One more week

Confession: I neglected to check in last week, and it was probably not an accident. I was not happy about my results. For the first time during this WW session, I gained. It was only 0.4 pounds, but it was disappointing to say the least. I don't think I was doing anything different, although I can't really confirm that because I really didn't track much. I was frustrated, but I decided in order to catch up, I would need to lose 2 1/2 pounds by the following weigh in.



I tracked much better after that because I really want to succeed. I can't allow myself to plateau at only 10 pounds lost. All week, my weight on my scale at home didn't really change, so I was beginning to worry that maybe I wouldn't lose anything for the second week in a row. However, I stayed on plan. I was determined, and it all paid off. This Wednesday, when I stepped onto the scale, I experienced my 2nd highest weightloss to date: 2.4 pounds lost! That's a total of 12.8 pounds lost, and a weight of 188.6! I finally broke the 190's, and I am so excited! This just proves that tracking really does help! I have one more week of this session of Weight Watchers, and I am hoping to lose a total of 15 pounds over the 10 weeks, so I have to lose 2.2 pounds this week. I know I can do it! I also decided to sign up for the next 10-week session to keep up the momentum. (The irony is that the new Weight Watchers plan is called Momentum :))



In a mildly related matter, I watched "The Biggest Loser" for the first time this week. I was with my friend Kandrea, who is a personal trainer. That show is so inspiring. It's a great way to motivate yourself to lose weight. They work out ALL the time, which is obviously unrealistic for most people, but I saw people who weigh almost 100 pounds more than I do run a 1/2 marathon! I get out of breath just thinking about running that much! They also face challenges, overcome temptations and have to transfer their head knowledge into their everyday lifestyles. It was very cool. Anyway, the point of this story is I was talking with Kandie about rewards. She asked if I was remembering to reward myself for the little milestones. I thought about that for a minute.

Rewards... I am used to "rewarding" myself with food! You know, a Frappuchino for getting a good grade on a paper, or an evening out to celebrate some event. It's hard to break the habit, especially when food does seem like such a satisfying treat! But lately, I have been trying something a little different. Losing 10 pounds is like losing a clothing size. So with losing weight, I have been more comfortable in my regular clothes, but I have also been able to start wearing some clothes that I have not fit into in a long while. It feels great because I only kept clothes that were cute and I hoped to someday wear again. Or I will buy a new piece of clothing that I feel really great in. So for Valentine's Day, I got to wear my adorable poofy skirt that I hadn't been able to wear. And for the weddings I am attending this Spring, I bought a new dress. I had a blast shopping with my boosted confidence and shrunken waistline, and I look fabulous in the dress. I'm even looking forward to wearing my "getaway dress" from my wedding when we go out for our 1st Anniversary- and looking much better this year than I did last.

So that's what I am doing, rewarding myself with new clothes. Some other ideas for rewards that may appeal to you are:

Buy a new cd or dvd
Go out to a movie
Buy a new book
Pamper yourself: facials, massages and pedicures are a great treat!
Put money into savings... if you saved money from not eating out, put some aside for a rainy day. Then, you can feel good about working for 2 goals at once!
New shoes
Spend an entire day doing what you love: scrapbooking, hiking, sleeping, anything (except eating junk!)

Feel free to comment if you have more ideas for ways to reward your efforts!