Wednesday Weigh-In No. 7

Previous Weight: 166.5
Current Weight: 164

That's the biggest loss for me since the competition began. And I couldn't tell you exactly what it was that did it. It was a stressful week - I won't go into the details here, but let's just say I haven't been getting much sleep - and I didn't exercise hardly at all, except a few stolen crunches and pushups here and there.

So what's going on? I think some of it may have to do with my diet. I've moved into a new phase of dieting I think. When I first started almost two months ago, I had cravings and dreadful moments of uncontrollable desire for the things I'd cut out - sugars and fats and etc. But lately, none of that stuff, no french fries, ice cream or giant burritos, has sounded good. I can't even enjoy diet soda these days. I don't want it.

And even my cooking has changed. Last night, for the first time in at least three years, I made pad thai with tofu. Granted, I've lost my treasured recipe so it wasn't the best pad thai I've ever had (that award has to go to a great thai restaurant in the sunset district in San Francisco that's tucked into an alley next to a bicycle shop, a spot where homeless people frequently urinate and a lovely beach on the Pacific where SFSU students go to have sex in public). Anyway, it's been ages since I cooked with tofu, mainly because the five ravenous males in my home complain loudly when I do. Last night, I failed to mention that the spongy "chicken" they were eating wasn't chicken. Strange how people will like something so long as no one tells them it's bean curd.

I guess what I'm saying is that I've crested a hill and even though there's an even bigger hill on the other side (a whole 40 pounds of hill, actually), it doesn't look so high from my current vantage point.

One other interesting tidbit: I saw a pattern at this morning's weigh in that amused me. Some of the dieters who maintained their weight (didn't lose anything) or gained a pound pinpointed what it was exactly that did them in. For Bushes, who went on vacation and "cheated" on her diet while she was gone, it was some cookie dough that was simply irrestible after a night's carousing. For Thin-Girl-Who-Has-No-Weight-To-Lose, it was some girl scout cookies. Thin Girl said before her weigh in that the cookies ruined the week for her - it was a self-fufilling prophecy.

I can't help but laugh, because I have the same excuses when I don't do as well as I should have. I can pinpoint the exact bowl of ice cream or scoop of guacamole or bottle of wine (oops, did I say that out loud?) that did me in. Is it a defence mechanism that every dieter inevitably uses? Is it a way for dieters' brains to rationalize their failures, and subsequently reset by making plans for the future (i.e., "If I just stay away from those damn cookies this week, I'll be OK")? Whatever it is, it's prevalent. And interesting to note.

So, this is a good week, for me anyway. And there's hope this week that the future will be brighter and thinner and happier. I may be in a good mood, but I'm still far from following Big Loser's advice and admiring myself in the mirror (y'all may notice that I'm a hippy at heart, and I don't have the patience to stand in front of the mirror long enough to corral my rebelliously curly hair, let alone admire anything). Nonetheless, here's to hoping the big numbers keep a comin'.