Losing it in Utah now.

Well, my weight is bouncing about a little and I think the source of the problem is The Scale.

When it comes to The Scale, I would ordinarily weigh myself in the morning. Then it would be before and after I ran. And then I started weighing myself at night too. Are we seeing a trend? Are we seeing an unhealthy trend? So, guess what would happen.

When the scale was low, I would be happy. When I'm happy, I have fewer constraints. Fewer constraints lead to eating more. Then I would weigh myself again in the morning and ew, my weight had gone up! I'd be sad. I'd tighten control. I'd work out more. I'd weigh myself and go "Oh hey, it's gone down again, woohoo!".

But! I managed to recognize this as an unhealthy habit to get into. So last week at Weight Watchers, I grabbed their paper QuikTrak System. The eTools are fantastic but I can't see what I'm doing *wrong* since I haven't figured out how to use their Notes system or go back to previous weeks! With the paper system, I can go back easily. So I watched everything, tracked it all, felt down about my bad habits and realized that it's possible to turn around.

This week I resolved to keep that scale in the cabinet, to watch my Points, and to practice Smarter Eating. I can't say how well it's worked yet but I'll know by Saturday. And if I've gone up, well, then I've gone up and I'll try even better next week. But I think I'm actually doing a lot better than I did last week.

I've also moved past Week 4 of Podrunner Intervals and yesterday I ran 3 five-minute segments. It wasn't as hard as I anticipated! I still don't like running on the treadmill but I find that if I ignore the timer and focus on the little light-indicated 'track', I am less apt to whine inwardly about how long I've run and when I should stop. I guess I need distance-based goals rather than timer-based goals to run towards. :) I can't wait till I move to Utah where it's cooler and drier in the mornings and when I sweat, I actually cool off.

I did actually hit my 10% weight loss goal at Weight Watchers recently. I have the keychain now. And the 16-week goal. And the little shoe charm that indicated that I hit the Activity Goal. Go me! Next one up is the Lifetime goal. That might take a year or two, but that's alright. I read of one woman losing her weight over the course of 6 and a half years. It was at a rate of a half-pound a week, just like me, but she made it! I'll make it, too!