Weight Watchers - Week 9!

Gained a pound, but that was to be expected this week due to *ahem* water retention. And a few too many spoonfuls of peanut butter yesterday that my hormones were demanding.

I'm actually pretty proud of myself, because I've not been exactly on plan this last week - a lot of family/friend time, not cooking at home, had a work event... but I managed to maintain all week and didn't see a gain (which again was to be expected) until yesterday. I intend for this to be a way of life (obviously), and I have surprised myself by how well I am able to control my eating when I'm not eating at home, or something pre-planned due to outside-of-home-and-work plans. I didn't even really think about it until after the fact, actually. For instance, at my M-I-L's last week, we had spaghetti, salad and garlic bread. I filled 3/4 my plate with salad, took a tiny amount of spaghetti, the smallest piece of garlic bread and said "no, thanks" to the birthday cake without even thinking twice. I was fully satisfied and didn't feel like I was missing out on anything. In fact, it was the salad that I was really craving and hit the spot for me.

At our work event, I went a little crazy with the appetizers (they were good!) but when dinner rolled around, I skipped the bread, ate less than half of what was on my plate, and only about half of the dessert. Again, I didn't really think about it or stress over it, it came naturally. Normally, I would eat: a) until everything was gone, or b) until my stomach burst (whichever came first). Again, I was plenty satisfied and didn't feel like I was missing out.

When I started the WW plan, I had a lot of food guilt at first. If I ate one thing off plan I really struggled with feeling like I was undo-ing all my hard work. It's not that I am getting lazier with it now, but I am more forgiving of myself. I am not a robot, and it's ok to slip as long as I track it and work the rest of my day/week around it. However, it doesn't take a genius to figure out I feel better and look better when I stick with it.

A lot of my confidence comes from knowing I am halfway to my goal (maybe more - I may have set the weight bar too low for myself and with more toning/muscle I will have a better idea of where I should be when I get there), and that good choices have become habits. I don't think maintaining will be a problem once I get to goal. Although at first I was frustrated when I wasn't losing 3 lbs every week, I now see that as a blessing. For starters, I don't have a lot of fat left to lose. If I did, it would be coming off faster! My stomach and arms are what I want to work on the most, but even they aren't too bad - they just need more toning. Even though my weight hasn't changed dramatically in the last few weeks, the shape of my legs has! I wore a dress yesterday and I was like "Who do those thighs belong to?" because they definitely didn't look like mine. Also, numerous studies show that people who lose 2 lbs or less per week are more likely to keep it off long-term. And that, my friends, is my goal. It's not about getting there as quickly as possible, it's about STAYING there once I get there.

I absolutely love the changes that losing just 10 lbs has brought to my life. When Josh takes my picture, I no longer ask him to just get me from the chest up... I'm like "get my waist in!"



Let me tell ya, that waist was MIA for a looooong time! I'm thrilled to be showing it's return. Stay tuned for more progress. :)

Have a great Wednesday!