Discouraged but not giving up!

Good morning!

Well, I weighed myself today.  I did not want to but I did want to see what kind of damage the Shari's Berries bingfest caused.  ::: sigh :::  I am up 3 lbs.  Now, had I stepped on the scale YESTERDAY morning and saw that, I would have been okay.  But yesterday I ate VERY well...no cheating at all...and went to bed starving, actually.  I cannot even IMAGINE what the scale would have said yesterday!!  Yikes!

So, I am bummed but, again, I know my body.  I CANNOT slip and be successful.  Of course, I COULD add excercise to my plan as insurance...but I just cannot seem to get my butt into gear with that.  But it's a goal!!

Tonight I am going to the Melting Pot.  When I go there, I eat mostly vegetables so I think I will be okay.  I will steer clear of the chocolate dessert for sure!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful, wonderful day!!

Jersey Mom

YOU CAN DO THIS!!! You'll get it!

I seem to be the same way, I have to stay 100% focused. Im dreading tomorrow, going out for lunch AND dinner, but I know this is life. I cant NEVER go out to eat again or have a drink, nor do I want to. I am going to weigh in tomorrow morning instead of Saturday. Im going to push myself at the gym tonight, Saturday, Sunday and Monday and stay away from the scale until then. 

Melting Pot..ugh. Good luck to you. Thats a tough one. I have only been once though...oh, but the cheese! LOL I'd be happy with just cheese and chocolate. Oh, and wine of course! 

I think some of what helped me flip my switch was starting with exercise first, then slowly easing into eating better. Trying to tackle both full force is tough. Im lazy though! LOL Maybe I'll be an 'athelete' one day.  

Hey Mary:

I think you are right about exercising.  I need to start that...big time!  I think I will even do better eating if I work out...and I won't stress out so much if I have an off day...knowing I will work it off.

I actually bought a Groupon for my local gym...it was a great deal and I totally did NOT take advantage of it. :(  Now there are only 2 weeks left of the membership.  Grrr.  There is a Zumba class tomorrow.  I am dying to try it.  I should just bite the bullet and DO IT!!!

Good luck today with going out!!  Most importantly, though...HAVE FUN!!

Hugs,
Jersey Mom

Jersey,

I can empathize, it seems like everytime I take a foray in to something sweet & sinful the scale reflects it right away & the damage done in 1 day always takes a week to undo , but undo you can, you're already back on track

Suggestion for the Melting Pot, do meat and use the broth base as your "dipper" - protein packed

Hi Alesia (pretty name!!):

Well, I DID have meat (I only ever order the filet) but we got the canola oil.  My sister hates the broth.  I did not eat much of the meat and ate a ton of mushrooms.  But, in this case, I did not care because it was SO yummy!!  :)

My sister also wanted chocolate so I had a few graham cracker pieces with chocolate on the end.

All-in-all, BAD eating week!  Especially after last week!  But this is life, right?  I just wish the struggle wasn't CONSTANT!  :)

Thanks so much for the support...you have no idea how much I appreciate it!

Hugs,
Jersey Mom

IMO - what you see is water weight gain due to carbs intake.  A few days on low carb diet and once you deplete the gycogen again (that your body stored) , you may see that weight to go away.  

here is some info:

Don't Be Fooled by Quick Losses and Devastating Gains

After a week of doing a low carb diet, new dieters are filled with excitement. They've lost anywhere from four to ten or even twelve pounds. They conclude, "This diet works!" and their enthusiasm after that quick weight loss may motivate them to stick with the diet even when the weight loss slows down to normal levels--3 to 8 pounds a month.

But there's a dark side to this instant weight loss. Slip up and eat a "normal" diet for a day and what happens? The lost pounds are back, all five or ten of them! The feeling of failure and distress can set the dieter on a spiral of binging and despair that quickly leads to their regaining of all the weight lost through weeks of dieting.

In fact, both the joy and the despair you feel in response to this rapid loss or gain is misplaced. The quick losses and gains are almost entirely water. Whether you are low carbing or not, you must burn off 3,500 more calories than you take in to lose a pound of fat and you must eat 3,500 calories more than you need to gain a pound. Despite the hype in the diet doctors' books, low carbing does not repeal the basic laws of thermodynamics. So what is that four to ten pounds of "easy go, easy come" weight all about?

What you REALLY Lost or Gained

When you cut the carbs out of your diet, your body empties out the "emergency" stores of carbohydrate it keeps in the liver and muscles in the form of a substance called glycogen. Glycogen is a normal part of our metabolism and allows us to do energy-intensive things like sprinting, for example, by letting us draw on the carbs stored in our muscles for energy.

More importantly the glycogen stored in our liver allows us to keep our brain functioning. A person who is not low carbing needs 100 gms of glucose a day merely to supply the brain's basic needs. If the body can't get glucose from the diet it has two choices: use stored carbohydrate--our friend glycogen again, or convert dietary or muscle protein into carbohydrate using a lengthy process called "gluconeogenesis" which takes place in the liver. Because the body wants to avoid using its own muscle fibers for fuel, it does what it can to keep that liver glycogen store filled up.

Nutritional research that shows that a typical 150 lb man is carrying about three quarters of a pound of glycogen. But what most people don't know is that each molecule of glycogen is bound to four molecules of water and water has weight too. This means that when your liver and muscles are charged up with glycogen it adds an additional four pounds or more to your body weight.

When you start a very low carb diet you cut off the body's supply of dietary carbohydrate and this leads to a rapid emptying of these liver and muscle glycogen stores. And when you lose that glycogen, you also lose the associated water. That's the reason why, during the first couple days of a low carb diet, you lose weight so dramatically. It's also why you may feel slimmer and lose "inches." You haven't lost fat. You've simply dumped the water out of your muscles and liver.

But what happens when you go off the diet for even so little as a single meal? If you eat a significant amount of carbs, your liver and muscles grab glucose from your bloodstream to replenish that emergency stock. As they do this, four molecules of water join each molecule of glycogen and, as fast as you can say, "Omigawd, I cheated!" the pounds you lost at the very beginning of the diet pile back on.

How many carbs does it take to replenish your glycogen?

Not too many. Given the figures in Lyle McDonald's book, The Ketogenic Diet I figured that the three quarters of a pound of glycogen that 150 lb. man is carrying in his liver works out to only 70 grams of carbohydrate.

Chow down some french fries and a regular soda and you're there. There's an additional 120 gm in his muscles. That's two coffee shop bagels with peanut butter.

 Excellent Post!

This is a GREAT article, Hala!!  Thanks so much!!

 Don't be bummed!  I do not weigh for 1 week after I have had an off day of eating.  If I do, I will show a gain and it really ****** me off.  I have learned this through trial and error.  I just go about my day without a worry of any weight gain.  Why should I let the scale make me have a bad day...... Keep doing your diet and don't weigh again until Monday.  You will be fine!

Thanks, Tess!!

That is actually a really good idea.  I don't think I will weigh until Monday.  And then only on Mondays.  My goal is to lose 2 lbs per week.  I know that is doable if I put my mind to it.  I made an appointment with my surgeon (I've not been there in 3 years!!) and I know I will cancel it if I don't get closer to goal (the appointment is May 24th).  So, to not discourage myself, I will weigh once a week.

You are right...the scale WOULD make me have a bad day (which is why I did not get on it today!!).

I will keep on going, though...thanks so much for the encouragement!!

Hugs,
JM