Tips for a Successful Weight Loss Week

I went to my Weight Watchers meeting this morning.  When I weighed in the receptionist looked at me with wide eyes and said, "You lost 3 pounds!"

I replied, "That's what happens when you follow the plan." I will admit that it has been a couple of months since I have faithfully followed the plan for the entire week. I'm sorry if that sounds sad but I'm just as human as all of you.  The proof is in the number of pounds that I still have to lose from the holidays.  I'm not sharing that number right now. I'm not even calculating it for myself.

This week I buckled down.  Here's what I did to lose 3 pounds:

1. I tracked everything.  Every BLT was tracked. (That's bite, lick and taste).  I went out on a double date with some friends on Saturday night and tracked what I ate by taking notes in my phone. I had ice cream with chocolate sauce 2 nights last week but I tracked them both.

2. I treated the weekend as just another 2 days.  Weekends have always been my biggest challenge. This past weekend I ate out one night but still tracked it all.  I didn't go crazy.  I ordered a meal that I knew I would enjoy but would still be within my points budget.  On Sunday after coming home from a long, busy morning at church (we spend 5 hours at church volunteering and working every week) I didn't eat to make up for the fact that I was tired.  I ate a normal, healthy lunch and then took a nap with Samuel.  I never take naps.  This was a smart move because I often eat when I am tired and I was exhausted.

3. I exercised 5 days.  My goal was to exercise 4 days and I attained my goal.  No matter how busy my days got and how tempting it was to skip my workout, I did my exercises.  I felt accomplished, thinner and stronger.  Exercising is a great way to minimize stress too.  I even upped my time from 20 minutes a day to 30 minutes per day.

4. I wasn't afraid of hunger.  After a couple of months of being on a rollercoaster and steadily going up on the scale, I was a bit hungry on a few days when I was sticking to my points budget. A little bit of hunger is okay. It was actually refreshing.  I went way too many weeks without remembering what hunger felt like.  Don't get me wrong. I wasn't famished, I was just a bit hungry from time to time.

5. I ate my fruits and veggies.  In my house we are challenging ourselves to eat a fruit or veggie with every meal or snack.  It's making a difference. I'm eating smaller portions of the other food groups because the fruits or veggies fill me up so it's easier to stick to my points budget.  I'm snacking less, it's giving me more energy and it's keeping me healthy.

I am happy to say that when my leader asked us today what we would change for this week that I had a hard time thinking of anything to change.  My goal this week is just to do it all again.  I don't plan on losing another 3 pounds but any loss would be a good loss.  I still have "holiday weight" to lose.  I'm not crunching the numbers right now.  When I get tempted to do that, I stop myself because I'm pretty sure the results would frustrate me.  When I lose a bit more, I'll see how much more I have to go.  Right now, I'm just taking it one day and one week at a time.

Have a great day,

Corinna

"Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinner tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers; but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper." -Psalm 1:1-3