so most of them eventually moved away from the fence. He wanted to jump into the lake after the ducks but fortunately, he restrained himself.

Later in the day, Robert and I went for a bike ride. There were a lot of bugs, but other than that, it was a beautiful ride. We rode along a park path full of trees. Occassionally, we would see squirrels dashing up trees and leaping from one tree to another.

Basically, we enjoyed a lovely day and got some exercise in that was fun and pleasant enough that it didn't really feel like exercise at all.

What did you do today? What are you doing to incorporate FUN exercise into your life?

Cookbook Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the "100 Comfort Foods" cookbook is Caitlin! Congratulations! Since posting this cookbook in the giveaway, I have found out that Slimming World will be discontinuing it. It's a terrific cookbook, and I hope you make lots of healthy meals from it.

(E-mail me with your mailing address within two weeks or a new winner will be selected. A "contact me" link is in the blog's sidebar.))

Dreams Unbound

Lyn over at Escape From Obesity recently wrote these words,
"It is in our power to conceive and generate the life we want." What an amazing quote! It is so true and it speaks to the heart of so many things, including but not limited to weight loss and fitness.

Recently, I've heard so many people complain about wanting to lose weight but not being able to find the motivation. I just want to say to them, "The only thing getting in your way is you!" but I hold my tongue lest I offend. Why does everyone think they have to wait for this elusive motivation?

When I started this weight loss journey, it was because I knew I was not living the life I wanted. I was unhealthy and unhappy with my weight, and I knew that it was in my power to change it. So I did. Seriously. We all have the power to live our dreams. All we have to do is start stepping towards them.

Lyn also wrote, "I am not chained to THIS life. You are not chained to yours."

Again, this is so true and such a simple concept that people seem to often forget. We have CHOICES, and it is our choices that lead us either in the direction we want or further away from what we want.

And this is true in every area of our lives. For instance, I keep making up excuses for not writing my stories. Sometimes, I blame my fear of failure. (What if my writing isn't good enough?) Sometimes, I blame my family. (It's never quiet enough to write,and the kids need my attention too much.) Sometimes I just blame my state of mind. (I'm too tired to write.) And sometimes I even blame my own personality.(I've always had a problem with procrastination. It's just who I am.)

But the truth is that I am not happy with this state of affairs. I have always wanted to be a writer, to work towards publication, to take the stories I have in my head and get them out there for the world to read. The only shackles keeping me from doing this are of my own making. The phrase I want to say to others who complain about lack of motivation also applies to me. The only person getting in my way is me!

So no more chains. The chains keeping me from living my dreams are completely of my own making, so it is up to me to remove the chains. And I'm going to, even if I have to do it one link at a time.

The one thing I have learned from losing over 100 pounds is that I am capable of achieving anything and everything.

I can make my dreams a reality, and I will. What about you?

Four Pounds Down!

I lost 4 pounds this week!

The really great thing about this loss is that I was really relaxed about it this week. I ate lots of healthy food and did not go hungry once. I added a little bit of exercise back into my daily routine, but only a reasonable amount. I varied my exercise to keep it fun.

And I lost 4 pounds!

Exercise this week was fun. I still went with my husband to walk the dog late at night, usually for an hour. And this week, I added in bicycling, the elliptical crosstrainer and the Wii Fit (with handweights). On one day, I would go for an hour-long bike ride with Robert. On another day, I would spend 45 minutes on the elliptical crosstrainer. On another day, I would spend an hour on the Wii Fit with the first 30 minutes on the stepper using handweights and varied arm lifts. On Saturday, Robert and I took the dog for a two-hour morning walk to and around a nearby lake. And so on.

Now, I know I won't see a 4 pound loss every week, but if I can continue in this manner and still lose weight, whether its four pounds or half a pound each week, I'll be pleased. I only have 24 pounds left to reach my goal weight!

Doing This The Right Way

I'm eating healthy and making sure I eat enough food, and I'm limiting my exercise to a reasonable daily amount. I feel good, relaxed and fit. Hopefully, my body will let me lose some weight this week.

Need Weight Loss Support?

I frequent a terrific on-line weight loss forum for women where the ladies are all really supportive and full of great ideas. There are women there from all walks of life, all ages, all different weights and all with different goals and achievements in regards to weight loss. They have weight loss challenges, exercise challenges and other challenges to participate in to help keep yourself motivated.

I just thought I should give everyone the chance to visit and find out more about them by giving a shout out about them here. It's called Body Boot Camp, and if you decide to check them out, you won't be disappointed.

Listen To My Interview With Skinny Scoopers!

The lovely ladies at Skinny Scoopers interviewed me in a podcast which you can listen to here. Ever wonder what I sound like? Well, now you can find out! They also have my story up in the Scooper Stars section here.

I was a bit self-conscious during the interview.

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.