My Tuesday Weigh-In

My favorite day of the week!  I get to document my progress.  I a down another 3.5 pounds.  That makes 4 for the last two weeks and 13 since July 15.

Healthy choices this week:  I skipped several desserts that I watched my family eat.  (I may have tasted a couple bites).  I mostly had high fiber choices for cereal and breads.  Carrots and some fruit for snacks or with meals.  Not sure it it was this week that I had zaxby's zalad, but I've cut my lite ranch usage to half a pack from 1 1/2.  I eat about half of the salad without any dressing which I am developing a taste for.  Then, I use half a packet for the rest.  I've done that with other foods for a long time now, like sweet potatoes.  I like my sweet potato plain sometimes, and other times I want the toppings.  So, I get the toppings on the side (cinnamon, brown sugar and butter).  Eat it plain and then add a little sweets if I want some that way.  I also skipped the bun with my pork once or twice.  I was careful to weigh portions.  We had smoked pork meat to eat this week.  I think I would have lost more weight if we had a leaner meat, but that's what we had and I still lost.  I think I will try to smoke some chicken wings next.  My son just bought two jumbo bags of uncooked wings (by mistake).  He was suppose to get some precooked, skinless, frozen wings that you just reheat.  They were so tasty and good on the calories.  Not sure how these will turn out.  I hope they are skinless.

The Prize

I've lost 9 pounds since last Tuesday.  However, it's only 3 pounds since July 3.  I had put on some weight over the Holiday, and traveling to and from STL.  So, basically, I am down 3 pounds, which is wonderful still!  But that is not what I am celebrating today.  Today, I have tracked my calories for a week.  That means I have "cared" about what I was eating.  I have thought about it, before I consumed.  Decided whether or not I wanted to "spend" calories on a particular food.  That is the first step for me to losing weight and something I have to stick to in order to lose weight or maintain.  Otherwise, I am like a shopper with no cares about money.  I shop like crazy and before I know it, my wallet is empty and I owe money.

I've made some healthy choices over the week:  higher fiber, smaller portions, carrots for a snack, grilled chicken strips from Chick-fil-a, instead of crispy, no bacon or mayo on my sandwich.  I've also had some unhealthy choices: bites of 5 cheese mac and cheese, waffle fries, chocolaty Rice Krispy Treats,  and some Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip bar that my daughter made.  Probably too many unhealthy choices to keep losing weight with, but the point is that I budgeted for them.  I only went over on my calories one day by a couple hundred,  but was under on the rest.  By tracking, I knew what I was doing.  I had a successful week and am off to a great start at achieving my goals of losing weight.

Most importantly, I made the choice to care.  Everyday that I care about what I eat, I have achieved a monumental goal.  That for me has been the biggest hurdle. I am so good at pushing off the start of this weight loss journey because I am in terrible shape already.  What's one more fattening meal going to do?  It's going to keep me where I am now!  And I am obviously not happy where I am now, why else would I keep telling myself that I need to lose weight. That is why I am choosing to care!  Choosing to track my calories! Right now, I can celebrate this victory!