Wednesday Morning Weigh-In

192!

Losing a large quantity of weight, means readjusting as you go. I dropped from 270 to 220, doing things a particular way. Then, I plateaued. When I adjusted the plan, I dropped again -- from 220 to 195. For the past couple of months, I’ve needed to readjust again. I hope this is enough.

FASHION and Less FAT

This plateau is getting on my nerves. I'm trying to focus on the positive. Tonight I 'm wearing an old green T-shirt – one where the sleeves used to be too tight. Now I can put a large apple in those sleeves with my arm.


People keep commenting on my new clothes and it always makes me feel frivolous. A single mom with 2 kids in college shouldn't be frittering away her money on new clothes. Of course, that's not how they mean it.

I have some size 16s from when I started this job. They look new, because I've been too fat for them for several years. I've shortened and taken them in. I have other clothes from when the kids were little-- late 80s and early 90s. Some of the jackets had too much shoulder padding, but the skirts were fine when I hemmed them up. I have a bunch of pants and a couple of suits from Teri Peterson's yard sale. She's lost weight, so I bought her 14s.

About half my closet is new. I've tried to be frugal. The only regularly-priced thing I've bought was a pair of black boots. And I'm not talkin' high-end store sale racks. Those still aren't in my price range. I'm talking J C Penny sale racks with prices in the teens and single digits.

Of course, I like my new clothes. If I lose more, they'll be too big. I don't think that's why I'm not losing, but it does come up.

I'm going to the gym 4 nights a week now. I'm staying on the treadmill longer, but it isn't enough. Maybe I should stay even longer – like an hour. The thought makes me groan, but I have to do something. I need to get rid of this last 30 pounds.

A Big FAT Yippee & Weight Loss Math

After a six-week plateau, I lost a pound. 16 ounces isn’t much to get excited about, but I hope that it’s a sign the weight loss dull-drums are over. So how do I keep from making the same mistake again?

Weight Loss Math:

• Calories eaten > calories used = weight gain
• Calories eaten < calories used = weight loss
• Calories eaten = calories used = plateau

I’m not running a weight loss race. I’d end up out of breath, sick of it and celebrate with Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie. (M-m-m)  I’m doing this the slow, old-fashioned way, because that’s how I put it on. It gives me time to learn and adjust. Fast weight loss leads to the yo-yo effect. Do it quick, so you can be done with it and go back to the way you were before.

The way I was before is why I got fat.

So why did I plateau? Because the amount of calories I ate equaled the amount I used. Ideally, this happens at your goal weight. But here in the real world, it can happen at any point (or in my case, points).

My last winter plateau was a combination of mochas and beer. When my kids were growing up, I didn’t keep much alcohol in the house. Why have it around, when not everybody can drink it? It seemed unfair. When they went to college, I thought,"Why not?” At that point, I was cutting back without specifically counting calories and, of course, working the treadmill. To break the plateau, I started checking calories … and discovered beer is something I can live without.

And then, there were mochas – brainchild of an evil genius. Coffee was no calories. Coffee + Milk + Sugar + Chocolate + Whipped Cream = 400 calories. It was a 4th meal!

So this time, why did I plateau? I got off course. The first part of the summer, I was fine.  Beth was cooking larger meals than I’d been eating, but I was gardening and more active.  It balanced. After vacation, I shortened my treadmill time and sometimes dropped it. It caught up with me.

This proves I cannot diet. I have to change. Diets are short-term solutions to a long-term problem. I don’t want to be healthy for a little while. I want it all the time.