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If you are just stopping in for the first time, and wanna know what helped me get started on my journey, check out my original post: WEIGHT LOSS: my why & how you can find yours!
This week was probably one of the most difficult weeks I've faced in a while, not really concerning weight loss, but life in general. My sweet, strong, courageous, eight year old boy, Elijah, was diagnosed with level 1 autism, dyslexia, dysgraphia, ADHD, and significant learning deficiencies in reading and writing. I'm hoping to work up the courage to write about the process and what it was like to get this diagnosis but to be honest, I'm still processing. Now that you know a little bit about how life got turned upside down for us, I hope you will understand my eating choices this week were not ideal.
MY FOCUS: This week my focus was to drink 1 gallon of water per day & Track everything I eat on the Lose It! App while making better food choices!!!! That's it. I'm not focusing on exercise yet.
HERE ARE THE DEETS:
My Start Weight (Feb 8, 2023): 276 lbs.
My Current Weight: 265.6
THIS WEEKS WEIGHT LOSS: 3.5 lbs.
TOTAL WEIGHT LOST: 10.4 lbs.
For those of you wondering WHAT my diet looked like this week... Here it is!
If you are not interested in the details, feel free to skip this part!
Wed, Feb 22: Breakfast was a Sausage, Egg, and pepper scramble with 1 flour tortilla that I ate on the side. Lunch was Egg Roll in a bowl made with ground turkey, but my sweet tooth hit a few hours later and I had a cup of coffee with creamer, a moon pie, and about 3 tablespoons of mini chocolate chips. For dinner I had Ramen Noodles with parm cheese and I ended the day19 calories OVER my budget of 1778 calories per day.
Thur, Feb 23: I skipped breakfast and for lunch I managed to choke down a plain salad with just romaine lettuce and ranch. I knew I needed more than that so I had a chocolate protein shake. Dinner I had left over egg roll in a bowl and a can of green beans. A bit later I was hungry and knew I was way under on my calories so I splurged and had a pepperoni pizza pocket and some healthy homemade cookie dough. I was 521 calories UNDER budget for the day.
Fri, Feb 24: MY DAUGHTERS 6th BIRTHDAY! For breakfast I accidently ate a plain chocolate chip pancake while serving them to my kiddos for breakfast. I did better for lunch though and had zoodles, tomatoes, and mozzarella pearls. I had planned to do well for dinner but I fell down our concrete stairs and thought I broke my leg (a later x-ray showed it was fine) but all I had for dinner was a mini cupcake, a 90 calorie brownie, and a cup of chocolate milk. STILL YET>>> I was 761 calories UNDER budget on this day!
Sat, Feb 25: Breakfast was 1 cup of delicious overnight oats. I ended up having a super late lunch/early dinner of a beef sirloin steak topped with sautéed mushrooms, 1/2 can of green beans, and baked sweet potato chunks. Then before bed I had a Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich. I was UNDER my calorie budget by 982 calories.
Sun, Feb 26: Overnight oats is what I chose for breakfast... but man the sweet tooth was killing me so a little later I enjoyed a 90 calorie brownie with a cup of coffee and cream. For lunch I needed something quick so I had 2 beef hot dogs and hot dog buns with ketchup and mustard. I skipped dinner all together leaving me 653 calories UNDER budget.
Mon, Feb 27: {Diagnosis Day} I didn't eat till dinner and I had to force myself to eat then. If I'm honest, I didn't log what I ate either. It was just a tough day.
Tues, Feb 28: I skipped breakfast. Lunch was only half of a protein shake. And dinner I had sautéed zucchini, yellow squash, and onions with a Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich for dessert. I was 1024 calories UNDER for the day!
EVERY DAY I DRANK ONE GALLON OF WATER!!!
(this week I didn't finish my gallon on Monday and Tuesday)
3.5 lbs, I'll take that as a win! I think its worth noting that I was also on my period this week and we all know how that can factor into the number on the scale and effect those cravings. Overall.... I realize that this week I feel off the wagon a bit; but I'm jumping back on! I am doing my best to REFOCUS for this coming week! I still need to get some recipes together so that I can have more things to choose from. This week, my amazing momma brought me a ton of fresh fruit and veggies..... so that will hopefully help me to stay on track. This week was so stressful but I realized that I need things that are convenient for me to grab when I'm starving, so that I don't make bad choices. I have found myself frustrated several times because I'm hungry and don't want to eat the very few options that I have given myself so I need to do something about that. I also realized that things that happen in life, really do effect the way we care for our bodies. In those hard times, its easy to forget that in order to care for others YOU GOTTA TAKE CARE OF YOU!
CHANGES I'VE NOTICED: Probably the most valuable lesson I learned this week is how much stress impacts your diet! I was either unable to eat or craving things I shouldn't have. It was a mental battle more than anything...... I'm so thankful that I have friends and family who are encouraging me and empowering me on this journey, I wouldn't be able to do this without my support system!
THIS WEEKS WIN: Honestly this weeks win is more about mental health. I'm processing some big things this week {and will continue to in the coming weeks} and I think its just a HUGE WIN that I didn't fall into depression or become completely overcome with anxiety. Also, 3.5 lbs is a huge success as well! 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 1 hot pocket instead of 2 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. 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