Stuck?

Wednesday, I showed no loss on the scale.  But that’s okay because it was just the same number as Tuesday: 190.6.  True, I was really hoping to break into the 180’s with that weigh in, but I also am aware that it’s about time for my weight loss to slow down a bit.  I mean, the diet book touts that you can lose UP TO 20 pounds in 28 days.  I lost half of that in the first week.  So, if I’m not “supposed” to lose more than another 10 pounds over the subsequent 3 weeks of the 28-day cycle of the diet, then the rate of weight loss does need to slow down to about 3 a week.  It’s just a little nerve wracking to start off because I was so used to seeing a 1+ lb loss almost every day of the first week and now for it to slow down…that’s where the terror I spoke about in my last post comes into play.

As of Wednesday, I have now had tuna salad FOUR different ways, none of which contain mayonnaise!  So awesome.  Two of the varieties of tuna salad include persian cucumbers, which are like sweet pickles, but not pickled.  And when I make “regular” tuna salad, I use mayo and sweet relish, and sometimes I’ll add a boiled egg too.

I am still 0 for 0 with the exercise.  Ugh.  I’m disappointed in myself for this, but I’m not getting down on myself.  Sometimes you just need a break.  And apparently, right now, I need a break.  I do need to start getting back into it, though.  I know I will see a higher quality of weight loss if I pick my running back up on a regular basis and if I can manage to get myself to the gym once or twice a week.  Next week is perfect for that.  I only have one shift of overtime scheduled all of next week, so that leaves 6 days with enough time to workout fully open.  And I have loads more options open to me other than just running or just going to the gym or just swimming or just cycling.  I have P90X on DVD, I have all these mini workouts that a coworker gave me (I’ll post about this in the next couple days). 

Double shift days at work are a little difficult for me to get through.  I definitely have to have one of the “crash stash” snacks that are allowed if they’re needed.  I literally can’t make it through the entire 16 hours at work if I don’t eat one.  I try to pick a good one that has protein.  That’s really easy during phase 2, which is the protein-heavy phase.  So, when I worked my double shift Wednesday night, I took 3 boiled egg whites with me to snack on when I needed a snack.  When I worked my double on Monday, it was during phase 1, which is the fruit-heavy phase…so for that snack I took 2 small apples.  They weren’t nearly as satisfying as the asparagus wrapped in nitrate-free roast beef lunch meat that I brought last week during phase 2 when I worked a double shift.  But, I made it through the night without too much tummy grumbling going on. 

Wednesday was super stressful.  We were ridiculously busy and I kept getting bombarded with work to do.  To top that off, in the process of doing MY job, I discovered numberous instances where a particular department in my agency didn’t do THEIR job, so it held me up with doing my own job.  On my lunch break I had to run to the store (Whole Foods) to buy a few things that I needed to have (frozen broccoli, canned tuna, mushrooms and foil).  While I was waiting in line to check out, there were these cases of little 2-bite cupcakes that looked fantastically sugar-packed and, a week and a half ago, I would have broken down and bought them and then eaten ALL OF THEM before going back into work.  This time?  I looked at them, acknowledged that they looked yummy but didn’t even have the slightest inklng of desire to buy and eat them.  YAY!!!

I want to caution everyone, unless you’re getting fresh produce or specialty food items, do NOT go shopping at Whole Foods.  The can of tuna I bought?  3 times as much as the exact same thing at a regular grocery store.  The foil I bought?  Regular store: $1.00…Whole Foods: $4.00.  Oh and the broccoli?  If I want steam-in-the-bag, I’d have to get this small bag that costs twice what the large non-steam-in-the-bag costs.  Ugh.  I just got the large bag and set it out to thaw.  I poked holes in the bag and heated it up that way.  Worked just fine. 

Oh!  Haha…Wednesday while I was at work, I made my photocopies of week 3 and 4’s sample meal maps and then I did up my shopping lists for both weeks!  I’m a boy scout when it comes to prep work for this diet!  Always prepared!  But I like it.

The frustration begins.  I mean, it’s entirely possible that it will be gone tomorrow, but for right now, I’m frustrated.  The scale hasn’t moved even 1/10^th of a pound in three days.  I knew the weight loss would slow down, but I wasn’t prepared for it to just slam on the brakes like this.  A little movement in the downward direction would be nice.  Even just if it only measures in the tenths of a pound.  Anything is better than nothing.  I’m really hoping to get down in the 180s by Monday.  I just need .7 of a pound loss to get there!  I’m hoping that the stress I’ve had with my fears of what happened with the Shred Diet earlier this year would happen now didn’t cause my body to hold onto weight.

I am pretty happy with how much middle section is starting to look.  Well, happy with my stomach area.  My hips are stilly lumpy and I don’t like that.  Appearance-wise, I wanted a flatter stomach and smoother hips.  So far, the first one is starting to happen, so that’s good.

This morning, I weighed in again and, again, it was 190.6.  But, there has been a development that may explain why i've stayed the same all week.  I am a woman and women have, well, a "time of the month" that happens.  I don't normally have a time of the month thanks to my birth control pills, but every now and then I spot.  Well, I'm spotting right now so I'm guessing I'm just a little bloated right now.  So, I'm going to stop stressing about the whole staying the same and just be glad the scale's not going up because of this.