Arms up!

The roller coaster ride continues!  So today I missed my official weigh in because of work and icy weather, but according to my house scale I am back up 2 pounds.  Still down overall, but up from last week.  So frustrating, but absolutely my fault because I was super lazy this weekend (damn you season 3 of House of Cards) and I ate like crap from the end of last week through today.  My last couple workouts were totally half ass.  It was a stressful end to the week/weekend and beginning to the this week.  One of my coworkers passed away very unexpectedly.  Very sad.  She was only in her mid-40's, two young kids, husband.  Just awful.  I only had the chance to work with her for the past year, but many of my coworkers had worked with her for nearly 20 years.  It was sad to begin with, but then to watch all of them lose a close friend made it so much worse.  It has been a tough couple days for everyone at work.  I just felt kinda down in the dumps about it and had trouble getting myself moving, so I really just didn't move much.  

"Emotional" eating has always been a struggle.  This past weekend is just an example of that.  This is probably one of the biggest challenges for me.  I'm hoping that I didn't do more damage than just the two pounds.   I know one day doesn't make or break things, but I'm definitely kicking myself because I had been doing really well.  But then again, that's life, right?  Learning to balance the good and the bad and hope for more good than bad.  

The dietician has been a great move.  I have put some things back into my diet that I had to kick out for the detox, like eggs and a little dairy.  I'm still trying to keep the dairy to a minimum.  After having cut it out, whenever I do eat it, it feels like I've eaten something very heavy.  So I guess less is better with that.  I've also kinda kicked the protein shakes out unless I am absolutely crunched for time.  Solid food, even in a smaller portion, is just more satisfying.  More mental stuff to get over, I assume.  I have found that now that I'm "allowed" to have a little of the things I love, I'm not craving them much at all.  Today, I had to do a training class off site that required catering. Bagels for breakfast, pasta and salads for lunch. Hello Carbs!!!  I had half a bagel for breakfast and was satisfied.  I had a little bit of trail mix as well.  Lunch was a little tougher.  I had a big portion of salad without the dressing and only about a fistful of the pasta.  It was very doable.  I did overindulge a little with dessert, but that monster sized rice crispy treat was AWESOME!  I probably should have been a little more realistic and only had 1/3 of it, but it was so good!  

So things that have helped and worked this week are:

*  Ezekiel Bread.  I love bread.  This on makes me feel less guilty.  6 grams of protein makes it more satisfying that just plain bread.  

*  Lots of water.

*  Plenty of sleep.  I have been sleeping much better and through the night without waking up three or four times.  I've been trying to "power down" everything by 9:00 and head to my room.  No more falling asleep to a TV show.  Now I am asleep within 20 minutes of going to bed instead of tossing and turning for two hours.  

*  Keeping caffeine to a minimum.  This has been tough, but I feel a lot better in the morning when I first wake up. I assume because I am sleeping better.  I had a cup of coffee last week for the first time and when you haven't had it for 3 weeks it REALLY works!  Lol!  I'm going to try to reserve it for emergencies.

Things I'm going to try this week:

*  Working green tea into the plan.  One of my friends swears by it and the caffeine is lower.  

*  Plan better.  Another friend of mine gave me some advice from a book she's been reading about will power.  The idea is we only have so much will power and that is why sometimes we don't follow through with things later in the day.  That said, I'm going to try to do a couple morning workouts.  I just hate getting up so early, but if it means that I'll get the job done, I guess I'll at least give it a try.  

So, I am really hoping that this week is my last week of creeping back up with the pounds.  I've been gradually adding more to the workouts, whether it be weight or duration with cardio.  I'm feeling pretty good, not as good as I have in the past, but that should come with more time and effort.  Thanks again for checking in on me.  More soon...