Monday, April 21, 2014

WHAT the.... ???

Yesterday, Sunday, I did as I do every Sunday, padded down to the basement for my weekly weigh-in.  The scale has been over in a weird corner the last couple of weeks and my weigh-ins have not been going in the right direction, so I half-jokingly said to myself, "this spot is unlucky - I'm moving the scale back to its usual spot."  Like that makes a difference, but hey, I hadn't had any coffee yet and logic is unnecessary baggage on Sunday morning. 

I had incredibly low expectations, so figured I'd take whatever superstitious advantage I could get.  I hadn't logged my food at all, all week long.  I've exercised like normal but nutritionally, this week was strictly so-so.  There was an incident with some fried chicken at one point... poor choice and completely emotionally-driven, I accept that and I'm moving on.  There were several days where I just wasn't hungry in the morning and skipped breakfast, not a normal thing for me but I ate earlier and larger lunches on those days, so it wasn't an attempt at calorie restriction, just busy at work and choosing to eat when I got hungry.  I'm still at a point where keeping a food log is necessary, and failure to log generally translates to a larger number on the scale. 

But still, here's my scale, in this stupid, darkish corner of the utility room.  And it's been unlucky lately, so I moved it.

Somewhat filled with dread and feeling silly for moving the darn thing like there's some magic spot where gravity loses its hold in my home, I stepped onto the scale.

Result:  183.3
 
Now, certainly 183.3 isn't a great number overall - I'm still 5'4" tall and have nearly 40 lbs to lose before I hit "Normal" on the BMI scale, but holy WOW, that's a 4.3 lb loss from last week!  Of course, without a food log, I have no idea whether it was a fluke or if I did something right or what.

Giddy with that bit of data, I immediately resolved that the scale would never move from this spot again.  Obviously.

Yesterday was also Easter - not a huge holiday for my family as we don't practice any religion and there aren't any small children to entertain.  Especially this year, as my husband's grandmother is out of town for the week so there wasn't any planned family gathering.  We were invited to my brother-in-law's new in-laws' home for their Easter dinner.    [Did you get that?  My spouse's brother's spouse's parents' home.]

Family gatherings are stressful for everyone (or at least I assume so) and difficult to navigate for the food junkie.  There's always that one dish your favorite aunt makes that's so yummy you know you're going to have a second helping, you just resolve not to have a third.  No so for this year - I had no idea what these folks cook or how well they cook, or if they were the type to just buy a lot of packaged foods and microwave everything.  Total mystery.  So I kept in mind that although Holiday Rules apply, there's no reason to go crazy.  I don't have to eat anything "just to be polite" and eating my weight in deviled eggs is no way to celebrate a 4-pound weight loss, no matter how shocking it is.

I tell you what, going to someone else's family gathering is the way to go.  First of all, the food was terrific.  And varied!  There was ham, brisket, and pastrami, the cheesy-est cheesy potatoes I've ever encountered, that Really-Bad-For-You green bean casserole that I only eat once or twice a year, and of course lots of deviled eggs - all prepared, smoked, baked, and barbecued by these lovely people.  And there's none of that Family Stuff to deal with - a completely zero-stress way to spend the holiday.  I highly recommend it if you can swing it once in a while.

I had run upstairs to make fresh-baked made-from-scratch cookies as soon as I got off the scale.  Two batches and they turned out really good - dark-chocolate-chip and peanut-butter-milk-chocolate-chip varieties.  Safe choices for a group of people I've never really met (some I met at the wedding, of course, but that's really it) and I was pleased they were a hit.  Plus, only one other dessert on-hand, so not a lot of competition for my home-made sweets.

So we went to the party, hung out with my brother-in-law and met some new people, enjoyed the food and the absolutely beautiful weather, and made it home in time to walk the dogs by about 5pm.  I definitely ate too much, had a little bit of everything and one beer, but went heavy on the protein and didn't get a second helping of anything.  I was busy making cookies and hadn't eaten breakfast, except for the few bits of cookie dough and 1-1/2 cookies I tested during the baking.  All things considered, I'm calling it a win.

This morning, Monday, is the day of the Boston Marathon - you didn't think I was going to leave out the official Runner's Holiday, did you?  I'm tracking 6 local runner-friends who are racing today and can't wait to see how they do, and hear / read all about their experiences in this amazing race. 

Saw this from RunnersWorld and loved it:
 

And THIS - my friend Dan, ready to go, and sporting some awesome gear promoting the We Care Twin Cities Half Marathon - which he has spearheaded for the past 3 years and I have helped to organize / get sponsors for the past two years.  The web site for 2014 isn't up and running yet, but registration will open soon!


I packed a healthy breakfast (see photo) and some leftover "Jason's Chicken Fried Rice" for lunch (white rice, not brown, but mostly everything else is "clean" stuff - lots of flavor from ginger and veggies and boneless skinless chicken breasts). And headed to work with my mojo intact.

There's just nothing like an unexplained, unexpected, and HUGE drop on the scale Sunday to inspire better choices on a Monday morning!  Have a great week, all!

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