Lumpy Girl Claire
Shredded Weight

I did a stupid thing. Last week I went to get weighed before eating breakfast.

I showed a great weight loss, but what's going to happen this week? My schedule will not allow another early morning weigh-in. I'm going to have to eat something.

How is it that something that feels like nothing when you are eating it, can send those numbers on the scale moving up, up, up? My shredded wheat will be sitting like a lead weight in my belly.

There's nothing I can do to counterbalance this effect. I already wear the lightest clothing I own on weigh-in day. No denim, no jackets, no shoes. (I can see I'm going to be in trouble come winter.)

I don't wear much jewelry so removing that won't help. I do need a haircut - how much does hair weigh? Did I need to wear the eyeliner and mascara? Why don't I own a bra that isn't filled with metal? Good thing I shaved my legs. Maybe I should rethink the thong. Does nail polish add any appreciable weight?

These are the thoughts of a desperate woman just before stepping on the scales.

Sigh! There's no getting around it. Either I show a weight loss or I don't. I've already taken off everything I can take off on the outside.

It's only what I lose beneath the skin that going to make any difference. I stuck to my diet plan. I exercised daily. The rest of it is up to my body and out of my control.

After a week of being good I weigh exactly the same. No loss, no gain. I think I might be at that weight where I'm going to have to adjust my eating or exercise to continue losing.

That's going to be rough. I don't want to eat less and I don't want to exercise more. (Ooh! I think I've just discovered Whiny Girl - it's no wonder I have such trouble losing weight - there must be 10 of us in here!)

I'm feeling like I'm already at my limit. I've even had the thought that maybe I could be happy at this weight. But one week of no weight loss isn't the time to give up. I've worked too hard to quit now.

I have to keep focused on my shorter goals. 25 pounds seems unattainable, but I can make it that next 5. This week didn't work, so I'll make a change and keep at it until it does.

Hey, what else am I going to be doing? If I'm not working on losing, chances are I'll be gaining. There's no way I want to do that! And if I look at my average for the 10 weeks I've been doing this, I've lost 1.76 pounds per week. That's pretty darn good.

So I didn't lose any weight this week. So what? Chances are pretty good that there'll be a loss next week. That's my usual pattern.

And if it's not looking good for next week and I'm still feeling desperate, I reserve the right to get my hair buzzed really short and learn to like the thong. The thought of both is enough to put me off eating - which would also help my cause!

And just for future reference, which do you think will make me lighter, if breathe in a big lungful of air when I'm on the scales, or if I expel all the air out?

GOALS/TREATS
These are combined this time because I'm going on vacation. I'm going to stick to my diet as much as I can, enjoy myself as much as I want, and I'm not going to feel bad about it either way.

Claire