I need a new scale.
There are several things I have learned in the last five weeks. Thing One: if push came to shove, I might be sorely tempted to sell one of my children for a roast beef sandwich.
After the shakes of the first week subsided (and I can assure you that I'm not exaggerating here. I love soda so much I bought my own soda maker), I've actually been okay without my diet soda. I mean, that was a huge concession right there - I *LOVE* my diet soda. But now I'm okay. I don't crave it anymore.
I don't crave candy, really, either. Or cookies or cupcakes. I mean, I remember how much I love them, but I'm not salivating over them anymore, even at night when I'm watching TV and a handful of M&M's would be the perfect munchie food.
But bread? Yeah. That's a battle. There's a Panera right under my LA Boxing location, and the smell of the Asiago Roast Beef sandwiches wafts up while I'm smacking away. On the one hand, I work harder because the frustration sets in. On the other hand... bread.
Thing number two that I've learned: Green tea makes you go to the bathroom. Is that TMI? I'm sorry. But I think it's a valuable fact that someone entering a diet and fitness program should be aware of. If you substitute green tea for, say, your diet soda habit and then compound the problem with a boxing instructor who likes to push the class into 300 sit ups per session (and don't think I'm able to do anywhere close to that, either. I max out about a third of the way in at this point) - well, those two things together can be an issue.
Don't make the same mistake I did.
Thing number three: A good do-rag can do wonders for your self esteem. No - seriously. Try it. I have a black one with red skull and crossbones on it. It's my favorite. I also have a purple one with skulls. And a gray one with skulls (seeing a theme here?), but the black one is my favorite. It keeps my thin and layered hair out of my face, it allows me to do sit ups without a pony-tail bump smacking into the ground, and it keeps the sweat out of my eyes (the eyebrow lady had a bit of a heavy hand with the wax this time around). Plus, you know, it looks kind of kicky.
Thing number four: Those debilitating butt injuries I was getting? It was my shoes. Seriously - shoes. Not the first place a person's mind goes when their butt starts hurting, but it was my shoes nonetheless. Also, apparently I need to switch to bare feet when kickboxing. Now I have an awesome set of Under Armour shoes (yes, Air Force Guy did my shoe research for me) and my butt feels just fine even though I've gone running three times this week and did 80 step ups yesterday.
Thing number five: My scale is less than worthless. I check on my progress at home several times a week, and also right before I weigh in on Fridays to keep myself from bursting into tears when I haven't met my weekly goal. Usually my home scale weighs me in anywhere from 2 to 4 pounds less than the scale at the gym (which is calibrated and correct). This week my home scale told me that I had held steady, which would have translated to a weight gain at the gym. Very, very, very disappointing (I'm so hungry!), but on the other hand, it is my bloat week and I tend to retain water like an Olympic Sport, if you know what I mean.
However, my official weight at the gym was *cue applause* THREE POUNDS DOWN THIS WEEK! Woot! Yay! Snoopy Dance! That's a total of 17 pounds in 5 weeks. And a home scale that needs to go to wherever scales go when they die. 'Cuz it's done.
17 pounds and five weeks down, five weeks to go
follow my progress on twitter @afwiferuthie
The Feather Weight Challenge Begins
