The Yoyo Pound

I know, I haven't posted a blog in a while and many of you have been asking when the next one is coming. So here it is.  I can sum up the last 3 weeks in pretty much one sentence.  Up a pound, down a pound, up a pound and a half, down a half pound, up a half pound, down a pound. Let's see, where does that put me?  I believe I'm still up, but never do I allow myself to be up more than 2 pounds above my goal weight. Through my yoyo weeks, I have discovered something very important within this whole process.  It takes one weekend to gain a pound and about 5-7 days to loose a pound.  Anyone else see a problem here besides me?


This is a very tough time of year. Lots of goodies, parties, and stress. Put them all together and voilà, you have just gained yourself about 5 extra pounds. So what do you do? Well you have a plan, that part is key.  Rachel and I have devised a plan for me so that each day it is minimal effort to form and follow the plan. We have created menus for each day of the week. Breakfast is pretty much the same everyday for me and I'm okay with that.  Lunch varies depending on what dinner is going to be. We try to stay away from both lunch and dinner having too many carbs. Then we have a "pool" of snacks that are thrown in there.  So if you create 10 of these meals you can just keep rotating them every other week. The plans for the day include everything you will have to eat that day - breakfast, lunch, dinner and all snacks. It's quite helpful in many ways. First, you know what you are going to have for dinner every day of the week (I exclude weekends from this system - hence the weight gain on the weekends, we'll talk about that later...). Second, you know exactly what you need to get at the grocery store for that week - the shopping list is done. And third, you don't ever have to decide what to eat, just look at what's next on the list. Of course, you have some flexibity in there too, its not written in stone, but it is a good base.  


I do have to admit, although we have the system pretty much automated, I still do like checking in with Rachel daily about the plan, somehow it makes me feel not so alone in the process even though I know Rachel's not following the plan with me - she has her own plan, but somehow if we talk about it, I feel like she is following it with me. That is the nice part about having a personal trainer, you're not alone. Excercise and weight loss are just easier when you have someone to go through it with. Its like working out with a buddy, cardio goes so much faster when you have someone right next to you doing it with you, not to mention the fact that just having a buddy may have gotten you down to the gym in the first place to do the cardio.


So the weekdays usually go okay, most of the time...The weekends are a different story.  I don't like to cook on the weekends so that leads to either going out to dinner, getting takeout or just having quick - not so healthy - meals.  This apparently is where the extra calories are sneaking in. But its still hard for me to believe that 3500 extra calories are sneaking in to create that extra pound. It just doesn't seem possible.  Granted, I don't keep track of my calories quite as closely on the weekends, but I don't go crazy either. Unfortunately, the scale doesn't lie.  There is no magical fix, I just have to keep better track of what I am eating on the weekends, monitor my weight, and perhaps devise a better weekend plan.


I hope as the new year approaches, all of you who have said, "I really need to loose weight", or "I need to start exercising" are able to find the time, ambition and desire to do that for yourself.  Actually, if you just find the ambition and desire, you will find the time. And once you start, it's addictive because it changes your life in a way that you will never want to go back to where you were. I am probably in the best shape I've been in since high school and I feel fantastic. But it is a lot of work, every day.

I wish all of you a safe, happy and healthy holiday season. May your dreams be many, your wishes be fulfilled, your hearts be happy and your food be healthy - after all, you are what you eat - which in my case would make me a chocolate covered almond!


Merry Christmas!


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