still excited about losing weight...

though you would never know it since I haven't written about my weight loss journey in ages! So here is the update. Yesterday was a bit of a disappointment since I went to my Weight Watchers meeting fully expecting to be the same weight as I was the week before. I was convinced I didn't lose weight, but thought I hadn't gained either. Surprise- I gained 2.6 pounds which really kind of stinks because two weeks prior, I had just lost 3.2 pounds over a two week period of time. Argghhh! ! ! I'd say easy come easy go, but losing weight is not easy. So what am I learning? I'm learning that I lost those 3.2 pounds because I was recently under a bit of stress. So much so that I lost my appetite which made it quite easy to lose weight. Everything is completely fine now as is evident by this weeks weight gain. It's not that I didn't eat when I was under the recent stresses either. In fact I made sure that I ate very well. I just didn't eat anything more than what I absolutely had too, which was easy. I was literally forcing myself to eat. It lasted for a full seven days. I actually lost more than 3.2 pounds but like any quick weight loss, the minute I began to eat relatively normal I gained weight immediately.
The other side of this is the fact that in reality everything is not fine. Yes the stress of what just happened is gone but I just gained weight and that means I am moving in the opposite direction of where I want to be right now. So I have to look at that.
My WW leader said some interesting things at yesterdays meeting. She said most people underestimate how much they eat and overestimate how much they move. She also said that nobody follows this program 100% but if you follow it 75% you will still be successful. She also said that lots of people follow it 25-50% which made me pause to think about my own percentages. I started this program last November 10. So far I have lost 12 pounds. It has taken me nine months. I can't really say I'm displeased with that. I'm 12 pounds lighter, how could I possibly be unhappy about that? If I were to try and carry 12 pounds of anything around for more than half an hour, I am sure I would be very uncomfortable. With that said, my life has improved considerably due too my recent weight loss. That sure beats my being dissatisfied with what I've done. A bad attitude just doesn't help me. Besides, that is what I had towards the end of my last stint at WW and that type of thinking just made me gain the weight back that I had lost.
I remember not too long ago talking with my DR about losing weight and he suggested I try and lose a pound a month. I thought that was crazy. Who would want to lose a mere pound a month? That is too slow, boring, unproductive I rationalized in my mind as I sat there politely humoring him. Now I'm thinking maybe that will actually work, at least for me anyway. Dismissing it at the time as being way to low of a goal, I didn't think that maybe he was factoring in all the ups and downs along the way- figuring anyone could average a pound a month.
More next time...