Mostly Official Semi-Annual Number

OK, I feel a lot better now. A lot. Like 10 times better. As I wrote previously, I was horrified to see that I was up to 140 pounds at my weigh-in last night but also felt that it wasn’t a truly accurate number for a variety of reasons.

When I got home last night, the first thing I did was get on the scale to make sure that my scale was even remotely calibrated or at least coordinated with the one at XGym. It’s pretty close - it had me up 2/10 of a pound but then again I had also worked out and slammed down a protein drink. So I’m satisfied that my own scale (a basic Tanita) is in sync with the one at the gym.

Now I’ve never been one to make excuses or try to shirk numbers. I face it, suck it up, deal with it for good or bad. But seriously, I don’t think 140.6 is the right number to use as my checkpoint. It was done at night and after drinking (and not peeing) probably half a gallon of fluid. For 5 years, I’ve used a morning weight as my baseline and I’m not changing that now. So I’m going to average last night and this morning and call that my weight. And, as I thought might be the case (and to my huge relief especially after sanity-checking the scale for accuracy last night), I’m happy to present:

So, I’m going to call my official semi-annual checkpoint weight 138.5, an average of last night and this morning. How accurate even that is, I don’t know because I really think I’m retaining a hell of a lot of water, which you might even be able to see in my right leg which is horribly swollen this morning. And yes, my scale is filthy dirty. Why?

Because I completed a personal and 101 in 1001 goal and did not step on a scale for over 3 months. I chucked the scale behind the washer & dryer and wholly ignored it. While it was liberating, I think I’m going to return to diligent monitoring because even though 136.6 isn’t horrible, I find myself to be more mindful of what I eat when I’m aware of where my weight is.

I just finished reading one hell of an eye-opening book called Skinny Bitch. Don’t be fooled by the title, it’s got a ton of very important information about food, nutrition, and how what we put in our bodies really impacts us. Some of it wasn’t news but the majority of the information really floored me and is inspiring me to make some serious changes to my life:

• I swore off beef and pork a while ago after watching Fast Food Nation. Once in a while, I slip up with some ham but I have remained beef-free since that time. And honestly, I don’t miss it at all. This will continue and I’m done with pork as well.
• I haven’t done quite as well with dairy but have made major changes here
• also and am going to continue it. With the exception of the occasional sample at the grocery store, I am a cheese-free zone. I hope to go completely dairy-free and would be able to do this if I didn’t really love half & half in my coffee. I’m looking for the best soy product out there to substitute. As for butter, well, once I’m done with this pack, I’m going to ditch that as well.
• And by the way, I have discovered Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese. And it’s true to the name. It’s positively delicious, seriously, and you can barely tell that it isn’t Pilly. I mushed some of it into a baked potato the other night and wow - yum. Next, I’m trying the Sour Supreme.
• I continue to incorporate more fruit into my diet. This is huge for me because I was never a fruit eater but I’m changing my tune. Scared of the sugars in it? Read Skinny Bitch and learn.
• SB also confirmed my own belief that perhaps Splenda was causing (or at least contributing to) some of the recent problems I’ve been experiencing. So goodbye Splenda when possible - hello Stevia. So far I don’t love it, there’s a funky aftertaste that I don’t dig. But I can adjust.
• I’ve dropped my coffee intake and have gone organic. I’m a little crabby, well crabbier than usual, but I feel a little better.
• I’ve doubled my fluid intake.
• I’m eating more vegetables. This one’s hard though because just about every vegetable on earth bloats and gasses me painfully. I’m told it gets better.

I will never go completely vegan and holistically clean like the authors. But I’m going to make the healthier choices and indeed change where it makes sense to me. I will not say “never again” to anything I’m avoiding because as soon as I declare it completely against the rules, that’s when I will obsess over wanting it.

For now, I’m going to go celebrate my own scale and breathe a sigh of relief.

And wait for my abs to start hurting.