This week before I discuss my results, I'd like to talk a little about the last few days. On Thursday night, my best friend and I splurged with Chinese take-out and a movie. While I opted for brown rice instead of fried rice, I'm sure the rest of the meal, coupled with the amount I ate, tips the scale well into the "unhealthy" category. (Pretty much everything but the rice was fried and covered in sauce...and I probably ate enough to feed a small army...) I'm fully aware this violates at least one of my "rules." (Don't sit down in front of the TV with more food than you should eat...and for goodness's sake, don't EVER sit down in front of the TV with unhealthy food.) Setting aside the horror...the shame...there's another rule that I think gets too little attention when people undertake major lifestyle changes. And if it's not a rule, it should be.
Rule: Find ways to enjoy yourself. If this means the occasional pig-out in front of the TV, then so be it. Just make it an occasional treat rather than a regular thing.
Balancing Rule: After an evening of overindulgence, take the next couple days to work a bit harder then you normally do.
So bearing these rules in mind, and recognizing that a weigh-in after a pig-out night usually isn't pretty--not because of real weight gain, but because of whatever water (etc) the body's holding onto after all that delicious garbage food--realizing all that, I hopped on the scale Friday morning for a mid-week damage assessment. I was well aware that the results would be skewed, but it was just the little nudge I needed to hunker down and really follow the aforementioned Balancing Rule for the rest of the week. I mean, my official weekly weigh-in was only three days away!
So all day Friday I took it easy on the food. It wasn't hard, because the abnormally heavy meal from Thursday night had left me a little queasy. Then over the weekend, I made a point of finding lighter-than-usual fare to balance the Thursday tomfoolery. Again, I didn't go hungry...I wasn't miserable...I just made extra-healthy choices and carefully monitored my "fullness level" carefully. Tip: While you're eating...before you think you're full, make a point of slowing down to see if your body's just taking a bit to catch up. I'm almost always surprised to realize that I actually am full and it just took my body a few minutes to register it!
After three days of extra care, my results this morning were still a little surprising. I'm not sure if this is an indication that I overcompensated for Thursday night, but this morning when I got on the scale, it registered (and the wii confirmed) that I'd dropped another four pounds.
Total weight loss to date: 22 pounds!
I'm nearly halfway to an iPad! More than that, I've learned something this week. (cue 80's sitcom "moral of the story" music) I've learned that I'm really in control. If I want to lose weight, I can. If I want to splurge on the rare occasion, it's an option I can entertain without derailing my progress.
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