Wednesday Weigh-In: Week 131

Since breaking my blogging streak recently (blogging daily starting Jan 1, 2020), I've been writing less and less frequently. I always said that's what would happen if I broke my streak! When I can't think of what to write, I just choose not to instead of stressing about it. So, that led to irregular posting. It's not necessarily a bad thing; I just prefer having a routine.

Speaking of routines, Jerry got confirmation that he's moving to day shift AND--something we never expected--he'll be working a regular Monday-Friday shift! We've been together for 24 years, and for the last 21 years, he's never had a straight shift. It was either swing shift (alternating days and midnights) or just night shift; all are 12 hour shifts; and usually anywhere from 3-6 days a week (most of the time it's 4-5 days).

He's always worked half of the weekends in a year--and since people usually do fun stuff on the weekends, he had to miss out on things through the years. Having a straight shift like this, with weekends off, is going to be a HUGE adjustment (in a good way). I'm excited to have a more routine schedule as well; usually I try to plan dinner (my day, really) around Jerry's work schedule. Another bonus about his new schedule is that his shifts will be shorter, although I'm not sure about the details for that yet.

All of this may not sound like a big deal, but we're super excited about it! I'd like to try to get into a regular sleep schedule, and this will be helpful. Ideally, I'll get up super early (4:00-ish) and go to bed super early (10:00-ish). But I've never been able to keep a sleep routine, so I don't know if it'll happen.

Anyway, I had a really great week as far as my eating goes! This is the best week I've had in probably a couple of months, actually. I just realized my last official Wednesday Weigh-In was November 1st--yikes. I know I skipped one and then last week I posted my "favorite things".

November was NOT a good month for me--I ate too much, started eating sweets again, and ate a lot of high-calorie foods (peanut butter, mostly). Anyway, a month ago I was at 137.8. As of a couple of weeks ago, I *knew* I had gained a few more pounds--I could feel it and see it--but I was avoiding the scale.

Since I've eaten really well this week, today I decided to finally just rip off the bandaid and see the damage. Honestly? It wasn't as bad as I was imagining.

I was at 141.0, so it's up 3 pounds from last time--but that was a month ago. And I'm positive it was higher a week ago.

Jerry really wanted a pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving, even though he said not to make one if it was going to tempt me to eat it. Well, the vegan pumpkin pie recipe I used actually isn't that bad for you--it doesn't even have refined sugar (it's sweetened with maple syrup). Even though I have been trying to avoid sweets, I went ahead and ate a piece. It was delicious! I had one more piece later that night.

That was on Thursday, and I haven't had any sweets since. I haven't gone this many days in a row without sweets in weeks. It takes about 4-5 days for the insane cravings to go away, so getting through those days is *super* hard. Since today is Day 6, I feel confident that I can get back to the point of not craving sweets at all. Now that I know just how hard it is to get back to that point, there is no dessert that is worth having crazy sugar cravings non-stop.

I've been listening to the audiobook 'Fiber Fueled', and it's got me psyched about eating more vegetables (for health, not weight loss). I've been focusing on fiber a lot this past week, too, so I think that has helped me to push through the cravings.

There is a good chance we'll be going to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina at the end of January (my parents go there every year, and this year Jeanie and Shawn are going as well). I'm not a "beach person" but since it'll be the off-season, I'll be able to wear my beloved uniform of jeans and hoodies. Other than driving up north to Jeanie and Shawn's, I haven't traveled since 2019(!) and I'm actually kind of nervous about it. We're going to rent a van and drive down there because the kids and their girlfriends will go with us. I think the road trip will be fun!

Anyway, the whole point of mentioning that is because it makes me feel like I'm working toward something right now--I want to look and feel my best when we go. That gives me 6-8 weeks to hopefully get my weight back in my "happy" range of 125-135. I can definitely do that!