I Survived.

Last Thursday, I told you guys all about how I was looking at the weekend as a challenge.  A chance to test my willpower, my resolve… This past weekend represented a vow I’d made to not let all my progress through the first 7 days of the 21 Day Fix go to waste.  Weekends are usually very hard for me food-wise, and I had promised myself to make a concentrated effort to be better.

And I did it.  I was good.  Really good, in fact.

The biggest test of all, as I had anticipated, was Friday, when I took the kids to the movies and out to Boston Pizza for supper.  I ended up getting a bag of Nibs instead of popcorn at the theatre, and sharing them with the kids, while Caden let me have some of his popcorn to satisfy that craving – only a few little handfuls though.  (Also, he got very protective over it and wasn’t really into sharing, which was kind of funny since that’s how I am with popcorn usually).  It wasn’t perfect, but it was a planned treat and I managed to stay on track.  Heck, the fact that I didn’t throw caution to the wind and order a large popcorn with extra butter was worthy of a celebration dance.  This trip to the movies was a big WIN for me.

Then, on to Boston Pizza.  As I had mentioned, I had researched on-line in advance, and stayed true to my promise to order something from their healthy alternative selections, going with the Szechuan Chicken Pizza & a glass of water.  No appetizer, no dessert.  I was even more successful in that I was  unable to finish my meal after witnessing a child at a table nearby being sick – a scarring incident for me, since I don’t handle seeing people getting sick very well, and who knows when I might be able to enter a Boston Pizza without thinking of that again – but perhaps a small blessing in disguise, because WHEN does JILL ever push her plate away unfinished?!  (I had only a small piece left, so it wasn’t like I was going home starving, trust me.)

The rest of the weekend posed no great threats to my success – I stuck with the plan. 

So you can imagine my anger and frustration when I stepped on the scales Sunday morning to discover I had somehow gained weight instead of losing.  I was ready to scream!!!

I know one of the biggest weight loss tips out there is to stay away from the scale.  Don’t get on it every day.  Once a week, max.  But the scale has always been my friend in the past.  It has been a reminder to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Went up a pound today?  Work harder tomorrow!  And always, when I put forth a concentrated effort, that number has gone down.

Until now.

The logical part of my brain knew there were probably sensible reasons for the number going up.  The 21 Day Fix uses more weights in its exercises than I have used in months, and muscle weighs more than fat, so perhaps the muscle was building back up and wreaking havoc with the number on the scales.  Also, I was eating towards the lower end of my calorie goal range all week, so there’s a good chance my body was clinging on to that fat, as bodies that are going through weight adjustments are apt to do.  Furthermore, I haven’t been following the nutrition plan and container system that comes with the program, as I’m just borrowing the workout DVD’s, so that could be a contributing factor as to why the pounds weren’t melting away as quickly as Autumn’s been promising me.

I shouldn’t be worrying so much about the number on the scales.  I should be appreciating the “good” soreness in my muscles as I push my body harder again.  I should be enjoying the strong, empowered feeling that comes with eating healthy and working out.  I should be comforted by how my clothes aren’t feeling so tight anymore.

But that’s very hard to do when the number on the scales goes UP instead of down.  grrrrrr….

Thankfully, this morning that number started heading in the right direction again.   There’s nothing worse than giving a healthy lifestyle your all, and not seeing the results you hoped for.  I deserved to see a little credit.

Now, to just keep chugging along…