dianaschnuth

First off: since I’m not technically doing Atkins anymore, I’ve changed the name of my Atkins category to Diet & Fitness. It seems to be a little more inclusive.

Now: on to the update.

When I weighed myself on Monday morning, I registered at 212.5 pounds. That was actually a pound and a half lower than the previous week, although I’m not sure what I did to lose weight during that time. *shrug*

Starting on Tuesday, I tried to follow the food plan Sheryl had e-mailed me. (Well, I did make an effort on Monday, but that Atkins-style lunch with Aaron really threw off my fat intake.) Breakfast was ¾ cup Quaker Oats, with Splenda Brown Sugar Blend and raisins. Lunches were mainly the dinner meat from the night before, with an apple or a salad. Afternoon snack was always tuna with Reduced Fat Hellmann’s (and sometimes onion and/or celery), and dinner was chicken breast or fish with a side of low-carb pasta.

Before you lambaste me, Sheryl, for my deviations from the diet last week (not that you would, but it’s fun to pretend):

• Believe it or not, the only green vegetable we had on hand last week was salad greens. We’ll be attempting to remedy that during this week’s grocery shopping.
• Hopefully, today we will be heading out to the whole foods store to locate some Vegenaise to replace the Hellmann’s. Even Aaron has admitted to curiosity.
• The raisins in my oatmeal will soon be replaced with slivered almonds — again, with today’s grocery shopping.

In addition to changing my eating schedule and habits, I also began/continued exercising every evening. On Monday, I did the YOGAmazing “Yoga For Weight Loss” practice, which was surprisingly vigorous. On Tuesday, I did 50 jumping jacks before my Beginner’s Dumbbell Workout. On Wednesday, I really wasn’t feeling it, but I did 50 jumping jacks and 75 crunches, just so I could say I did something. I dropped the ball on Thursday and Friday, though, and didn’t exercise at all — although I did take a brisk 40-minute walk on Friday during my lunch break.

I weighed myself Thursday morning, and I had lost two pounds since Monday! Awesome.

What was not so awesome, though, was my horrific cheat meal — no, cheat DAY — on Friday. I had thought I could resist my department’s monthly potluck by planning ahead and bringing enough food to keep me sated throughout the day.

I was wrong.

At 1:30pm or so, after pretty much the entire department had ransacked the potluck, I ate the last sloppy joe, some Chinese salad (ramen noodles, vinegar, sugar, veggies), and a small piece of cookie bar. Then, that evening, a coworker took me to the dreaded Happy Rose Buffet as payment for helping him learn how to burn DVDs on his computer.

I weighed myself this morning. I’m back up to 213.

What a precarious balance I seem to have discovered. No cheat meals for me, apparently, and no skipping days of exercise. Not if I want to be successful.

Also: Later in the week, I began feeling particularly run-down when I got home from work. Not hungry yet, but tired. That’s why I slacked on my exercise. On top of that, after I ate my dinner, I found that I was craving carbs… so I ate a bowl of oatmeal for dessert. ::smacks hands::

So, I’m not sure if that was a result of me needing to follow the diet more closely, or tweak it, or just suck it up. In any case, this week will be better. More hardcore.

The more I focus on my health, the more I realize how fat I am. I’m looking forward to realizing how much more fit I am, instead.