Today's weigh-in: 194.4
The reason I titled it "cheaters never prosper" is because I haven't been great about what I've been eating the past couple of days, and it has shown in the fact that an otherwise impressive several-pound run over the previous few days quickly ground to a halt. I was 194 flat on Tuesday, 194.4 yesterday, and 194.4 again today. I had some pringles, a crescent roll, some sugar-free (but still carb-y) ice cream, a nibble of a gluten-free (but not carb-free) apple crumble that I had made for my coworkers--not all at once, mind you, but any shift back to a more carb-centered diet from the low carb one we are doing now is likely to impact my weight loss. Someday, when I'm significantly lighter than this, I can perhaps have a cheat meal once every week or so, but I probably won't even be able to eat that way again, at least not regularly.
Which is why it is so easy to cheat. My kids are not eating a low carb diet. Little kids burn up tons of energy, and neither of my boys is fat, so neither has any reserves to burn. They need to burn carbs, so they need to eat them. That doesn't mean tons of sugar, but they eat cereal, bread, crackers, rice, pasta...all those things that I can't eat anymore. Which means I'm preparing those things, which means it's easy to taste-test or to snarf up their leftovers... it's easy to cheat. But if I cheat, I don't lose weight. I have to keep myself on track.
So far, I've done ok. While the weight loss has indeed slowed down to what sometimes feels like a crawl, it is still happening. I'm excited to be below the weight I was when we first moved here almost seven years ago (is that even possible? Almost seven years ago?), but I still have a long way to go. My husband mentioned that he is within a few pounds of the weight he was when we first met. That might be true for him, but it isn't for me. I might have been about 160 when I met my husband, but I was at the start of an eating disorder which caused me to drop about 35 lbs over the next year, putting me at my lowest adult weight of just under 125 lbs. There is no way I could ever achieve that kind of weight again, without resorting to something similar (obviously not a good idea). Honestly, if I could get under 170 lbs, I'd be ecstatic.
The next milestones I can achieve will be to reach the weight ranges for my kayaks (which I haven't been in since...forever--I don't even know when the last time I paddled was; we might have gotten in the boats when Brendan was little, just to paddle around a bit). The top weight for the Agent is 190; the top weight for my Little Joe is 185. I'm close, but not quite there yet. My goal, with eight weeks left before summer, is to at least be in the weight range for the Agent. I'd love to be in the Joe's range as well, but I don't want to set myself up for disappointment. I plan to paddle some this summer, even if it's just in the lake.
