Non Scale Victories!!!

Over the last few days my scale has been going up and down between 3 and 4 pounds - So I recorded a gain today.  It can be frustrating but there are other things going on than just the silly number on the scale... Non Scale victories can be better than a number defining your journey. Dieting can be like a road trip.  You can simply go from Point A to Point B and when the odometer reaches that magic number of miles between you and your destination you can declare victory.  However, if you pay attention to the scenery along your destination, I can guarantee you'll have a much more rewarding trip.  For instance, my recent victories are:

1. I have consistently recorded daily in my food journal either online or in a notebook (catch-up in one or the other, but consistently journal) since Feb 16, 2011. 42 days. - this being said means that I've also been conscious of the food I eat for 42 straight days. I've been  known the fall of the wagon within hours of starting a diet on n Monday,  so 42 days this time is a nice feeling.

2. I'm noticing my shirts are bigger and hanging on me differently.

3. People have made comments that they notice I'm losing weight.

4.  I have maintained every doctors appointment I have had since 2/16/11 unless it was out of my power and then promptly rescheduled. My next appointment is April 8.

5. I took control of my health and then even more control when I fired my doctor and got a new one.

6.  My arthritis in my knee isn't as painful.

7.   I was eating my lunch today - a turkey and ham sandwich and was to the point of almost gagging as I've ate it, turkey or ham for lunch for over a week, thinking that I've got to make a change and realized that it wasn't the sandwich itself, it was the crust.  I don't like crust. I don't think I had ever slowed my eating down enough to really taste the whole sandwich. May be trivial but I liked finding that out about me.

8.  There is a contest at work like the biggest loser and while I am not in the contest several of my employees are. One was sharing with me today that she weighed 140 pounds and my reaction left a strange look on HER face like I'd hurt her feelings. I immediately felt bad. My reaction was that of shock because I would not have put her over 120 pounds soaking wet. I knew the look on her face was a familiar feeling I'd felt so I opened up to her and told her the truth. Your weight number is where I want to be, where I'll get and you look so small, I was having a hard time seeing Me look like you. I think she understood but the reality of what I will actually look like had so much impact on my mental journey that it was surreal.

Where is your road trip taking you?

I'ts My Party and You Can Lie if You Want To

Hi there! Long time no chat. I realized the other night I broke a habit! I didn't log on here Monday and tell you what a crappy job I had done this weekend. You know why? Because I did not have a crappy weekend. I had a marvelous weekend where everything on this journey was kept in check. I had the i's dotted and my t's crossed. So where have I been?

It's been a busy week. I've been working late and spending the evening with hubby and working on writing my vision statement. Right now, I'm just making the list of reasons that are important to me. In making this list, I noticed that a lot of sentences ended with or contained the word again. AGAIN.
As I wrote out memories of things I can no longer do and wish to do, I stopped and reflected how many times, I would continue to choose food and abandon the things I love to do only to eventually be physically unable to do them. I reflected on how many diets I've policed myself on where I would tell myself or obsess my thoughts with "I can never have a french fry (insert food name here) again." AGAIN.

This time around things are truly different for me. I have not policed myself over specific foods and only monitored my calorie budget for the day. I don't obsess over my water intake and have noticed it becoming just a habit to keep chugging away. I've even had 2 dreams in the last week about little punch glasses filled with ice chips and water and how they were inviting me to drink them. (I know weird... but nonetheless.)
I walked in from that last poker tournament and realized that this is the 2nd tournament (they're held once a month) I've been to on this journey and while I've had detours, more in the beginning than the present, not once did I have an "I'll start again Monday" moment or "Might as well eat the rest of the day".  That's not to say I won't have more detours, they very well could happen but my mind is a different place now and I just have a destination to get to. I can't even feel the detour close to me because I've taken away so much of the value I gave food in the past that it just seems kind of foreign to me. Often times, my diets wouldn't last past lunch time on Monday morning that first day or never start because (insert excuse here).  It's exciting to see my consistency and determination and even more exciting to realize my motivation and determination are stronger today than day one of this journey. 

I weighed myself today because I just couldn't wait until tomorrow morning and I was not happy at all. It showed a 4.4 gain. For a split second the thoughts started creeping in and I shoved them out of my head like the pipe that sucked Augustus Gloop out of The Chocolate River (Say Hi to the Oompa Loompa's for me). "This scale is only a tool" I kept telling myself. "Give yourself one good reason why the scale says that" ... Did you go over? Have you been getting enough fluids in...at that moment I couldn't come up with one good reason. So I bailed. I abandoned that scale and told it "Too bad for You. I have other Celebrations - maybe next time you won't be a Debbie Downer and come to my party; but it's my party and you can lie if you want to!"

My other non-scale victories are:

I wrote in my food journal every day.
I made several smarter choices when put on the spot and don't regret one thing I've put in my mouth for several several days.
I am preferring water over other beverages.
I"m continuing the Mind Body exercises and growing daily from them.
I put a bra on the other day that I used to avoid wearing because it's too tight. Now my girls are happy too :) (Did I just say that?)
I'm smiling more.
Food is Powerless over me.

What are your non-scale victories this week? Take care of you.