Thinking Through a Standstill (of sorts)

I'm feeling a stellar amount of frustration and depression over my weight loss efforts today.

The efforts are there. I have tracked, exercised, and stayed within my Points Plus range more than 90% of the time. I am not perfect, haven't been perfect, never will be perfect. Perfect doesn't exist. I refuse to beat myself up for my stumbles because they are each a learning experience and regardless of anything else, I am doing a million times better than I was just over 2 weeks ago.

What is not happening is that the scale is not moving fast enough for me! I told myself a couple of weeks ago that my goal was one pound a week. Very attainable. My first week I lost 7.something. The second only .6. So overall, yes, I am losing.

But...I'm an obsessive weigher.

I weigh every morning,
I weigh every afternoon after work.
I weigh at night before I go to bed.
I weigh at 2 AM when I'm up for a potty break.

And naturally, one's weight fluctuates.

In the past, daily weighing kept me accountable. Now I'm finding it just depresses me because the scale just goes up and back down a bit, back up more, down a tiny bit...and what this results in is a mentality that with every step I take forward, I'm taking 2 steps back.

So...for the remainder of the week, I shall not weigh. *GASP*! I hope that I'm not lying to you all by declaring this intention....but I will not weigh again until Saturday which is my official weigh in day.

Okay. I say all that to say this: the effort IS there. BUT are there things I need to tweak? Hell yes.

So what am I not doing that I should be? Two things immediately come to mind:
1. Too much processed food, not enough plants.
2. Too much diet soda, not enough water.

While I am staying in my PP range (except for the crazy that was Sunday, but we shan't dwell...), almost everything I've been eating comes in a package. Freezer meals for lunch, "baked" chips and snacks, etc. And I'll be honest, almost no fresh produce.

Yesterday, I made the decision that I need to start incorporating those things back into my diet. So after work, I hit the grocery store and bought $40 in fresh veggies and fruit. For the remainder of the week I plan to have fruit or veg with every meal or snack.

This is what it's looked like so far today:

Breakfast: cereal with a banana, milk and coffee

Snack: peanut butter-filled pretzels with a heaping side of grapes

Lunch: chicken tikka masala with a huge side salad

Dinner plans are still in the works, but I'll wager they will include some roasted Brussels sprouts and broccoli. Maybe even some carrots. And later, a fuji apple which I've recently discovered I enjoy tremendously, despite my overall aversion to fruit.

Secondly, I drink a lot of Coke Zero. If I had a true love, Coke Zero would be it. I've noticed I have been having my daily CZ and almost no water, so I'm upping the intake of that clear, crisp, unadulterated beverage. I had 20 oz on my hour long commute to work (I've run to the restroom 3 times already today - TMI?) and have another 20 oz set aside for lunch. In addition to the bottle sitting on my desk now. Can you guess what I'm going to say next? 48-64 oz of water for the remainder of the week.

So...let me reiterate: 3 pretty small, simple changes that I will follow through with for the remainder of the week! Plants with every meal or snack, 48-64 oz of water a day, and no more weighing til Saturday! Wish me luck!