Losing--and not in the happy sense.

There's only a few days to go and unless I lose a limb I won't make the goal. I wish I could be okay that, and I want to say I'm okay with that, but the reality of the situation is that it's NOT okay. In fact, I've put ON weight since this DB started, mostly in the last 2 weeks.

My diet hasn't shifted that much. My exercise levels haven't really either. I could definitely do better in both fields.

I did start a new medication that does have known side effects of weight gain, and it's certainly changed a number of things in my life. I'm very happy with it, but my metabolism may not be running the way it was before, and I may need to adjust for that. The average reported gain is about 4 lbs, which is right about where I am. That's not horrible actually.

In the spirit of open and honest--I'm actually back in the overweight BMI range, and I promised myself never again. I'm hoping this is a very temporary blip and it's only by a pound or so, but my pants are tight (the ones that 2 weeks ago were loose). I know I have work to do.

It's mathematically not impossible for me to still win this Diet Bet, even though I can't make this round. I was thinking I should just give up and I should try again the next time. And I realized that's not the attitude I want to engender in myself. This is about changing my lifestyle overall.

Every day will not necessarily be a win. Today sure wasn't. What I learned: having a meal plan at work is really nice, and I appreciate that they offer vegetarian options (I'm not, but I do meatless Mondays). However, the meatless options often have more calories than the non-meatless options, and they do NOT provide nutrition facts. I don't understand why the students get nutritional info but faculty do not! The cafeteria-style serving system does not encourage portion control and the desserts are very, very, doomingly tempting.

I know that most of you are now going to lecture me on why I need to pack and take my own lunches. I honestly suck at that. I can't tell you the number of times I've made lunch and left it on the counter (whereupon the food spoils during the day). I also don't have a microwave in my office (I could get one) or a fridge (again, I could get one). Lack of cold storage and reheat capacity means limited choices and I HATE peanut butter. I am therefore going to put a mini fridge and inexpensive microwave on my wish list on Amazon. It probably won't solve the problem, but I can stock it with options.

Today I failed in that I had a calorie-bomb chocolate cake and then a small slice of pecan pie (it was seriously loaded with nuts; normally I hate the stuff, but this was unusually good). That's the truth. I did my upper body workout and I walked my 10,000 steps, but I'm still going to be way over on calories unless I skip dinner, which is not going to solve anything long term.

I wish I understood why I had the two desserts. I think both were sort of peer pressure, but they were also unusually better than the average desserts at work. I do know that I grew up with desserts and that a meal doesn't quite feel complete without one (particularly dinner). The worst/weirdest part? Sweets don't taste the same on the new medication and they're honestly not as enjoyable!

I'm going to work on refocusing and making deliberate choices about what I eat and the exercise that I do, and trying to be consistent and meet my daily goals. Right now, calories are harder than steps & exercise, so that's where I will need to focus more effort.

I'm going to hang in there through the end!

PDXJael

03/29/2016 6:57AM

If your work offers a meal plan, I think it's completely reasonable for you to work within that rather than taking the time/energy of packing. Portion control and making good choices are the major obstacles that you outlined, so work on tackling those! You could make a rule that you only have dessert on Wednesdays or odd numbered days or something--it sounds like "never" is not reasonable, so work with what you can stick to. A portion control option might be to have a small container (like a half cup sized) that you can put anything in you want at a meal -- anything! bread! mac and cheese! cake! -- but the rest of the meal has to be veggies or salad or lean protein, etc. so you always get a treat, but you don't ruin the meal. You're on the right track to focus on calories now, you just need to build good habits until they become second nature. :)

caroline t.

03/29/2016 12:39AM

It's tough - I've been a 'runner up' in two of my 3 diet bets and it is tough when you know you can get there, but I try to hang on to the fact that I am still losing. Remember you've lost over 7% of your body weight already, which is fantastic. It may take a little longer than you'd hope to adjust to medication, but as long as you don't give up you will get there... You've just gone the scenic route for a while ;-)

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