Sigh... backsliding
Apparently I'm doing something wrong. I've been drinking tons of water, taking vitamins (even adding chromium and l-carnitine), not going crazy with meat or cheese portions, making only occasional carby missteps (on the order of a couple of crackers or an ounce of cashews), and I even started exercising again (although not in the last couple of days - the air conditioning is out and I'm sweaty enough, thank you).

Despite all this, I climbed on the scale today for the first time in more than a week and discovered that I GAINED five pounds. Grrrrrr...

I was really down about it this morning. I came to work thinking, "What's the friggin' point?" I tried to tell myself that it was more about how I'm feeling (better), how my clothes are fitting (wore a shirt Friday that I haven't worn in years), where my blood sugar is (still a little high, but down 40 percent from before I started Atkins), etc. I told myself these things and they had no substance.

So I posted a screed similar to this in the atkins_diet community and tried to put it out of my head. The good folks in there said much the same things I'd been saying to myself, with a few additional points about water weight and my salt intake that I hadn't considered.

As I was getting ready to go get some lunch, I thought to myself, "I need to rededicate myself to this way of eating. Tomorrow, I'm going back on Induction." At which the devil on my shoulder whispered, "That means you could go get a nice carby lunch today. Chinese food!" I was in the car heading for Pei Wei when the guy on my OTHER shoulder pointed out that starting afresh tomorrow did not mean I had to misbehave today. So instead I went to Friday's and had a salad and some chicken with sizzling cheese, peppers, and onions. Then I stopped by the supermarket and got some of those sugar-free Russell Stover toffee squares I've been wanting to try - man, they're GOOD. Sure, they're sweetened with Maltitol, and we all know what THAT stuff can do, but I figure it's all a matter of perspective. What some would call diarrhea, I call another way to get rid of some water weight. *grin*

I'll be similarly virtuous at dinner tonight, and then tomorrow I'll take official weights and measurements, and start fresh. Changes:

• No more coffee with glugs of cream. I never used to drink coffee before, I don't need to drink it now.


• No more lunches at the Greek buffet. It's an economical way to get grilled chicken and a few veggies, but I WILL eat piles of gyro meat there. It doesn't have carbs - I checked, it's just beef, lamb, and spices, no filler - but it's salty, and I need to watch out for salt so I don't retain more water than the Hoover Dam.


• Half as much bacon, and not every day. It'll be fine, Cheffie, really. The uneaten bacon is NOT mocking you. Also, Cheffie, you CAN take a bite of bacon and put the rest of the slice back down instead of cramming the whole slice into your mouth like you're the wood chipper in the end of Fargo.


• Exercise EVERY day, not just three days a week. Telling myself that I can sleep in for another half hour and promising myself I'll get on the treadmill that evening is NOT working. Enlist Mrs. Chef's help on this.


• Above all, relax about the rate of my weight loss. I have to lose enough weight to equal twenty-three 5-pound bags of sugar. I didn't put it on in a month, or six months, or even a year; it won't come off overnight either.