Suprise gain blues.

Last week, after a very steady 6 weeks (or longer) of loosing or gaining 0.8lbs,  I gained 2 and a half pounds.  I didn't feel like I had gone too crazy the week before but in truth I didn't really track all of my points and I did go out to a dinner and have a cocktail the night before I weighed in.  I was a bit shocked but not super confused. This week, I had kinda hoped if I tracked super well and did a lot of exercise I would be able to do an impressive -3 or 4lbs in one week and finally get to -40lbs.  I did a ton of activity but didn't really track at the end of the week and in the end lost only 0.8 lbs. Which is the normal that I have been loosing.  BUT I AM PISSED.  Because I had a dream that I would loose a a lot without actually doing all the work. And now I am maybe acting out a bit because of it or at least I did yesterday. (I went to two parties and drank a few beers when there was a lot of foods I don't normally eat near by.)

As they have been rolling out all these new topics each week for WW in the new plan, I have been realizing that almost everything is something I do when I am focused on WW but do not always do when I am not.  It is a good reminder to do these things but also I am not really wanting to do everything. I have a bit of the "I don't wanna's" and the "why me's".

I've mentioned on the blog before about how in the success journal, Liz, the author and a real ww leader, talks about how motivation should be thought about as a clock. I really like this, especially as you can move from one part of the clock to the other in either direction.  When I started writing this, I was feeling kinda annoyed that I ate all my weekly points yesterday. I foolishly took a bunch of candy home from one of the parties and kind of can't stop thinking about it. When I have been depressed, stressed, sad, I used to binge on candy specifically anything peanut butter and chocolate and sour patch kids.  I have both of those things in my cabinet right now. If I didn't have them in the house I would not think two seconds about them.  (This is a good example of having good things in your house and not bad.) Anyway, I just re-read the section in the journal about motivation and she suggests using songs as motivators.  I have been loving Macklemore and Ryan Lewis and the song, "Can't Hold us" is my new buoy to combat the motivation drain.  It is catchy and I just want to dance when I hear it. :)

I think I also need to mention some sucesses! After a winter of not much exercise, I have been walking everyday and/or making it a big priority to get to 100% of my activity goal.  I have been planning most meals and last week I managed to eat all the food I made.  (Sometimes I make too much and wind up getting tired of the food. Not so this week as I managed to space out each meal really well!) Here's to adding more good things next week.

One of the things we do at the end of every meeting is write down a small goal for the week.  (If you write it down then you are more likely to actually do it.) I am going to write mine on the blog at the end with the rest of the weekly weight round up. 

This week's goal: To track all 7 days.
This week's total: -0.8 for a total of -38lbs.

 So far so good! Two days of 7 done.

It was summer now back to winter.

As often happens in the Bay Area, we had a week of glorious 70 degree weather in the middle of February.  It was glorious and sunny and warm and I had to work most of it.

Thanks to both Amanda, my housemate and my friend Leslie, I've been walking around the lake almost every day. The city is making amazing progress with the next section of the renovation.  (Can you call a landscaping project a renovation?) Anyway, the new path is down and they just laid the sod but they are not letting people go around there yet, so the birds have turned it into a mini bird sanctuary. 

Accidental blurry aka artsy photo from last week.

It was very cold outside and I decided to wear my midwestern coat to walk around the lake. Also, this is part of the living room.

Tech. X2 (also I went to Vegas.)

BEWARE THE GLOWING ORB. (or the sun rising)

 Last time in Stephanie's life: (Imagine this like the beginning of a West Wing episode.) Stephanie went to Vegas for a Pirate Wedding.  She had a bad cold, talked the entire drive with Tori, (they had a blast.)

It's the road.

 

 

 That night bachelorette party in Vegas and lost her voice.  She communicated via texting.  It was great. She stayed up all night. (More on that another time.) Then she made it through a brunch with french accents and wonderful friends and stayed relatively sober while enjoying the drunk people around her.

Look Vegas NEON! FLASHING Lights

Sunsetty Casinos

Stores I can't shop in!  (But with really cool lines and florescents!) Real research for a future show.

  There was a naked pin up photo shoot, walking around casinos playing AVN or NRA, drinking margarita out of giant skull cup, a successful operation cupcake, the Bellagio fountains, meeting most of the people at the wedding, having too much fun at the Cosmopolitan, laughing, amazing pastries, baths, naps, and a failed pool adventure. 

PIRATE PANDA CUPCAKES! Made by Alia.

Then Amanda and Mike got married. ON A PIRATE SHIP! It was amazing and I am so happy for them. I failed to take any pictures of myself.  I was in a bunch of photos and someday I'll get to look at them and then I will share them with you. (Ok I kind of lied.  I have a kind of crappy photo of most of the costume from when I was doing a fitting.)

Arrr!

Cue Opening Credits and Theme Music

This week I am in tech for a show and focusing another.  The show I am teching is a world premiere and is a lovely lovely show with a great team.  We just have no time in the space with all the things.  Sometimes that gets stressful. It is a musical and I have written a show with a lot of complicated cues on a lightboard that I have never seen in another space and don't really understand how to program it well. And we (I) have no time for notes outside of time when they are loading in the set.  (Which they have to do everyday.)

The other show is going pretty well so far, I'm a bit concerned about how to light scenery that I can't really light as it doesn't exist yet and I don't know how much it will morph from the model/drawings. I also don't know what I really need that I don't have as I haven't really thought about the show except for when I am there because I need to think about other show.

This is for me to read before I go into tech every time. When I got home tonight at 11:30 it was so nice to come home to a clean room and a made bed.  I feel very calm and happy about the fact that even though I didn't eat dinner tonight till I got home, (oops. remember to eat dinner tomorrow.) I did bring two good for me meals and a bunch of snacks.  Tomorrow I have more food to eat and I picked out my clothes, so I can sleep to the max.  It is so worth it to have a big push before tech to have all the food in the house, cook the meals, do the laundry and have the house moderately clean. I am stressed enough and not having to think about these things makes me very happy.

I haven't had time to go to WW this week but I continue to enjoy the new program and the lack of focus solely on willpower. I went to a couple of different meetings on different days and times.  I'm forever convinced that a good leader makes the meeting but so much more does the people who attend that meeting. I have managed to loose the little bit of weight I gained in Vegas, but overall I've been very successful at maintenance.  For about 6 weeks.  I think I need to shake it up. I have not been doing super fabulous with the exercise and I have been starting to slack at the portions and the tracking and willpower.  But as big victory comes through lots of little victories, I had one delicious cookie today instead of two, I've been trying to walk around when I can to get more activity points, I caught myself eating crackers out of the bag and stopped and pulled out the scale and a bowl, I am prepared to eat 3 delicious meals tomorrow and I have a walk scheduled on Thursday AM. YAYAYAY!!!

Hopefully, I will be able to fall asleep soon. :)