I was pretty pleased to have that pop up on my screen. From a programming perspective, I found it amusing - the algorithm doesn't take into consideration the initial "big losses" most of us experience the first few weeks on plan, especially those of us in the 300lbs+ category.
I know my weight loss will slow down as my body adjusts to my healthier eating habits, and I know I will even have weeks where I gain or don't lose at all. I'm fine with that, and right now just still feeling good that I've lost enough that the system warned me. LOL
I also did my new measurements this weekend. Once I finish this post, I'll go update them individually on the My Stats page. The quick summary is that I lost a total of 8.5" off my body, but somehow gained 1" on one of my thighs. I think hubby messed up with the measuring tape last month maybe. LOL I have not yet found myself fitting into a smaller size, but here's the thing - I think the largest pair of jeans I own are a size 26 - two identical pair. I do not think I actually WORE a size 26, I think I just was lucky enough to find a few pair that had enough stretch in them that I could wear them. Most of my jeans are 24s or 22s, and I don't fit into any of them. But the two pair of 26 are definitely fitting better, without question - obviously fitting better.
I also have no real way to gauge when it comes to shirt sizes. I own a lot of 4x and 5x tops. I only wear loose, flowing tops. So I suspect it will be quite some time before I've lost enough weight to really notice that my shirts are truly too big for me. I've not yet figured out how I'm going to determine that. Mostly, I just don't plan to worry about it until I have to. I will continue to take my measurements monthly, and periodically try on smaller pairs of jeans that I own and simply go from there.
We went out for dinner twice this week - kind of unusual since we've been on plan. One night we went to Applebee's. We got their asiago steak with red potatoes and broccoli. The potatoes were excellent, the steak was decent, the broccoli was horrible. I love broccoli - I ate two bites of it. I don't think we'll be going back there for dinner for a while. Last night we decided to "treat" ourselves and go to Red Lobster. Because of our breakfast and lunch choices, we had a LOT of points available to us for dinner and we used them. Seafood stuffed mushrooms, salad (no croutons, balsamic dressing), steak and lobster with drawn butter, mashed potatoes (lower in points than the baked w/sour cream and butter) and asparagus.
Oh my goodness... it was a FANTASTIC meal! I used only the tiniest bit of the drawn butter - it was the highest point item (10 if I'd used the whole serving!!!) of what I ate. I only had two of the mushroom caps, but ate the entire lobster tail (was liberal with the lemon juice) and almost all of the steak. Definitely ate every bite of the taters and the asparagus. Most of the salad (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, carrot). It was a truly wonderful meal. Probably the best I've ever had at Red Lobster - I'm usually not a huge fan of theirs, but hubby really wanted to go there. I was so impressed. We'll definitely go back the next time we've got the points and the willingness to spend $80 on dinner. LOL
I think I'm going to write up a page about the whole, "I can't eat all of my points" phenomenon. I know it frustrates a lot of the ladies on the 100+ WW group I hang out on, and I understand why they find it frustrating when someone shows up and posts that. But I also understand what the newbies are going through in that regard. I see the same comment posted again and again, "you didn't get fat by not eating, so stop acting like you can't eat all your points," and while there is some truth to that, it is not true for everyone.
I got fat by not eating, and by making poor choices when I DID eat. When I was on the department, it didn't matter what I ate or when - I was working out 6 days a week, chasing after three small children, working part time at a private ambulance company. No matter what I did or did not put into my body, I couldn't have gained weight if I tried. I had less than 10% body fat. I could bench press over 300lbs, leg press over 1000lbs.
When I got injured and left the department, my body had no idea how to cope. Neither did I. I gained 100lbs in the first 12 months. I was mostly eating a peanut butter sandwich, a thing of Ramen noodles and a glass of milk. Once a day. That was it, and it started a pattern. My stomach (the actual organ) shrank as my belly grew. I drove the hubby and the BF crazy. We'd go out to eat and I'd pick at my food, eating only a few bites. I was rarely hungry "for" anything, and when it came time to pick something to eat, I couldn't make a decision. Nor did it help either of their waistlines that whatever I didn't finish, they usually would. I wonder how many pounds those two are carrying around just from polishing off my food. *insert guilt here* Add to that, when I'd go visit the BF, we'd eat three meals a day - unlike at home. Hubby would go to work, I wouldn't eat while he was gone. He'd come home, we'd have dinner. He'd finish what I didn't eat. But visiting the BF, we were together for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He'd want to eat all three meals, and I was with him. So he'd have his three meals, and often half of mine. If hubby was along, at least they were dividing it up between them. Nice of me to be handing so much extra food to them, huh? Not.
Suffice it to say, the concept of eating 40pts worth of food was terribly daunting, and I thought, impossible. I've learned how to adapt, and my body is thanking me for it. So I definitely understand where the other newbies are coming from, and I think I can help. I'll work on getting that page up tomorrow since I need to go to bed soon.
I forgot to take progress pictures when we did the measurements today. Hubby says we'll do them tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'll upload them to the site - but I doubt it will be for a few months. I want to be able to SEE some progress in the pictures before I start sharing them. I'm just not ready for that yet. But I will be, of that I have no doubt.
I do know that I FEEL progress. I truly am amazed by what a difference those 16lbs have made in how I feel, physically. It's such a drastic improvement. For me, with my back and my fibromyalgia, it's something of a miracle. I know that I need to get started with some sort of more formalized exercise plan, whether that be getting into the YMCA and swimming, signing up for water aerobics, getting serious about walking, getting the Wii fit setup. Right now, I'm still so happy about being able to take care of things around my house, I'm sort of basking in that. I've also got a little fear about the whole thing - I am afraid of pushing myself into a fibro flare by overdoing it. It's so easy to overdo it when you finally feel some lessening of the pain, but it's a trap, and one I have learned to be leery of.
So I am trying to prioritize. Right now, my house desperately needed my attention. I'm starting there. Given how sedentary I was before starting Weight Watchers, this represents activity for me. The tracker even allows me to earn one activity point for every 10 minutes of housework I do because of my weight and previous activity level. I am starting there. I have various projects around the house I intend to finish in the coming days/weeks to bring my house back "up to snuff" by my standards. Then I'll start worrying about adding in additional activity - pushing myself with walking further, getting into the classes at the YMCA, etc. If I don't ease into this, I'll wind up in bed for a month. That is probably the biggest potential for derailment of my weight loss efforts that I have, so I am doing what I can to keep it from becoming an issue.
It's actually hard to remind myself to sit down and rest - I want to keep going. I'm so eager to get into that pool at the Y, I can taste it. But that way lies the potential for sabotage, so I am trying to proceed at a reasonable pace rather than rushing in.
Patience has never been one of my virtues.
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