Adios, 3.6 pounds!

Despite the stressful week I've had, the scale was very kind to me today! I'm down another 3.6 pounds for a grand total of 15.4 pounds GONE. This means I've met my mini goals for January and February of losing 6lbs each month, and I'm already making a dent in my 6lb weight loss goal for March.

One cool thing about losing over 15lbs is that I'm down a full clothing size. So I can officially throw away all my 26/28 shirts and pants because they are way too big! People are also starting to notice that I'm losing weight. A couple of moms commented that my face looked thinner! Yay!

Some things I did well this week include drinking all my water, making sure I got all my daily servings of dairy, veggies/fruits, and oils in, and I wrote down every single thing I put in my mouth.

For next week, I need to get better at spreading my calories throughout the day. I'm still struggling with not eating enough during the day, so I have to eat a lot at night to make up the difference.

My Health is my #1 Priority

I started this journey as part of my New Year Resolution. Like a bazillion other people in the world, I wanted to lose weight in 2008. Heck, it even rhymes!

However, at the time I had no idea how important it would become for me to succeed. And in the month since I've joined Weight Watchers, my aunt was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer that is now in her liver and my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In a nutshell, I've been scared straight.

So in addition to eating healthier and moving more, I've got doctors appointments lined up in the next couple of weeks. I'm getting screened for breast cancer and colon cancer. In addition, I have a complete physical scheduled. I'm only 36.

I'm praying that the only thing that's wrong with me is my weight. I can fix that ... scratch that ... I am fixing that. But cancer better not get in my way. I have two beautiful babies and a husband that need me. I need to be healthy for them. I have no time for cancer.

Still losing in spite of me.

I lost .4 pounds this week. Not a big drop, but considering the week I've had, I'm not disappointed. My husband and I had a belated birthdays celebration. We went for a very yummy (but not so low-cal) dinner at Red Stone American Grill, and then we saw the Blue Man Group. It was a fantastic night out -- something we don't get to do often with two toddlers at home. I tried to make good food choices out, but I could have done better. I had the Jerk Grouper -- a light flaky fish that is low in fat/calories. But I had a cream of wild mushroom soup for an appetizer along with some awesome flatbread which kind of negated the goodness of the fish. Then I just had to have some blue cotton candy at the concert. *sigh* I'm obviously still new at this healthy eating lifestyle.

I also had my share of stress this week. My mom got a preliminary diagnosis for breast cancer on Tuesday. She has to go for a biopsy and an MRI within the next couple of weeks, then we'll know for sure what we're looking at. To be honest, after that news, I'm lucky I didn't eat myself into oblivion. It's the only way I've ever dealt with stress in the past. So the fact that I managed to still lose .4 pounds is a minor victory for me.

This week, my goals are to (1) write down everything I put in my mouth, (2) drink all my water, and (3) spread my points throughout the day so that I don't have so much left over at night.

11.4 lbs gone in 5 weeks.

I'm now 271.2 pounds, my pants are getting loose and I'm still feeling empowered/positive. This is good stuff. But last week, my weigh-in only showed a .8 loss and I was a little discouraged. The following week I stopped being so diligent about writing down everything I ate (which is not good) BUT I also didn't binge or make unhealthy food choices (which is good). The result was a 2 pound loss. Not bad, but I have a hard time feeling like I "earned" it because I didn't drink all my water, nor did I write down everything I ate. I also didn't plan what I was going to eat when we went out to dinner. All big no-no's if I'm going to be successful in the long run. I'm not going to beat myself up over it but I also can't continue making those choices if I'm going to have any success at this. I need get back on track and stay focused on the prize.

Looking back on the past two week, I realize that a big weakness of mine is to snack after dinner and before bed. I do keep the calorie and point allotment in check but I know it will help me in the long run if I stop the snacking and shift those calories into healthier morning and midday meal choices instead. Also, my kids' bedtime is between 7:00 and 7:30 pm. I've found that I'm staying up longer and longer at night to stretch out my "me" time, but that's when I do my most snacking. I realize I need to go to bed earlier and I'll be able to avoid all the snacking I do at night.

So -- moving forward -- my goals for this week are to (1) go to bed earlier so that my snacking decreases (2) go back to writing down everything I eat and (3) drink all my water.