Thursday, February 7, 2008

Lent and Weigh-In

Anyone else doing lent? I see some have posted about it and given it some thought. I have too.

My favourite 'give up' was a few years ago. I worked in this office that had a Tim Hortons coffee maker machine (industrial) and would buy boxes of Tim's coffee packets from a local Tim's shop. We also stocked blend - a weakness for me. For a small office we went through a lot of coffee. The only rule was if there was less than a cup left in the pot you put on a new pot. Oh, lent also falls smack in the middle of tax season and this was a public accounting office where OT is required from the end of Jan to the end of April.
Year 1: Drink lots of coffee Mon-Fri. Maybe 2-3 cups at home on Sat. Get headache during church service EVERY Sun.
Year 2: Give up coffee for lent. Struggle through week 1. Breeze though weeks 2-5. Dream about the end of lent for week 6. Go back to drinking coffee the day after lent is over, but be sure to keep servings to 3 or so a day. No churchy headaches that year.

I've never really gone back to drinking coffee through an IV, and I still love having 1-2 cups per day. But, at 1pt each (sorry, I still need my whole milk in it) I can't justify any more than that. So, I guess the lent thing worked by quitting a bad habit cold turkey and it gave me perspective to control this addiction. It has been about 6 years since this one.

For this year I have made so many, many healthy changes in my life already. Can you believe it's been 8.5 months? But in becoming more 'selfish' about making sure I have the right foods for me and 'selfish' about making sure I have the right tools and time for exercise I have missed out on some family time. I do tell my kids that I love them everyday, but I've noticed that Daddy gets more cuddles than I do from the 4yo (granted he's been home for the past 2 months) and sometimes the only kiss the 9yo gets is when I tuck her in (a nightly request on her part). Last night I made sure to give everyone a hug and kiss and to tell them that I loved them. It felt a bit like a checklist, which is not good, but checklists become habits after a while. Don't get me wrong - I often spend time with my kids and do give them love and affection - it's just that sometimes we do forget to do those little things that mean the most when we are wrapped up in our day-to-day lives. I also want to spend more one-on-one time with each of them because quality time is hard to slot in - it most often comes from quantity time.

As for Weigh-In, I didn't go last night. You may recall that the Fire hall has torne out the bathrooms, so I went potty before leaving work last night. Then I ran to my car and my pants slipped a bit since I must have released 2lbs or more of liquid I swear. When I sat down they were a little uncomfortable because of them slipping to that pudgy area below the belly button. Anyhoo, I had to adjust and the whole experience left me feeling skinny. Some of the thoughts that went through my head as I debated whether to go to meeting or home:

  • My pants slipped and are so much loser. I don't need WW scale to tell me I lost. I KNOW I did.
  • (Warning: some Fat Girl Thinking coming out) Even if I did gain weight, that would just bring me down. I feel good right now and skinny. I don't need WW scale to change that feeling.
  • I have 3 missed meeting passes in my purse. We're still waiting for some money to come in and I'm out of coupons. I really don't feel like paying WW since I've eaten on plan this week and have my plan for the next week all laid out. I'll use one of my passes for this week while I'm still a paying member. Use it or lose it.

SO, Did I lose? My analogue at home is still hovering the 70kg mark and I can't determine decimals of losses/gains, which seems to be where I am lately. Basically, a bit of a stall it looks like, but obviously I am losing inches still. I'm thinking about trying to cut back my menu another point on average each day to see what happens, but will wait and see what WW scale has to say next week first. I am going to give myself to mid-March to meet my 150 goal, then may consider changing my goal and just continue losing on my own.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Okay some of the usual WW'ers may flog me but I applaud you for NOT letting the scale control you.......you are absolutely rocking the workouts and menus. You are working hard and the proof is in the pants! Good for you for recognizing the need to just enjoy feeling healthy and skinny!

I understand your family/scheduling stuff......I feel such guilt for being gone 13 hours a day (with work and the gym) but knowing that I'm healthy and happy for my family and myself helps ease it a bit. I too need to make more of a conscious decision to spend time with the hubby and kid - thanks for the reminder that more than GYM needs my love!

The Price's Wife said...

I love that you had enough confidence in yourself and your body to know you lost weight... Sometimes the scale is a killjoy when it really shouldn't be. We forget to feel excited about just staying on plan and feeling better! You didn't let yourself do that and that is a NSV if you ask moi!

Diana Swallow said...

I agree with Steph, you shouldn't let the scale control your life. I was the woman who would get on and off the scale 10 times a day hoping for a better number and then getting upset when it didn't say what I wanted. You KNOW by your lose pants you are doing ok, don't let that scale tell you otherwise!

Swizzlepop said...

Great job on losing inches, that is such a great feeling. Good for you for not giving into the scale, you know you've lost when your clothes are falling off. Keep up the great workouts!

Diana Swallow said...

You are so sweet, thank you for your kind words and no I don't mind that you linked to me, if I can help one other person, I feel like I've accomplished something in this world.

Year 2 - May 28/08-Current