I had a bad feeling

 We had another busy weekend!  When will things slow down?  Will they ever slow down?   It was a good week overall though!

Zoey

We had another fun week with our puppy.   We have had her for three weeks now and she is settling in.  She is a bit of a ham and comes running up to the camera, so I have to be sneaky with pictures!    When we got her, she was right at 32 pounds (at home weight).  She went to the vet a week after we got her and she was 34 pounds.   SHe went back to the vet this past week and she is now almost 42 pounds.  My girl is growing like a weed!

She is learning lots of new things.  Important things actually.  We continue to potty train her.  She is pretty good with that.  She just needs to figure out how to tell us she has to go potty.  She goes into the kitchen and stares at the door, but that is not a feasible method since we can't see her if she is in the kitchen.  So currenty we are jumping up and running to look to see if she is staring at the door.  We have jingle bells on the door which we rattle each time she goes out.  SHe has rattled it two times on her own and we have immediately taken her outside but she just plays out there on those trips.  SHe will get it....I hope!   She is also learning to not jump up on us.  As a puppy (albeit a big puppy) it's not too bad, but she is growing and will be well over a hundred pounds.  We can't have that much dog jumping up on us.  We have been working on how to walk on a leash without pulling our arms out of the sockets.  Newfoundlands are noted for being awesome at pulling....so it is her nature, and we are trying to break her of that.  We have been talking about getting her into drafting......pulling a cart.  But that won't come until she is at least 18 months old and her body is done growing and her bones and muscles are ready for it!  She is doing well! 

She enjoyed the 4-5 inches of snow that we got on Wednesday.  She was running and leaping in the air.  I honestly think that may have been one of her best days thus far in her life. 

Exercise and food

I have been doing great with my exercise and food.  I have been super consistent with my tracking.  I track each and every bite that I eat.  I have managed to keep my points within my target range for al but one day.  The day that I wasn't in my range was calculated and planned.  I also have my weekly points so that is what I used to cover my overage.  So I did great with eating.

Exercise I also did fantastic with.  I have remained consistent with my efforts and have exercised each day that was planned.  I did take some time off over the weekend to allow my body to heal.  I plan on doing that again this weekend.  My legs feel heavy and cumbersome, so I know it's time for a bit of a break!  I will still be walking the dog and doing other stuff...just not squats and jumping jacks and whateer else the youtube workout videos throw at me!  

Weigh in

I was nervous about this weigh in.  SO nervous.  I have not been weighing myself daily like I used to. It's not that I don't want to.  It's simply that I have been using the hall bathroom and my scales are in the master bath.    So it was with fear and trepidation that I stepped onto the scales this morning.  Sadly, my fears were founded. (Don't ask me how I knew that it was not going to be a good week on the scales...I just had this gut feeling.)  I gained a pound.  

I am bummed.  No gain is ever welcome.  A maintain is hard enough to bear, but a gain?

I am telling myself that it's ok.  I know that I lived a healthy and fit life this past week and that the scales WIL catch up.  My main goal is to be fit and healthy and i did that.  The numbers on the scaes are a bonus whenever that happens.  The main thing is to stay consistent!  I'm not letting that number on the scale derail me from the good that I am doing!  So full steam ahead!

Routine

I weigh every day (or try to...some days......well, I'm not perfect!).   I know that some people are dead set against weighing daily. This post is not intended to spark a debate, I'm just saying that this is what works for me.  It is what worked for me when I previously lost 130 plus pounds.  It's what I stopped doing right before I subsequently regained some of the weight.  For me it's a tool.  I don't worship the scale.  I get on the scale at a certain point each morning. (after the bathroom visit but before breakfast...and preferably naked or near 'nekid').  I weigh myself and I move on.  For me, it is a mini boost to let me know that what I'm doing is working.  And sometimes, it's a mini lesson to say 'not good MF', tighten those reins.    Are there days that I look at the scales and say "Dangit??? "  Days where I just want to throw in the towel?  YES, but knowing that I am going to have to step on the scale the next day helps keep me in line.  Honestly, the days that get me down the most are the days where my weight remains the exact same for a few days in a row.

So why am I talking about weighing daily?   For a couple of reasons.   I started watching and weighing myself daily at the beginning of this past week...and the numbers on those darn scales sat at roughly the same number. I HATE THAT!  Yet I kept plugging on, doing what I needed to do.   Yesterday I struggled. I wanted to eat.  I was hungry....dinner was late and it would have been so easy to go to the kitchen and get an extra bite of food. However, I didn't have the calories for it...so I refrained.  I so didn't want to exercise.  However, I made myself.  Ohhh, don't think it's all that great....I didn't go long....I didn't go hard.  But 20 minutes is better than nothing!    So this morning I stepped on the scale...and the numbers had dropped.  VICTORY!  Just what I needed to see after yesterday.  A drop on the scales....a reward for my efforts yesterday.  Confirmation that the choices that I made were the right ones!     THAT is why I weigh everyday. (The thing is this......if I'm making the right choices, the weight WILL drop...maybe not at the rate that I want it to drop, but drop it will!)

So my plans are made for my eating today.  I've got plans for a trip to the gym.  I'm working on sucking down the liquid to get my water intake.  I'm hot on the trail!  I'm keeping up with the routine...the consistency.....it will pay off (and the scales this morning validated that!)

Today

Today so far I've done pretty good. I think once I am back in the routine of actually notating my foods I'll do better. I was looking at my book today and I would write my foods on one day...but the next day would 'forget'. So nothing consistent. Honestly, one day I "forgot" because I was eating poor choices! I can't do that anymore. I NEED to do this consistently!

I dread going back to work because I hate my job. But, on the other hand, going back to work will force me back into a routine. I plan on walking on my breaks again like I was doing before and of course want to continue to go to the gym!