So Week 1 of Domestic Weight Wars (that’s what I’m calling the battle of the bulge between me and my hubby now) is officially over!  After a week of hard work, exercise, and sweating our brains out in our North Carolina heatwave… this week’s Biggest Loser is…

ME!  YAAAAY!!!!  GO MEEEE!!!! 
(I hope hubby doesn’t tune in and see how badly I am gloating in this post.. or maybe I DO!!!)

So the official numbers are as follows:  Hubby lost a total of 2.8 pounds for the week and I lost a whopping 3.6 pounds!!!

I’m thinking my super massive huge 3.6 pounds is partly from the fact that I didn’t eat so well the two days prior to the challenge starting so some of that is probably fake weight.  But NOT ALL OF IT BABY!!!!

Yeah, I’m stoked to see that my weight losing abilities are back and that I am finally making progress again!!  My first 5k is coming up this Saturday so I am looking forward to another nice, healthy week of running and healthy eating.

Thanks for all the support!  You guys have been awesome in helping me stay motivated and focused! 

Hubby and I are both very competitive people.  We love to challenge each other and we are both so stubborn!  So it’s only fitting that today while waiting in line for gas (for cheap gas!) we came up with a challenge for each other. 

You see, hubby has been riding the fence for awhile now about losing weight.  I think he feels like there is never a right time to start and it’s very hard for him to fit exercise into his schedule with work and family time.  I understand but I would much rather him cut out a little family time or leisure time to get healthy… it’s worth it in the long run, right?

So, I’ve been hoping that my efforts might eventually rub off on him and perhaps motivate him to make a change.  Well, it’s not so much my efforts that have gotten him going as it is the idea of a competition with a reward!  

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Well, what can I say?  I am going to claim temporary insanity.  At least I would but I don’t want to be insulting to anyone who is doing the Upday Downday Diet.  I still believe this is an effective diet and that there are plenty of people who have made it a success.  But for me and where I was coming from, it was crazy.  I just haven’t been right since getting back from Disneyworld.  Maybe it was all those darn churros!! 

I’ve not been patient with my weight loss or motivated to do much.  I am most definitely a hardcore creature of habit.  Does any watch the Big Bang Theory?  Okay, that is seriously one of my favorite shows now.  It’s right up there with The Office and Survivor (my top two all time favs).  So if you are familiar with the Big Bang Theory… I can simply illustrate my point about being a creature of habit by describing myself as Sheldon.  I’m grinning right now because some people are probably cringing at the thought.  But it’s true, right down to eating cereal on the same spot on the couch every morning, watching the same show every morning while I eat it, and not wanting to really talk to anyone until I’m done.  Yep, my hubby totally agrees that Sheldon and I are one.

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Something occurred to me recently that I just have to call an epiphany in my weight loss efforts.  And really, an epiphany about my relationship with food.  So here are the gory details…

It was an Upday in my diet and I had eaten pretty well so far.  We had some ground chicken in the fridge that was going to go bad if we didn’t eat it so hubby thought he would make some chicken tacos.  Yum!  Well, he used this fancy trick that I taught him (that I learned from my dad) to make these delicious “fried” taco shells.  (Pretty funny actually because he fried my whole wheat taco shells!) 

So anyway, these taco shells absolutely stole the show!  My plan had been to just have one but as a matter of fact, I could not get enough of these tacos.  After eating one, I started working on my second one, eating it as if it was the last taco I was ever going to eat… savoring every bite… enjoying the flavor… the smell… already starting to think about eating a third one… then thinking that I had better eat as much as I can while it lasted… And that was when it occurred to me:

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Well, I’ve decided to try something different.  After months and months of hard work, dedication, and frustration, I am ready to take a different track on my weight loss journey.  I’ve come to terms with the fact that my body does not want to budge from it’s current weight and that I need to make a change from what I’m doing. 

That being said, I am going on a diet.  Yep, an actual diet to get this weight off.  I’m already living my lifestyle change.  I already eat healthy, exercise, and am living a much healthier lifestyle than I ever have before… I’ve been doing really good with it.  My food portions are good, my caloric intake is right on target, and I do cardio four days a week and am training for my two 5k runs this summer.  Doesn’t it seem like the weight should be coming off? 

So yes, back to this diet.  I found a diet that I am going to try because I think it has some good potential without doing anything too crazy.  It’s called the Upday Downday Diet.  Very simply put, you alternate between low calorie days and higher calorie days.  Apparently the jumping back and forth between the days helps kick the metabolism into gear.  Sounds easy enough, right?

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Am I in the middle of a HUGE lesson in patience?  That’s what this feels like.  I feel like for some reason, I am stuck at 156 pounds and come hell or high water, that number in it’s 10 variations (156.0, 156.1, 156.2, etc.) are plaguing me to no end. 

So yeah.  Today is my weigh-in day and rather than wait until Tuesday to weigh-in, curiosity got me and weighed I in yesterday.  To my major dismay, I went from 156.0 last week to 156.8 this week.  Wow.  W-O-W.  W-O-W!!!

Pardon the tone of this post, please.  I am feeling very frustrated and angry at this point.  I’ve been stuck at 156 for what is now the beginning of three months.  And that is despite my going from running 3 minutes straight to 36 minutes straight.  And despite that I have added working out my arms with 5 lb. weights and started yoga for abs.  And that is especially despite my absolute healthiest week of eating, ever, in my entire life… this past week. 

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I was thinking, there are really two sides to this whole getting healthy thing.  There’s the mental side and the physical side.  Let’s call them Brain and Body.  And they rarely seem to agree.

For instance, Brain really isn’t too keen on running.  Brain would rather be reading, sitting at Starbucks sipping a white chocolate mocha, watching Top Chef, or something like that.  Brain thinks running is pretty draining because it takes a lot of mental work to stay focused enough to keep going. 

Body, on the other hand, absolutely LOVES running.  Body loves running so much that it practically begs Brain to take it running.  Body loves the feeling of pushing itself to the limits and seeing just how far it can run.  Body loves sweating, moving, and any kind of activity because it makes Body feel like it’s alive!

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So I promised you an update two weeks ago about my plateau, formerly known as “not a plateau“.  I had discussed changing my eating habits even further by cutting out some of the sweet cheats I’d still been eating and by adding more healthy calories to my diet.  I did those things, and to a large extent, they did not make a difference.  I was surprised because I really thought for sure that those changes would help solve the problem, and they didn’t.  They did, however, help me to realize some things about my frame of mind during this plateau.

I’ve realized, through prayer and talking to friends, that I am relying way too much on the number on the scale.  And I don’t think it’s healthy.  And aren’t I trying to just be healthy?  Well I can’t let my weight loss become an obsession and go and screw up my mental health, right?!  So this has all brought me to the conclusion that I need to cut my time on the scale down to once a week for a weekly weigh-in and that’s it.

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Okay, time to be brave, folks!  I was inspired by Betsy from Girl Gone Healthy’s brave posting of her “before photos“.  I think it’s high time that I put mine up as well.  Why?

Accountability.  So you know why this weight loss mission is so important to me.  Facing me fears. 

And most of all, simply admitting that that was me at 198 pounds, my heaviest.  I’ve since lost 42 pounds and am well on my way to my goal.  But it’s always good to remember where I came from and why I’m here doing this. 

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I’ve added another layer of accountability to my weight loss efforts.  I have decided to join the Healthy You Challenge (HYC).  HYC is a group of bloggers who are dedicated to blogging about their weight loss efforts and who support and are supported by other members.  I only joined this morning and I am already finding that support here on my blog.  How cool is that!? 

The HYC is described by it’s founder as the following:

The challenge is a support system to work on building a better you. No matter what your goals from losing weight, exercise or staying at goal, we all need the support of people who are going through the same things or have been there. It’s not about obsessing over a number on the scale; it’s not about exercising until you drop; it’s about challenging yourself and pushing yourself to stay focused on your goals as well as getting and giving support.

The idea of building a community with other people who are facing the same challenges, setbacks, and successes is a powerful thing.  The support and accountability gained from honestly “putting yourself out there” is amazing!  I’m very excited to a part of this group and I’m looking forward to getting to know everyone.