The weekly weigh in, week 24

tonight, I couldn't go to my regular Weight Watchers meeting. I'm going to Weight Watchers through a cooperative program with my insurance provider and without it, WW just doesn't fit into my budget right now. Weight Watchers isn't that expensive, but well, things are how they are now, and my expenditures for my personal desires take last place. I've been trying to get the necessary pre-authorization to renew my membership for a couple of weeks now, but experience has shown me that this does take time. To qualify for the insurance support of the program, you have to lose at least five pounds in the pre-approved twelve week period and miss no more than four meetings. So far in my twenty four weeks of the program, I've missed only two weeks and at my last official weigh in had lost 45.8 pounds. Twelve of those pounds have been in the last twelve weeks. I should qualify for renewal, but until it's secured, I'm not going to count on it.

That doesn't mean I'm going to stop dieting though.

...this diet is
about the only thing
giving me a sense
of accomplishment

The last four weeks have been so frustrating, fluctuating over and under the same number on the scale by just a few ounces. I've been on enough diets by now to know that this happens. Your body will take time to readjust itself, and you just have to gut it out until your mind, your diet discipline and your body are cooperating again.

Even with the migraine this week, I've counted my points diligently. I usually use all my weekly bonus points, and this week, I still have 17 left. I didn't get in all my water, and I'm wondering if that has contributed to the migraine. I just didn't feel up to making an extra grocery store run and suffering under all those fluorescent lights. I simply won't drink our local tap water. Heck, I can't even brush my teeth without thinking about what's in the water. My area has been on the EPA mandated clean up list more than once, and it seems like almost everyone here dies of cancer. One thing I really miss about Memphis is the good water coming from its natural underground artesian wells. Oh well, I'll pick up a case of bottled water tomorrow.

Anyway, my desire to get off this plateau has been a strong motivator. I've stayed within my points allowance and still have about half my weekly bonus points to spare. Migraine nausea definitely contributed to my having less appetite. I started a workout routine with a large exercise ball and hand weights. Knowing how ridiculous I look using this thing makes me very grateful that we don't have a camcorder. The exercise is difficult enough to make me feel challenged. I definitely can feel my muscles working. It's not so hard though that I want to give it up out of frustration. I've learned that getting down on my knees is still difficult, but I can do it and get up by myself again. This time last year, that was impossible. My exercise plan is to alternate days of the exercise ball, Tai Chi and walking. We'll see how that develops.

I cooked more this week,

i'm simply
not going
to
stop

including one wonderful meal of saffron rice and black beans seasoned with cumin, chili and fresh cilantro, another of a crock pot full of kick butt vegetarian chili, and yet another with a ham crusted in a glaze of cider vinegar, brown sugar and dry mustard. Planning my meals ahead of time made a big difference. I ate better, cheaper and was much less stressed over fixing meals. So, all in all, as far as the diet goes, it was a good week. I think I deserve double credit for doing all of this with the worst migraine I've had in nearly twenty years.

Tonight, I really was looking forward to stepping on the scale. For years we have not had a scale in our house. I threw ours out several years ago when the womanchild was in the grip of anorexia and bulimia. The scale is a cruel master that determines the self worth of one in an eating disorder fugue. She's done so well for so long now (two years plus of no purging or restriction) that we agreed that it was safe to have one in the house again. We bought a Weight Watchers digital scale hoping its accuracy would match the one at the meeting. Well, my own obsession kicked in. It's best to just weigh once a week when you're dieting. The body will fluctuate every day. For a couple of weeks, I learned this the hard way. I can gain and lose as much as five pounds overnight. I know this was fluid, but it drove me nuts to see those swings on a regular basis but no forward progress on my weekly weigh ins. I had to get back to weighing just once a week, and this week, I almost made it. The temptation is so strong to get in there and just check, and I did succumb once before tonight. Tonight is what matters though, and when I stepped on the scale, it registered a 5.4 pound loss from last week.

I still have to wait until I get back on the meeting's scales before it's official, but that brings my weigh loss to 51. 2 pounds! Even I have to admit that's a serious weight loss, and I'm absolutely thrilled. If for some reason, the insurance won't pre-authorize another twelve weeks for me, I intend on sticking with the program on my own until I can rework the budget to pick it back up. I've come too far, and I'm feeling and looking too much better. I know that it will be harder to do on my own, but right now, this diet is about the only thing giving me a sense of accomplishment in my life, and I'm simply not going to stop. That's all there is to it.

This week's loss: 5.4 pounds. Total loss: 51.2 pounds. Average weekly loss: 2.12 pounds.

diet, exercise, weight, health and wellness, Weight Watchers