Sunday, February 11, 2007

Weigh-In Edition: Week 6

Apparently, nothing says "I'm sorry for your loss" quite like green bean casserole.

My family was inundated with neighbors and coworkers and friends bearing sympathy cakes and deli trays and casseroles and bags of chips, and and and...

So, of course I ate like shit this week. Like, really really badly, and right now I'm really confused as to what my actual weight is. I know I've gained a pound at least, and I'm sure I'm also holding onto a couple more because of salt and driving and sitting and sleeping but not so much exercising, but my old digital scale (which wasn't all that accurate anyway) went kaput this morning and my new, Weight Watchers scale, is saying I'm currently at 226.3 lbs. (102.6 kilos). Bummer.

So now I'm not sure whether I should readjust my starting weight and all that and make it 4 lbs. heavier, or if I should just hope that next week everything's back to normal. Since I can't use the other scale to compare weights I have no idea how much it was off. I guess I'll just call it a temporary gain and work extra hard to get back on track now that mourning time is officially over. Sorry for being a fatass and gaining weight.

One thing I found encouraging was how cleaned out my body must've been before I started chowing down on funeral food. On Thursday night I went to bed with chills, shivering, horrible nausea, sweating, and a low fever and assumed I was getting the flu. I actually think now that I may have just been reacting badly to all the sugar and fat I had consumed, which is sort of awesome because until you actually FEEL the nasty effects of having all that shit inside your system, it's hard to really internalize the belief that healthy food=healthy body. I suppose that's the same logic as smashing one's head into a concrete block to see if it'll hurt like they say, but at the same time I'm sort of proud of myself for being healthy for a whole month. I am so, so glad I'm back at my own house with all my whole grain breads and my vegetable snacks and not at Casa de Bundt Cake with my parents anymore. Now, I'll just have to see if I can coerce my body into exercising again, because I fell out of that habit at least a half week before I started eating poorly. Cardio tonight, for sure.

Hmm...any advice on the scale thing?

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Erin,

Sorry for your loss. However you handle the scale thing you know you will be extra motivated to get rid of those 4 pounds. Whether they are "new" or "rescaled" they will be soon forgotten as you surge forward in your weight loss. I know I speak for many when I say I am glad to have you back and look forward to losing right along with you.

SuMarie said...

I would just keep going. So you might have backtracked a bit. Who cares as long as you get to the final goal. I know that you will get there, no matter what the scale reads today.

Vickie said...

Sorry for your loss also.

I saw a comment of yours (maybe on Lori - Readhead?) and got caught up on your blog over the weekend.
Enjoy your writing very much.

You know - when family crisis happen - there is going to be food and it is hard for all of us - don't beat yourself up - what is done is done - and it could have been a lot worse. Chin up.

I would suggest waiting about a week - drink as much water as possible - stay away from processed or anything else you are not used to - and get your body moving - and THEN see where the scale is.

It takes me 3-4 days minimum to work that type of stuff out of my system.

And even if I eat well - several days of sitting - or not sleeping - gets to me too. And you had ALL of that (plus stress) going on.

You are doing great - and you have to expect these little "blips" in the system now and again - and just move on - like you are doing.

On the salt - I think of it as getting "assaulted" - it makes me sick as a dog too - and you might find that as handy as I have - I get flu like symptoms, headache, constip., swell, scale goes up, etc. Nice handy little bodily system of saying - "no we don't want any".

My mother - who has major health problems and is on a very restricted food plan due to medicine stuff - weighs 118 pounds and reports that it hits her the SAME WAY and takes her about 3-4 days to work it out too.

so it is not just all of US - if you get used to eating the fresher stuff - and then get assaulted - it does get you.

Grumpy Chair said...

Erin, so sorry to read about the death of your grandmother.

My scale broke in November, so I was forced to buy a new one also. I just went with the new number, but I feel your frustration.

Anonymous said...

Erin, I'm so sorry for your loss. I can understand what you're going through. Glad to see you're back to posting!

As for the scale, I'd say go with what the new one says and just move on. I think you're allowed some "off" periods when you go through something like this, as long as you pick yourself up and start back on your plan before too long. I'm currently mad at my Tanita scale, but I know it's not lying. The old, cheap scale at my parents' house is so much kinder to me (underweighs by at least 6lbs), but in the long run, Tanita's telling me the truth and I've got to go with her...

And good job on cleaning up your diet! It seems the "sympathy food setback" has proven that eating healthfully is far better for you, if your body's reaction was so severe! As someone with IBS, I have to keep my diet pretty clean of high-fat, no-fiber foods. But there are times when I'll still eat something like fish and chips or greasy pizza, and my stomach and GI system will cramp and I'll contort into such shapes I never knew possible. IBS definitely keeps me from going overboard.

Keep up the good work!

Lori G. said...

Erin, I'm so sorry about your grandmother. You wrote about her so well, I felt like I was there with you all in her house.

Just go with the number because really, you'll be losing weight really soon.

Erin said...

Erin-
I am very sorry about your grandmother. It sounds like she was an incredible person and that losing her is an incredible loss. I'll keep you both in my thoughts.

Other Erin

BigAssBelle said...

i still don't have any words of wisdom with regard to the loss of your beloved grandmother. nothing can fix that.

on the other topic, though, it has been a good lesson for me to remember how eating crap makes me feel. i only find out when i'm clean and go back. but the pounding heart, the swollen feet and hands, feeling of weakness, bloat, headache ~ sounds like symptoms of poison and perhaps it is.

On Thursday night I went to bed with chills, shivering, horrible nausea, sweating, and a low fever and assumed I was getting the flu. I actually think now that I may have just been reacting badly to all the sugar and fat I had consumed, . . . hope it was "just" food for you and that you're not getting this crud that's flying around.

thinking of you . . . lynette