+3

Up to this point, I have not had to experience the dreaded weigh in with a positive weight gain.  Until this morning.  I had gained three pounds from my Friday weigh-in.  (I weigh on Fridays and Mondays.  I found this helpful in differentiating weekend and weekday splits.)  I was already tired, thanks to Gabe's new ridiculous (lack of) sleep patterns.  He was up at 5:30 - again.  And within short order I end up in the living room with him, trying to keep him from waking everyone else up.  So I was tired, irritated, and not ready for a new week.  And then I gained three pounds.

I got very frustrated.  The worst part of it is that I didn't do anything wrong.  I know the first thought someone has when someone gains weight on a diet is, "I guess they cheated bad this weekend."  But I didn't.  I actually went out of my way to do well.  That's what was so frustrating.  I remember one time talking to my mom a few years back.  She was trying so hard to eat right, be conscious of her food intake.  She was depriving herself of stuff she liked in favor of oatmeal, whole grains, stuff like that.  The next time she went to the doctor, her cholesterol went up and she had lost nothing.  And then her brother at the same time, who ate horribly, reported his low numbers.  (My dad was like this.  He ate sausage and eggs every morning and tons of horrible food - and had ridiculously low cholesterol.)

There are few things more discouraging than gaining weight when you are trying to lose it.  This was a bizarre weekend.  We had the gala on Friday night.  On Saturday, Heather's parents were here and we celebrated my birthday early.  Sunday was church.  But I had worked hard to not let those things affect my food intake.  Just to show what I mean.

FRIDAY NIGHT: We had a pre-gala get together at one of Heather's friends' places.  There were chips and dips, baked brie with bread, and my fruit with peanut butter yogurt dip.  I avoided everything but apples and celery with the pby dip.  At the gala, I had salad with berry vinaigrette dressing instead of ranch.  I didn't have any rolls.  I only drank water.  I didn't eat my potatoes.  I picked the cheese out of the stuffed chicken and pulled the breading off.  So I just had the chicken and veggies.  And I had nothing from the chocolate fountain.

SATURDAY MORNING:  I took some peanut butter and mixed it up with plain yogurt.  Then I cut up a banana and mixed it in.  That was my breakfast.

SATURDAY LUNCH:  This was my "birthday dinner."  We went to Genghis Grill.  It is a Mongolian BBQ.  Basically you go to a buffet type thing and pick meats, veggies, spices, sauces and put them in a bowl.  You pick a starch to go with it.  Then the chefs cook it on a giant hot grill.  I picked various meats, carrots, beans, snow peas, tomatoes, spinach and a HALF serving of brown rice.  It was awesome - and like 500 calories for the whole thing.

SATURDAY SURPRISE:  Obviously, I was not going to have a cake.  So Heather ordered me an Edible Arrangements birthday fruit bouquet.  This company is awesome.  They cut fruit and put them on skewers to make it mimic a flower arrangement.  So I had a bunch of fruit with melted peanut butter - while everyone else scarfed cupcakes.

SATURDAY DINNER:  Heather's parents had gone home, and the kids were very upset (as usual).  So to cheer them up (and since I didn't have anything ready for dinner), I got them pizza.  I didn't eat pizza.  I had wings - but with just mild sauce (and very small amounts of that).  I also had celery, carrots, and fruit with it.  During all of these things, I'm drinking tons of water.

SUNDAY LUNCH: I had skipped breakfast (booo!).  For lunch we tried Seminole Wind buffet.  I had heard lots of good things about it - and all of it was justified.  We all liked the places a lot.  I was able to get lots of food that worked for me.  I had meatloaf, a pork chop, a little ham, broiled fish, bbq pork.  I also had asparagus, plums, kiwi, strawberries, oranges, and melon.  I did NOT have any desserts.  I also avoided all the casseroles, breads, starches.  I probably ate a little ore than I should, but I didn't have any problem foods.

SUNDAY DINNER: I had some leftover turkey breast.  So I made one of my patented Staples Leftover Skillets.  I sauteed onions, shoepeg corn, whole grain rice-a-roni (with brown rice, barley, other grains), and turkey.  I threw in some yogurt ranch dressing to make it creamier.  Very tasty.

SUNDAY DESSERT:  I had a half of an apple, a banana, and some peanut butter.

So, as you can see, I was completely out of control this weekend.  Just going buck wild, eating whatever fell into my field of vision.  NO!  I didn't.  There were times I wanted to just not care and eat a cupcake or have some raisin cinnamon roll or a chocolate dipped cookie or even lick some icing off my finger.  But I didn't.  I didn't cheat at all.  It was a tough weekend to stay on track.  But I did.  And that is what is so freaking frustrating.  I did it right and still gained weight.

I can identify a couple of things that may have contributed.  First, we ate out more than usual.  We hardly ever go out any more.  So I am in control of what goes into our food.  But this weekend there were many opportunities elsewhere.  Second, due to those places, I took in far more sodium than I usually do.  The salt content in sauces and prepared food are always higher.  I could taste the salt in several meals.  Third, I ate more than I should have.  The problem with buffets is that, even when you control the types of food, it is hard to control the quantity of food.  I went to two buffets this weekend.  And while a trip to one of those places every couple of weeks may work, going to two in one weekend does not work.  Fourth, I wasn't able to do my Wii Fit since Thursday night.  I don't know how much that affected things, but I'm sure it didn't help.

I hope things even back out this week.  I am going to try to be more regimented with my meals.  I try to go back to a very strict diet on weeks after a disappointing weigh-in.  I make sure I do my yogurt in the morning.  And I usually make a pot of chili, since that gives me multiple meals within a week.  It goes to show how quickly things can derail.  Imagine if I had "taken the weekend off" like I would have done in years past!  So it's time to regroup and move on.

Oh and expect a post tomorrow.  There's one I have been planning to write to correspond to tomorrow's date.