Day 8–Thursday–Week 1 Weigh In

I noticed my shadow as I walked this morning. Sometimes your shadow can distort reality and make you look thinner than you really are. I am not sure if that is true or not in this photo from the front, I look really tall but I definitely look wide. :)

Not really looking any thinner from the side either:

I actually am excited to see how this will change as I go down this road to better health.

Today was weigh in day. The morning was going great. I was on day 5 of walking, without missing once. I felt really good about my week, I had tracked my food every day, stayed within my points allowance, didn’t use up all of my weekly points or any of my activity points. I was sure I would have a good first weigh in.

I weigh myself everyday. I know every weight loss expert tells you not to do this. I have to. It is when I don’t that I fall astray. It is a lot easier for me to eat more than I should if I don’t have to stare accountability in the face each morning.

Over the years I have gotten a lot of perspective on weighing myself each day. I don’t really get worried about fluctuations day to day. I know they happen. I accept when I ate more than I should in the previous day or days that the scale is going to probably show an up. I know that it will go down mysteriously one day and then be back to reality the next day.

I know all of this. I still weigh myself….every single day. Mike thinks I am crazy.

After I got dressed, I figured I would step on the scale to see what I could expect when I weighed in at lunch today. I always like to know what to expect and to have a gauge on how the Weight Watchers scale differs from mine.

And that is when my balloon popped.

Nothing. Exactly the same. No loss.

What?

How could that even be possible????

A few minutes later I was getting ready to leave for work and Mike asked me what was wrong. I couldn’t help it. The tears sprung to my eyes immediately. I was frustrated. I had done everything right.

I had never not lost the first week. Especially when I had done so well getting myself back on the program.

Mike reminded me that this is the part that happens sometimes. And I can’t let it throw me off. I need to keep working at it and the weight loss will come. He reminded me that the scale fluctuates from day to day and hour to hour. It was one reason he wasn’t sure if re-joining Weight Watchers was the best idea, because I get too wrapped up in weigh-in day.

I know these things but I was mad. I couldn’t even listen to my normal podcasts driving to work. I listened to music hoping I could find some songs with lyrics that would boost my determination and mostly heard talking and commercials. LOL! What a cruel joke!

By the time I got to work, I had settled down. I reminded myself it was one weigh-in day in what is going to be a very long journey. So I’ll just suck it up and move on. It’s a new week.

I sent Mike an e-mail after I got to work:

Me: Pity party is over. Thanks for being supportive this morning.

Mike: You're welcome. And I know it is frustrating. But I'm sure, regardless of what the scale says this morning, that what you have been doing in the first week is somehow benefiting your health and body. The scale will catch up.

Me: My horoscope that I read before I weighed myself this morning said this:

“You have some resistance to sinking into the shadows of your thoughts, because you usually prefer to take a sunny philosophical approach to life. Now, however, it may be more advantageous to slip quietly into the darkness, knowing that words won't adequately describe all that occurs. Even if daydreaming leads you to unpleasant memories, they will pass. Remember, this exploration is about psychological and spiritual growth, so imagine that you're setting off on an exciting journey of discovery.”

I had thought whatever, I am in a great mood today. 20 minutes later I weighed myself and was in a funk until around when I got to work. I thought about what you said and you are right. I am doing what I should be to become healthy. So screw it, it’s just one weigh in. It isn’t going to stop me from doing the things I know I should be doing to get where I want to be.

Mike: It will take time. Unfortunately, it takes time. But, we all need to have a healthy lifestyle. No matter what your weight is, people should exercise and eat healthy.

I will not make it through this without him.

Lunch time rolled around and it was time to head to Weight Watchers. When I went to weigh in, my leader Gretchen asked me how my first week went. I told her great, but I knew it wasn’t going to show up on the scale.

She laughed at me.

I lost 2.4 pounds!

I told her I had weighed myself at home this morning and had no loss. She told me that the scales there were more accurate than home scales. I told her my scale at home was a Weight Watchers scale.

She laughed at me (I’m laughing at myself now too). She told me their scale is not a Weight Watchers scale. Ha!

I sat down and sent Mike this:

So here are my new stats:

Since re-joining Weight Watchers	-2.4
Total loss since 2011	-11.9
Loss remaining to reach goal	-115.6

Let’s see how I did on my goals for the week.

Week 1 Goals:

Read all the Weight Watcher materials I received in the meeting	Done
Track my food and activity each day	Done
Achieve the activity point goal set for me by walking 30 minutes a day for 5 days	Done – earned 15 points, 1 more than my target for the first week
Manage my weekly points allowance for the party we are attending on Saturday	Done