Last Thursday, before packing up and heading out to our church’s 3-day kids camp, I decided to weigh myself. I won’t belabor you with my reasons, but let me tell you I wasn’t pleased with what I saw.
176
Um, that’s up 4 pounds from the beginning of the month. That was also after getting back into regular exercise, so I was a bit mortified. I kind of chalked it up to water retention from exercise or my muscles growing already, so I tried to not let it bother me too much.
However, while at camp I could tell in my clothing that 176 was probably a real number. Lately, I’ve noticed my middle seems fuller than it has in a long while; even before my skin removal surgery.
Sunday morning I weighed myself again, hoping I’d still see 176 because I’m always up a couple of pounds after camp, so if that number was a fluke it might still be there.
Um, no. It said 180.
Proving 176 was most likely a true reading a few days earlier.
Ugh. Double ugh. How embarrassing.
The only good thing about this revelation of where I’m truly at right now is that I did not allow that number to ruin my Sunday. Instead I decided on a plan.
- I am going back to weekly weigh-ins while losing this weight I’ve allowed to creep back on.
- I am also faithfully tracking my food daily AND making sure to stay within my calorie budget six days of the week.
- I will continue with my regular exercise, including running 2-3 days a week and HIIT classes 2-3 days a week. My goal is to exercise 4-5 days a week at minimum.
The exercise is nothing new. Outside of my surgery recovery time I’ve never really had a problem getting 4-5 days of exercise in, especially once my children return to school.
The food is a whole other ballgame and that has been my problem. I’m on day 2 of tracking and staying within my allotted calorie budget for the day and it’s going fine so far.
For the record, I have My Fitness Pal set to lose 1 pound a week, so I’m allotted 1520 calories daily. I will input my exercise, but I think I’m going to try and only eat about 1700 total, even if MFP allows me more…unless I’m truly hungry.
This is a lifelong journey and I don’t plan on starving myself back down the scale (and to where my clothes fit comfortably again). I also refuse to buy bigger clothes, because this recent thicker Leah is not my new normal.
So, there it is. I’ve seen another new highest number, I’m a tad humiliated, but instead of letting it take me down I’m choosing to make a plan.
If I don’t make it back before Friday I’ll see you then with my weigh-in — hopefully it will be less than 176. (It was already back down to 178 a day after camp…that weight never stays for long..whew!)
My New Ending 
Welcome back! Yeah, those weight gains are never fun. I am working off stress gain from the past 8 months with the whole house mess. It always comes down to food for me as well.
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So sorry you are still struggling, but it seems like you turned it around before the scale could venture any further into the 180s. Sounds like you have a solid plan to zoom out of the 170s. Back to basics is the way to go to jump start your loss again (and I really need to be practicing what I preach so I can get out of the 180s for the first time in 12 years!!!
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