Unexpected Expectations

Just have time for a quick little update as work has been pretty busy today. I have lots to do and as per usual not really enough time to do it in. I am finding these last two weeks with the whole trying to balance this weight watchers stuff with exercise and with my obsession for couponing that something has to give. I know this is not an unusual or foreign concept to anyone, just a reality. I can not give two major things in my life, that being weight watchers stuff and couponing stuff 100% off my focus. They each suffer a smidge. I have been focusing really hard on the healthy stuff lately and therefore have mentally set aside Saturday in my brain to refocus on my couponing efforts. I will clean out the coupons, clip coupons, prepare some deal scenarios, and do some shopping. Saturday is that day. I am just muddling along until then. Sunday I have another wedding shower to attend so again with the time being stretched thin. At least this one is not at my mom’s house so I can leave whenever I want and don’t have to clean up after it, or prepare for it, etc. So that should make the whole experience better.

Anyhow, I haven’t posted for a couple days so I should point out that Monday night I had an AMAZING run. I suspect that’s because I took Saturday and Sunday off from exercising so not shockingly Monday I was totally in the grove and felt great. I think that particular hard work paid off, or rather my work all week because I have to say I was completely totally shocked yesterday when I went to weight watchers and got on the scale to see that in my second week I had again lost 4.4 pounds. Yup, two weeks in a row losing 4.4 pounds. The leader just looked at me and said, “How’d you do that?” As if there was a secret I wasn’t sharing or rather I must have gone out and had lypo performed during the week, but only enough to remove a few extra pounds… Like I completely know the answer to that. The only thing that sprung to mind and I quickly blurted out was “Well, I am a runner. I love to run.” Not that I can come anywhere close to what I was doing previously. I feel fortunate when I can string together 10-20 minutes of running non stop in a row. I tend to run for 10-20 minutes, walk 5, run 10, walk 5, run 10, walk 5, run 5, walk 5… .etc. Anyhow, the reality is that I am a runner and I suspect that it is definitely this love that keeps the scale moving in a positive direction.

I was moments away from hearing the typical, you shouldn’t lose so much weight so fast speech from the leader when she looked at my numbers, heard me say runner and then decided to instead say, “We need to monitor this to make sure you aren’t losing to fast but we will see how you do next week.”

I wanted to blurt out and perhaps depending on how next week goes I will, look lady this is my fourth official time, probably 10th unofficial time restarting this program. This lifestyle has been engrained in my brain for 6 plus years. I know my body, I know what it can handle, I know how it reacts to things. I’ve got this covered. It’s really not a criticism of the leader I completely know she is just doing her job, but losing 4.4 pounds two weeks in a row is okay for me. I don’t honestly believe that next week will bring anything close to that. To be honest I was pretty shocked myself. I was expecting 2-3 pounds. 4.4 was a nice surprise which I will gladly take.

I have been weighing myself but depending on placement in the room and a variety of factors there is just no consistency and therefore I have chosen to let it go. I check in, but I am not anally comparing, making notes and charts or any such compulsive behavior. I am just letting it be, which is nice. Especially nice when you are so pleasantly surprised at weigh-in.

That means I am down 8.8 pounds. I have set a mini-goal that might be unreachable, but I think honestly I can do it. I can do anything I really set my mind to. My cousin is getting married July 10th. I want to have lost 25 pounds by then. This means I would have 16.2 pounds to lose in the next 7 official weigh-ins. That’s a little over 2 pounds a week. Yes, high on the scale of expectations but possible for me. The sad truth is that only puts me half way to my goal. Yup, would still have another 25 plus pounds to lose, but I am not thinking that far ahead. One freaking weigh-in at a time. Except for the 25 pound goal in 7 more weeks. I can manage that and it is nice to have goals.

I think splitting my energies between weight loss and couponing are going to help me out this time around. I can’t get 100% crazy about either and it actually puts me at a normal level with some of my behaviors. That is nice for a change. After weight watchers last night I stopped at the grocery store and picked up a few items and then headed home where I started out pretty pitiful on the treadmill. Took a break, and came back to it later to finish up a nice solid 62 minutes, 35 of them ran, 5.25 miles, 700 calories burned. That is a solid workout for me. I am considering solid anything around 5 miles.

The best part is that while I can’t actually see any difference in my body in these two weeks (I am not surprised or worried about this fact), what makes me happy is that I am starting to see the return of my calve muscles. The ones that I used to love so dearly, the ones the showed I was a runner and strong. Well after only two weeks they are starting to return and that puts a smile on my face. Imagine what I can do when I get rid of this extra 50 pounds I am carrying around. Imagine how my body is going to perform…. I am looking forward to that.

After my workout I had wonderful delicious spaghetti with bread. So freaking good. I have to say I am loving ground turkey with a passion these days. We ate dinner while watching Lost. I am so sad that there is only the finale left. It has been so good, probably because it is explaining and leading up to the finale. Anyhow, I heart my Lost characters and will miss them tons.

Tonight’s agenda is home, run some, (we will see what my body will let me do after two days of solid workouts in a row), shower, change the bed sheets, do some laundry, clean up the room a little, Not sure what’s for dinner. Maybe a quesadilla? Perhaps a wrap of some sort… I have like 30 packages of whole wheat mission tortillas I got for free a few weeks back. So anything with tortillas floats my boat.

I find I am most calm and peaceful with myself when I have these set routines. I never feel happier, better, or more alive than when I am exercising and working towards good health. I don’t know why I ever give that up.