Confession. Last Monday, I wasn’t annoyed that the scales showed no weight loss. I was annoyed because they showed a seven pound gain! I knew that wasn’t valid; however, I was still all kinds of irritated. If you’ll notice, as of today, 22 April 2013, the weight loss counter shows a total loss of only six pounds. So, yes, last Monday, the scales showed that for all of my efforts, I had gained a pound.
This morning, the scales show me back down at the six pound total loss. I promise that from this point forward, I will be 100% honest with you about the scale results. I didn’t want to do that last week, however, because I knew that the numbers were flawed and I knew that if I pushed through, they would correct. However, if you are just starting your weight loss journey, that kind of information could just torpedo the whole project right there – or, at least, it would have for me in times past.
So, I’m back to square two, and that’s not such a bad place to be. The momentum is heading in the right direction and the things I did last week worked; so, I will continue doing those this week:
- I drank LOTS of water – in the form of water or coffee, I drank at least 8 pints a day.
- I kept my wheat portions down to no more than two in the whole week. I satisfied my grain needs with steel cut oats. This week, I will add a little brown rice.
- I ate no more than two fruit servings per day.
- I got in at least four hours of exercise this week that included five days. I’ll be honest, a couple of those days were kind of phone-in efforts. This week, I add that I will get in four hours of exercise that include me getting sweaty and include at least five days.
As ever for those of us with chronic, self-esteem related weight issues, the keys are:
- modify my behavior. To get different results, I must do different things.
- (and this is most important) DO NOT ALLOW OLD, NEGATIVE THINKING PATTERNS TO DEFEAT ME.
I will continue to be my own best friend and defender rather than my own worst enemy.
The Daily Doty 
JonAnn, a great substitute for those yummy grains is quinoa!! It is actually a seed, rather than a grain, and so delicious!! I found a great recipe (I think it’s on allrecipes.com) for a quinoa mushroom pilaf, that I will be trying next weekend! Sounds like you are doing great! Keep up the good work!
Oh, and don’t forget that muscle weighs more than fat, so while the scale might not say so, you are doing good things for yourself!
Mmmm! I’ll be trying that quinoa mushroom pilaf, myself! That sounds great. And, I’d love to tell you that there was a muscle component this week – and there will be soon – but I’d be lying bald-facedly if I claimed it now!
Just the walking is toning those muscles, and so it is building muscle tissue. Don’t be so hard on yourself, your progress is remarkable!! When I first met Stan in 2010, we started walking 3 nights a week, over 400 miles that first year, and I lost 56 pounds, JUST WALKING!! Then I developed a heel spur, and quit walking so much, gained a bit back, now I ride a bike, either my road bike or a stationary bike if I’m in the hotel, for an hour a day. And we do weight training on the weekends, like 90 minutes in the gym every Saturday. And remember, that when you do resistance training (weights) you continue to burn fat afterward for 36 hours!!! Have you tried kettlebell workouts? Check those out, fun, pretty easy, and burn massive calories in just a few minutes!!!