Day 22: My 2013 MN Twins Weight Loss Challenge

Weigh-in Day

Well, I knew it would happen, but I was hoping it would be later, rather than sooner. However, I wasn't surprised at my results this week. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Yup. I went up a bit on the scale. (Details below.)

It was inevitable that it would happen, and I'm really more concerned about 1) why and 2) how I deal with it than I am about it happening at all. As I'm paying attention to what is going on in me over the last few weeks, it's pretty clear that #1 and #2 are a chicken-and-the-egg kind of debate.

Although this won't post until Wednesday morning, it's actually quite late Tuesday night as I write this. Actually, it's very early Tuesday morning. That's probably the main "why" problem. I am too tired to write too many of the details here, and I don't know that anyone else is really that interested anyway, but I don't say "no" to anything I want to do or think I should do, and that's a big part of the problem.

Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not trying to play the martyr here. Yes, I have a very busy life. But so do you and so does everyone else. A lot of the busy-ness in my life is of my own choosing. The bottom line, I'm too prideful and greedy to let one of the balls I'm tossing fall. Instead, I'm not sleeping enough, I'm stressed and every so often, a bunch of the balls crash to the ground.

When that happens, it's a lot harder for me to avoid eating as a response to stress - not hunger - and to choose nutrition first and taste second when I do eat. The "how I deal" side is much more challenging when I'm this stressed. If I fail, that can lead to a new "why" and a spiral down.

Obviously, that's going to sabatoge my hope of losing weight. So. What do I do?

I've been thinking about this. Because I'm too tired at the moment to flesh these thoughts out, I'm going to make a list of a few things that came to mind, in no particular order:

• Prioritize my commitments and let go of a few so that I can keep my sanity
• Start tracking my food & exercise so I don't have to try to keep it all in my head
• Rethink how much weight I am hoping to lose by the end of the baseball season - am I stressing myself out with too lofty a goal?
• Make a list of ways I can relieve stress or distract myself when I'm craving something more substantial but am substituting food

Just thinking about doing any or all of those things is overwhelming at the moment. I'm not going to accomplish them now. However, over the next week, I think I can come up with a few things I can let go in my life and then begin to put that into practice. I honestly think one of the most important things I can do for myself is to begin to go to bed regularly at a "normal" time. I can't do that until I start saying "no" to a few things.

I'm a bit too much like Gus Gus collecting corn.

Whiney moment for the day
Aquafit was great as usual. Somehow, when I'm there, I feel like I can conquer the world. However, when I washed my suit this evening, it ripped in the wash to the point where I couldn't be worn again. I had to order a suit, and I don't know if it will be here in time for next week. I do have another suit, but it's a tankini that's got these stupid beads on it. It will be quite ridiculous if I have to wear that next week.

Your advice

I'd be curious to hear from you in response to this question: What is a healthy behavior that helps you to relieve stress when you are overwhelmed, lonely, or frustrated? What are little things that you do every day, or somewhat regularly? What are things you do once a week/month/year? I'd love to read your comments below.

Week 3 Weigh-In Results
Last week's cumulative total: -12 lbs
This week's total: +1.5 lbs
Total weight loss: -10.5 lbs

My nifty weight chart: