Saturday, February 4, 2012

Weight loss enemy #1: The weekend

Remember last weekend when I proudly declared that I had lost 4.6 pounds in 5 days?

So do I.  That was awesome.

Remember last Monday morning--two days later--when I got on the scale and had gained back over the weekend pretty much all of that?

I do.  Opposite of awesome.

Welcome to my life for the last several months or more.  I have a special gift for sabotaging myself weekend after weekend.

Eat nearly perfectly Monday-Friday.  Good.
Get up at 4:30 a.m. six mornings per week and work out hard.  Really good.
Turn a couple of cheat meals on the weekend into an Olympic sport.  Bad.
Spend the next five days trying to RE-lose those pounds I lost and then RE-gained over the weekend.  BAD.  All caps.

What's that saying about the definition of insanity?  Google it if you don't know.

I have been losing the same 4-5 pounds for months and months now.  Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is making me ins... well... you know.

So, while the scale this morning shows a loss of 1.2 pounds from last week's weigh-in, it does not tell the whole story.  From last MONDAY until now, I've lost 5 pounds, after gaining back nearly all of what I lost last week.

Which is stupid.  Really, really, stupid.

What this means is that I am perfectly capable of losing around 5 pounds per week.  As hard as I work and as well as I'm eating, this is a completely reasonable expectation.  But because I am FREAKING INSANE, I'm ending up with a net loss of 1 pound.  Or even zero pounds sometimes.

Not reasonable.  Not even a little bit.

I work too hard and need this TOO BADLY to keep failing myself in this way week after week, month after month.

So I have a new goal.  No more gaining on the weekends.  I WILL, at the very least, maintain for the weekend, so that those five gross pounds (emphasis on gross) become five NET pounds.

And so that, when my friends go and Google the definition of insanity, they won't see this:



I'll be back Monday to report.

8 comments:

  1. We are actually living parallel lives. If weekends didn't exist I'd lose my mind thanks to my job, but I'd be really skinny...and sometimes I'd pick skinny over crazy? Awful.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Weekends are definitely the hardest my friend!! So... I'm on this new eating plan and am sticking hard core to it because...well...I have to!! Anyway, I have been known to go out to dinner on the weekends and actually bring my own food to the restaurant! Yes, it's a little weird...and embarrassing at first. But hey, We are women on a mission and you gotta do what you gotta do to stay sane!! YOU CAN DO THIS!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why do you go to a restaurant if you're just going to eat your own food? You crasy. But I still love ya.

      Delete
  3. I have a friend that weighs herself on the weekends to keep herself motivated to not let it all go and eat bad on the weekends. I weigh myself on Monday mornings to keep myself motivated to not lose it on the weekends as well. Scott was trying to convince me to go get French toast for breakfast in town. I had just weighed myself and was down two pounds. I was not about to go out and gain back those two pounds in one meal. Not saying that french toast is bad but where he wanted to get it I knew it would not be good for me. I told him unless he could find a good healthy recipe for french toast then I wasn't going to have any even though it sounded SO GOOD! It takes a lot of strength and self control to stay on track! You're doing great! Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. French toast is NEVER good! Unless you don't eat it the way it was meant to be eaten. I mean, fruit on pancakes or french toast? No thank you! Those things were made for syrup! So I just stay away from them altogether. But I've really lost my taste for sugary breakfasts. I'd much rather have an egg and some whole grain toast.

      Delete
  4. I thought I was reading my life story for a minute there. The first 5 lbs are always relatively easy to lose. But then I lose motivation or have a couple cheat days, and when I see that I'm right back up to my starting weight I give up. Who wants to do all that work for nothing? I could just be sitting on the couch or better yet asleep instead of working my butt off at Zumba or on my elliptical for all the good it does me. Fortunately, I have changed my way of thinking this time around. I haven't lost a ton of weight, but I'm not giving up either! And I haven't cut out sugar entirely, but I'm doing WAY better about eating small portions or skipping it altogether. I'm still exercising too. So, while my numbers aren't Biggest Loser worthy, I'm still proud of myself. And I'm proud of you! Thanks for your example!! We can both do it!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for sharing that, Annie. I'll probably repeat this a lot, but my whole purpose in documenting this adventure of mine is to hopefully resonate with those who have had the same struggles. It's always good to feel we're not alone and that there are others out there watching and supporting us. Sounds like you're doing great!

      Delete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...