My Weight Journey: Week 13
Bad news yesterday at TOPS, I gained this past week. Actually it wasn't much of a surprise as I haven't been eating like I should. We had friends over a few times and of course food was involved though we tried to keep it healthy or control our calories. I just have one question: Why do most social gatherings involve food? Get together with friends and it's usually over lunch or dinner and sometimes breakfast. Get together over coffee and there are always pastries being offered. Go to a movie and it's lunch or dinner before/after and don't forget the popcorn and candy before the movie starts. Have a business meeting and often times there are some sort of refreshments involved whether it's bagels, donuts or cookies.
When we had our friends Chef Michael and his wife Jennie over it was mid afternoon so we did make a fresh fruit salad with ginger and splenda but a couple of helpings and the calories do add up. But it was soooo good. Then Michel brought us a banana nut bread made with Splenda and of course we had to slice it. That bread was so moist and GOOD. A couple of days later a friend of Don's came over and was here for lunch. I made Ham Goodies and even figured out the calories. 193 per sandwich but they're small, about the size of a White Castle hamburger and everyone knows you can't eat just one of those. So 2 sandwiches and some pretzels for me. Not a bad lunch but I forgot about the Cinnamon Crunch Bagel and Cream Cheese I had for breakfast courtesy of Don's friend. Yes, whenever he comes over it's with a Panera Bakery bag in hand and I purposely don't eat breakfast until he arrives for that reason. That one day alone would not have sabotaged me but add to it the other days I went a bit overboard and I was doomed. I'm usually so proud of myself for planning my meals for the day in advance but I need to start planning for the entire week.
So it was no surprise when I stepped on the scales and saw them pull out the RED pen to mark my weight (losses in black, gains in red). What was a surprise was seeing them write the number 6. Here's where a real problem comes into play. What scale do I believe.
Since I got my new Weight Watcher Inspirational Scale from Conair I've been keeping track of my weight from there and comparing it to the scale at TOPS. For the last few weeks it's been rather consistent with a 4.1 and 4.2 lb difference, their scale weighing less than mine but the weight lost has been fairly consistent also. Yesterday my scale showed my weight as 240.9 with a 3.4 lb gain. The scale at TOPS showed me at 239 with a 6 lb gain. So, did I gain a little less than 3.5 lbs or an actual 6.
I decided to go with my scale and NO it's not because it makes me have less of a gain. There are several reasons.
- My scale is always in the same spot and it's calibrated every morning. The scale at TOPS is packed up and goes home with someone each week.
- We've had a few weeks where all but 1 has a gain or loss. Followed the following week with the opposite happening. That just seems a bit odd.
- Don also had a significant gain even though our scale showed him having a small loss
- The weight difference between the 2 scales for both Don and I has been fairly consistent until yesterday when that difference much wider
- Out of 30 people being weighed we had a total gain of over 30 lbs with a total loss of slightly over 4 lbs AND the biggest loser had a little over a 2 lb loss. Something seems off.
What will I be doing differently this week? Hopefully losing weight and I plan on doing it by being more conscious of everything I put in my mouth and plan a bit better for the entire week.
As Don told someone yesterday, once in a while a weight gain is good as it motivates us and makes us more determined to do what we know we need to be doing.
If you want to make my Ham Goodies I've shared the recipe.
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14 comments
Just don't go anywhere as it is Girl Scout cookie time. I do not know how you could have any resistance against a box of thin mints!
Since Lent stated I decided to give up eating @ night. I had no idea how much I eat after dinner until I stopped. It didn't seem like much. Your post about social eating is like people who drink socially. Are we really getting together to socialize or do we want an excuse to eat and drink?
@rosannepm
I agree about the social eating. The only problem is you can't give up food entirely and you can make healthier choices but you can give up drinking. It's the eating that becomes habit like eating after dinner, eating in front of the TV or when I was doing home care I wanted chips or beef sticks as soon as I got in the car.
The problem I have with social eating is lack of willpower. Someone wants to go out for pizza and not to feel like an outsider I don't stop at one slice. I eat as much as everyone else. Then if they're all getting dessert I feel like I'm denying myself if I don't join in.
I need to change my mindset or find different friends.
What we started doing is using smaller plates all the time. It really helps get our portion sizes down.
@alissa apel
We use the smaller dinner plates and it doesn't look as empty. I've also heard of using a baby spoon or a child's set of utensils to eat with. A shrimp fork is also good if you have those. Smaller bites and it takes longer to eat.
I guess the trick is to fool the eye. I like pretzels and will measure out 1 ounce. I find I just like to crunch plus the salt is good. I buy the mini twists and will break those in 1/2 or 1/3 and they last longer because I'm not shoving the entire thing in my mouth at once and I feel like I'm eating more pretzels.
I agree with you about the scale, if it is moved around the calibration will change.
There are always setbacks, it's how you deal with them that matters.
Good luck!
@Kim @ What's That Smell?
True, setbacks, plateaus and life but the secret is to learn from them and let them motivate you to continue on to your goal, not use them as an excuse to throw away all the progress you've made.
Dee,having a husband who's a Chemical Engineer, I've learned that all those sweetners(e.g.Splenda,sweetnlow,etc...) are not good for you at all.. they are all Cancer causing and really no health benefit to anyone who uses them.You should just try to give up sweets or only use sugar...that's at least natural. If you don't believe what I'm telling you, you can look them online. Just thought I'd let you know.
@Anonymous
Thank you for the input and advice. I am finding I can use real sugar and cut back or add a bit of honey for more flavor and not sacrifice the sweetness. I'm also learning to experiment with different herbs and spices and ginger compliments fresh fruit in a salad much more than sugar will.
Thank you also for visiting What's That Buzz. Feel free to speak up and add to the discussions.
Scales are tricky. The one we have at home can fluctuate 2-4 lbs depending on how you stand on it. Lean a bit to far forward the weight goes up, lean a bit too far back and the weight goes down. It drives me batty!
Don't get discouraged though, you're doing great.
i think your doing a great job and i believe in you =}
@Azslyn
Thank you. I can use all the encouragement I can get.
For me, the changing of eating habits is the focus. Why ... do we have to have snacks while watching TV? The readily available snacks in the kitchen are much healthier these days ... and I only weigh myself 1X/week.
@bettycd
So true. I read an article yesterday on how to keep weight off and they focused on changing habits and making lifelong changes. So many are on the "eat this and loose 10 lbs in 3 days" diet but what happens when you eat normal food again? The weight comes back PLUS a few more. No more fad diets for me since they don't teach you portion control which is what I need to focus on.
I haven't eliminated any food from my diet, except for regular soda but that was for diabetes reason. If I want a piece of chocolate I can have it as long as I have the calories left that day to fit it in. If not then I plan for it the next day. We won't automatically have dessert (usually sugar free pudding) until we've figured out if we have enough calories left after dinner.
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