Day 55 - Minor Setbacks in These Foolish Things

Ugh. The cold weather of the last week truly did a number on me. I guess I didn’t realize how much. I mean, my last entry should have been a sign. I was so OVER being stuck inside and couldn’t WAIT to get out and be among society, but damn.

The first sign should have been the fact that I let alllll (okay, not ALL, but…) my 75 Hard Rules slide:

What I really let slide was my eating. I was in hibernation mode, and it was actually SO MUCH FUN making new dinners and trying new recipes, but I was also not tracking my food - my macros or my calories or really, how many meals was I actually eating?!

And I used some ingredients that I think were not working well with my body. Seems like (maybe?) the coconut oil I’d used in the oat flour muffins I’d made may have triggered some acid reflux? In the research that I’ve done, the information is conflicting, but it’s the only ingredient that I rarely use in my home cooking, and so I’m thinking that may have done it and caused some inflammation in my body (again, some sources say that coconut oil is anti-inflammatory and some say it can cause inflammation).

Regardless, the combination of the addition of approximately one full meal per day (yes…the cals in snacking on walnuts and chocolate chips add UP!), and the malaise from letting my schedule sliiiiide all last week did a number on me.

I knew that I needed to get back into the swing of things today. The COLD weather is finally over and I do love a Monday for tightening up the ship, so to speak. I woke to my alarm and did NOT go back to sleep like I’d done ALL last week and into the weekend, and I got back into my regular routine first thing with my reading, setting intentions, and my workout!

Last week I finally finished the 6-week Caroline Girvan Iron Series and decided to start over for ROUND 2 this week, only upping my weight load! So I was excited about that.

But then, I had to get back on the scale. I knew it was time to face the music from the week prior. I knew I wasn’t feeling right at all by the end of the week. Things were off.

Now, understand that I didn’t go CRAZY last week. Not at all! It’s not like I was binging on pizza, nachos, and gallons of champagne. Nope. I just had an OFF WEEK.

But I’ll be damned if I didn’t gain FOUR fucking pounds.

I am on Day 55 of my challenges, and I’d only lost 3.5 pounds to begin with (because I really don’t want to lose weight - my goal was to take off the bit of weight gained over the holidays, stay steady, and gain muscle!). And that 3.5 pounds was actually the weight I’d put back on over the HOLIDAYS! I’d inched my way up only 3.5 pounds and lost it during the first month of the challenge, but now…

Two steps BACK after letting things slide for a week?!

I know that inflammation shows up as weight gain on the scale. I think I may have found the root(s) of the issue? I know that it may be ridiculous to read all of this like it’s the most important thing in the world.

But as a cancer survivor, I find fluctuations like this concerning. Back when I was losing the 25 lbs I lost last year, I actually started to get nervous seeing the pounds melting away so easily because weight loss is a big red flag for cancer patients. So I made adjustments and saw a difference.

And a four-pound fluctuation like this seems out of the ordinary as well.

I’m hoping that tightening things back up this week will straighten this wobble.

I feel good about this. The weather is BEAUTIFUL, and I’ve already been able to take the dog out into the sunshine for a good, long walk for both of us. I’m on a roll with work, checking things off my list rapidly.

So, I’m going to make this a very productive week and get back on track. Setbacks or not, I am here for it all!

xox,
GS