Where've I Been???

Whew! It's been a whirlwind life since I last posted. We had two different house guests for 2 weeks...I've been to the vet at least once a week for the last month...finished up Petey's vacation...trying to keep up with the yardwork and veggie garden and flower beds. 


But I haven't slacked off on the healthy eating, if anyone was thinking, "I wonder if she hasn't posted because she's fallen off the wagon?!" So here's a quick rundown of my weekly weigh-ins:


May 24th - lost .6 pound


May 31st - lost 2 pounds, hit 10% weight loss, got a neat "10" keychain, also got a 5lb sticker


June 7th - lost 1.4 pounds, hit my goal weight! actually almost 1 lb under my goal weight, got a charm to put on my "10" keychain


Now the scary part started...maintenance! Then I figured to just keep eating the way I'd been eating because I could still lose another couple of pounds to be at the bottom of my goal weight range.


June 14th - lost .2 pound, got a Bravo sticker for having 60 days in a row of exercise/activity. I told our WW leader, Kim, that I didn't really deserve a sticker for that since that's just every day life for me but she still gave it to me  = )


June 21st - lost .4 pound, actually lost 1.4 pounds but that would've put me under my goal weight range so I drank a protein shake before I weighed in at the meeting


And NOW the official maintenance mode starts! I hit on what I think is going to work out to be a perfect solution for me: don't change the way I ate in weight-loss mode, just eat 2 - 4 points worth of nuts when my nightly weight is on the lower end.


This is always the problem for me with trying to maintain. I can never get it just right where I only vary a couple pounds over the long-term. If I add food back in, I invariably add too much and immediately gain. 


So to keep my eating the same as what I've been doing for the past 3 months and just add in a special, select food when necessary sounds like it just might be my ticket to success this time!


The most thrilling number on the scale has not been my weight, although it's WONDERFUL to be back in the teens again!! No, I'm most thrilled with the 10% drop in my body fat number. And my size 6's are a little loose, just how I like them. 


My running pace continues to improve. The upper-thigh-rubbing is almost to the point where I don't even notice or think about it so I'm close to another goal there. I still look "chubby" around my middle section when I see myself in pictures  = (


So my main goal right now is to make it 3 more weeks maintaining until I hit Lifetime with Weight Watchers. I'll get another charm for my "10" keychain and all my meetings and eTools will be FREE from then on as long as I maintain my goal weight range.


I'm feeling SOOOOO much more confident in being able to maintain now that I have a plan of what to do...one that doesn't involve eating more food...more of the same food I've been eating, I mean. But if my nightly weight is less than 122, I'll have 2 - 4 points of nuts the next day. 


And where I need to be on guard is when my mind says "you've hit your goal weight, now you can have 'this' "...usually meaning treat food. I did very well at potluck yesterday...I need to fight with all my power to think, remember and believe NOTHING CHANGES...eat the same way I've been eating...just because I hit my goal weight, I can't "go back" to anything I was doing before because it wasn't working then and it won't work now!


I like the way I've been eating for the past 3 months and I'm perfectly happy to eat that way the rest of my life. It's not my stomach or body that's wanting me to eat treat foods...it's all in my head! So my head is where the battle is...one part of my brain saying, "it's ok, you can have that now!" and my other part saying "nothing changes...you didn't allow yourself to eat it then because you knew it wasn't good for reaching your goal, so don't allow yourself to eat it now!"


Another goal I'd like to work on now is to lower my body fat percentage while gaining an equal amount of muscle so that my weight stays the same. I've been doing some investigating on tweaking my diet to help with this. Also what kind of weight-lifting or other strength activities are necessary to lower body fat.


Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me and encouraging me!