Experiment in Eating

This past week has been very, very eye opening and educating for me.  For instance, I learned this past week that baseball season and working full time is hell for my dedication to the gym (which is sketchy at best anyway).  I missed all but one day of the gym this week, thanks to practice and game schedules for two busy boys interfering with this crazy thing called my job.  Seriously, this week was crazy town.  Also - it was the last week for my students, which means there were treats galore and I wasn't as well behaved as I should have been (but when a special needs child comes up to you with a plate of cookies and tells you he made them just for you, really, can you say "no thanks, I'm dieting"? Or do you take it and eat a couple in front of him, relishing not only the chocolate deliciousness, but his look of extreme delight in pleasing you?  I chose the latter and got a squeal and a hug for my effort - or a fist bump, or a glowing face and full on grin - depending on the level of physical touching the child's disability allowed for.  It was worth the stress of what the treats were going to do to my scale efforts. I seriously LOVE my job!)  Ok - so now the important tidbit I learned:  I need to eat more.  I know, it sounds crazy.  When trying to lose weight, you're supposed to eat LESS< right?  However, for the past month, I have gained and lost the same frustrating ten pounds and have seriously been considering physically harming my scale.  But this week, I didn't get the regular intense exercise I normally do.  I wasn't as strict in my dieting efforts as I usually am - meaning I actually had carbs and sugar and all things delicious. And I didn't weigh myself at all this week because I knew, I  just KNEW, it was going to send me into a suicidal depression the likes of which only Ben and Jerry could pull me out of and I didn't want to start that cycle again.  But, I bit the bullet and stepped on my enemy today.


And I have lost five pounds in one week.

This five pounds has finally, FINALLY, finally put me under a goal I have been trying to reach all fricken year.  And I am seriously doing a happy snoopy dance today.

Someone told me once, along this crazy journey, that I needed to watch not only that I didn't take too much in but that I also didn't take in too little.  The body is a funny thing in how it works.  It's crazy and complicated and I am pretty sure mine is even crazier and more complicated than most (because that's just how my luck runs).  But, whatever, I cracked a code this week and think I am on to something.

And no, I am not giving up the gym - I know that's good for me and I only have 2 work days left before I am on summer vacation.  But, I am going to increase my caloric intake a bit and maybe add in more carbs - but not the cookies and cream variety so much as the good ones like whole grains and more veggies than just lettuce and tomatoes and cucumbers.  Heck, I might even go crazy and add in some strawberries.  I know, I know - you're saying "Whoa there, you'd better slow down, girl.  That's just crazy!"

But one thing I've learned this week is maybe I need to experiment more.  I am also learning that patience IS a virtue and I need to have a little more.  It didn't all go on overnight, it's not going to come off the same, either.  Even though I wish it would.