Choose to lose: week THREE check in

TWENTY-FOUR DAYS! That's how long I've been at this weight loss thing this time around!! Wanna know what kicked all this off? Check out my blog WEIGHT LOSS: my why & how you can find yours that I wrote over a year ago now. Today, I'm gonna be bold and share some pretty vulnerable stuff with you, I hope that you will find it encouraging on your own personal journey.

Today I woke up so excited to get on the scale. I was so sure that I would see results. This week, I lowered my calorie budget halfway through the week from 1675 to 1475. Thats 200 calories LESS... that combined with the fact that my cycle ended, I was SURE that the scale would reflect my hard work! BUT I WAS WRONG>>> and I want to share the results anyways because if you are on this journey, you need to see that there will be weeks like this... I have struggled on this journey. I have either wanted to eat everything in sight or not eat anything at all. Textures are still bothering me, and it's just taken a lot of determination to stick to the course. I have fought hard though and this week, I didn't go over on my calorie budget NOT ONCE.... even after lowering my budget.

All week long, I have stayed focused and tracked EVERYTHING I have eaten.... so, I was so discouraged this morning when I got on the scale and seen that number.... as a matter of a fact, I cried.... I'm not talking a little tear, NO... I bawled like a baby. I was so sure this I had lost at least 2 lbs. but boy I was wrong. I'll get to the numbers in a minute.... I want to take a moment to say, this is HARD! Not just on ME, but also the folks around me. Especially if you are looking to them and they don't say the things you need them to say. Especially if they have not struggled like you are struggling. Sometimes that scale isn't gonna move the way you think its gonna move... its emotional. I had a good cry this morning, then did some dished, fed the chickens, and paid the bills (okay, that part didn't help the depressed feelings, but it had to be done) and I pulled up my bootstraps to write this update. This is the real-life stuff that happens on a weight loss journey, people need to see this part too.... NOT just the happy moments but the real, raw stuff too!

As far as Exercise goes... well I'm not following a vigorous schedule, but I am trying to go for walks a few times a week. This past week, on Saturday, I "worked out".... okay, not really but it felt like a workout. I cleaned up the playroom and converted it to Zoey's bedroom because she was ready to transition from our bed to her own bed. I went through clothes, did a ton of laundry.... the whole bit and I was sore. I mean I had muscles hurting that I forgot I had. lol.... I did go on 1 walk this week. I'm hoping to get more walks in this week, but no promises.

MY FOCUS: Right now, my focus is to track everything I eat on the Lose It! App while making better food choices.... I'm shooting for high protein, low calorie. I've struggled with macros bad because it's such a learning process. Some days, I even just focused on staying under on calories because I was just struggling!

HERE ARE THE DEETS:

My Heaviest Weight (Feb 8, 2023): 276 lbs.

My START Weight (April 3, 2024): 257.7

My Current Weight (April 27, 2024): 250.4

This week's weight loss (in 7 days): 0.9 lbs.

 TOTAL WEIGHT LOST: 25.6 lbs.

**Just TWO days ago I was down to 249.3 lbs, but "gained it back". I'm not sure what happened. I've stuck to my calorie budget, LOWERED IT EVEN and I've done my best, but I guess that just happens from time to time.

For those of you wondering WHAT my diet looked like this week... Here it is!

I'm NOT perfect, but these are the changes I made that helped me get these results:

If you are NOT interested in the details, feel free to skip this part! 

Sat April 20, 2024: I started out with a Protein Coffee. I ended up skipping lunch and dinner on accident because I was busy cleaning ALL DAY LONG. I did have a Protein bar before bed.... but I was 1,175 calories UNDER BUDGET that day!

Sun April 21, 2024:  Breakfast was a Protein Coffee. For lunch I went out with my mom and we had Western Sizzlin Salad Buffet (SO GOOD!) I was still not hungry, so I skipped dinner, but I did snack on a cutie and some white cheddar puff corn. I was 192 calories UNDER BUDGET that day!

Mon April 22, 2024: You guessed it, PROTEIN COFFEE for breakfast. For lunch I had a roasted garlic and asiago chicken sausage with Avocado toast, and some cottage cheese topped with peaches. Dinner, I practiced portion control and had buffalo chicken tortellini alfredo (My family's current favorite meal). I didn't have any snacks but was 288 calories UNDER BUDGET that day!

Tues April 23, 2024: Protein Coffee for breakfast. I had 2 slices of deli ham, 4 Turkey Sticks, 1 string cheese, and 1 can of carrots for lunch. For Dinner I had a Firehouse Sub Hook and Ladder Chopped Salad (we have discipleship class on Tues, so mom hooked me up with a salad instead of our normal cheeseburger). Someone brought brownies to class, but she knew I was dieting so she also brought a bowl of cuties.... so, I had a cutie in class! When I got home, I had a Fiber brownie as a sweet snack and at some point in the day I had eaten a Protein bar as well. This is the day I lowered my budget to 1475 calories.... BUT I was still 185 calories UNDER BUDGET!

Wed April 24, 2024: Breakfast was Protein Coffee as usual. Lunch was weird... I had 2 turkey sticks, 1 garlic and asiago chicken sausage, and a Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Greek Yogurt. Dinner was HARD..... the kids wanted Pizza after church, so I stopped and got them some and came home and cooked myself some sauteed cabbage and chicken with a soy sauce and brown sugar sauce. Throughout the day I snacked A LOT! I had apples and strawberry bar, a cutie, a protein bar, and a fiber brownie. REMEMBER: I lowered my budget yesterday and I was still under budget by 116 calories.

Thur April 25, 2024: Breakfast was a Protein Coffee. For lunch I had Pizza in a bowl and a protein brownie. For dinner I tried something new. I had a Polska Kielbasa Turkey Sausage and sauteed it with some yellow squash, zucchini, and an onion. It was pretty good. I was craving sweets, so I made some yogurt cookie dough which cost me a ton of calories (533 to be exact). BUT I was still under by 68 calories.

Fri April 26, 2024: Protein Coffee for breakfast, as always! I had left over Polska Kielbasa Turkey and sauteed yellow squash, zucchini, and onion. For dinner, I altered what my family had for dinner. My husband really liked the chicken I had made after church Wed night, so he requested that with some noodles to go with it. I had my normal sauteed cabbage and the chicken with the soy sauce and brown sugar sauce, followed by a skinny cow ice cream. Through the day I had pretzel sticks (did you know that 53 pretzel sticks are only 150 calories! mind blown!) and 1 strawberry. I was 330 calories UNDER BUDGET!

REMEMBER EVERY DAY I ATTEMPT TO DRINK ONE GALLON OF WATER!!!

I do this by using water flavoring packets and skinny syrups to flavor my water, this also helps to curb my sweet cravings.

CHANGES I'VE NOTICED: I've not noticed any changes just yet.... but I would like to try to start tracking measurements as well!

Probably the most valuable lessons I've learned this week is that I need to find other ways to track progress than the scale... If you focus on just the scale, you can get super discouraged. I may also space out updates as well.... I'm still trying to decide if I want to do that or not. I really like the accountability of posting weekly where I'm at. I know I have folks following my journey and I want to be honest about where I'm at. I learned that I need to reward myself in relationships verses with food. I realize how much I value my friends and family who are encouraging me and empowering me on this journey, but I have realized sometimes they just don't get where I'm at and that is okay. I cannot rely on them... I need to rely on GOD to carry me through the difficult moments. We were made to crave GOD, not food. We tend to replace our need for Jesus with other things.... God just wants a relationship with us! For us to turn to him when we are in need. Awe, I fail at that when it comes to food.... but I'm working on it.

THIS WEEKS WIN: I'm down 0.9 lbs!!!! While I realize that isn't much weight, I'm considering it a win. REMINDER (for both of us) 1-2 lbs of weight loss per week is healthy natural weight loss. I want to take a moment to challenge you to look for 1 WIN per day and/or per week! It can be something simple.... like I ate the appropriate portion of a meal OR I drank a gallon of water today OR I got 8 hrs of sleep...... FIND SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE THAT WILL PUSH YOU FORWARD ON YOUR OWN HEALTH JOURNEY!

Dear Lord, I pray for myself as well as anyone joining me on this journey. I pray that you would give us the strength to continue to make the changes that we need to make and to STICK to them. Help each of us to make good food choices even when the going gets hard. Bring restoration to our whole being as we learn to eat with our health in mind. Help us with our self-image as our bodies change on this journey. Let us learn to love ourselves where we are even TODAY. Help us to remember that food cannot fill the whole that was meant for YOU! Bring wisdom and truth to each of our minds and help us to plan our daily food and to enjoy it. Lord, bless our efforts with sustainable weight loss. Father, we long to be free of this difficulty in our lives, and we look to you, you are our supporter, our comforter and our helper. Thank you for your constant love. AMEN!

Thank you so much for following my journey and encouraging me along the way!

<3 The Bohemian Homemaker - Michelle Warren