Gained 11.8 pounds

I went in to get my free metabolic test this morning and got some GREAT news. I have a fast metabolism. They pinch your nostrils shut and you breathe into a mouth tube for 10 minutes It showed that I can eat 1829 to 2375 calories a day, without exercising, and maintain my 183.0 pounds. To lose, I can eat between 1465 and 1829. I pretty much knew I had a fast metabolism from writing down my calories. Too bad about the big gain, but they were very nice to me about it. My size 14's are really too small, but I'm wearing them anyway, in teh hope that I will start losing. I'm really happy that I can eat 2,000 calories a day and maintain. Of course, lately I've been topping 3,000 every day.

Weight 171.2

I weighed in 2.4 pounds heavier yesterday, since my previous weigh-in two weeks ago. This week, Sunday through Saturday, I'm taking the SNAP (formerly called food stamps) Challenge, where you eat on $30 a week. I'm eating some cheap foods that I really enjoy, but usually don't eat because of the high calories, e.g., PBJ sandwiches (28 cents and 410 calories each; should really eat just peanut butter sandwiches for 18 cents and 310 calories; the jelly adds not one bit of nutrients, just calories and taste), Banquet TV dinners (got these on sale for 68 cents apiece! I always thought they were high in calories, but 4 of the 5 different ones I bought had 250 calories, the same as the Lean Cuisines I usually buy on sale for $2), and Ramen noodles (15 cents and 370 calories). It's not at all difficult to eat on $30 a week, although most of the people doing it are blogging about how difficult it is because they want their organic fruits and vegetables, soy milk, etc.

Weight 168.8

I lost 3.6 since last Thursday - I'm gonna start titling with my weight - I think that makes more sense now. It's OK with me if I just fluctuate between 165 and 170 for a while. I hope never to go over 170 again - but I know that probability is always lurking.

Total loss 72.4

Horrible news - I gained 4.4 in the past 9 days. I skipped my regular weigh-in Tuesday because I was busy at work. Today was my final appointment with the doctor. He was understandably disappointed and tried to impress on me how important it is in the next 5-6 weeks of maintenance to not eat the huge amounts of cookies and candy that I have been eating. I weighed 172.4.

He went over the results of my final labs versus my starting labs. My hemoglobin actually went down a little (11.9 down to 11.3), which only goes to show that I'm probably not going to be able to give blood at my Sept. 11 appointment. He said that was probably just normal for me. My lipids were basically the same - my good cholesterol actually went down from 53 to 43. That's because I'm on cholesterol medicine, so it was artificially good to start with. The one great thing was that my starting gluclose was 139. Normal is 70-105, and if you get 2 in a row over 125, that is a diagnosis of diabetes. It went down to 94.

Total loss 76.8

I lost 1.6; however, I weighed in at 8:00 a.m., because I was there for a blood draw. Naturally, you're gonna weigh less after a "12 hour fast." I weighed 168.0.

Total loss 75.6

I gained 2.2 pounds this week, weighing in at 169.6 yesterday. I was not happy about this, but there was some great comfort food awaiting me at Cracker Barrel where I met all three of my sisters and Lena and Natasha. I told someone at work that I gained 2.2 and she said, "Isn't that what you were losing?" Yes, 2.2 was a common loss number when I was on the liquid diet. Gotta get a hold of myself. Gotta taste how delicious those healthy foods are, like apples, bananas, grapes, and oatmeal. (Had all of that for breakfast this morning for 370 calories total). I counted 1295 calories at Cracker Barrel last night, which woulda been OK if I hadn't already had 960 before I got there and more after I left. Of that 1295, 630 was in the form of grilled sourdough with jelly. That stuff is so good! Well, I'm rambling. I'm embarrassed.

Total loss 77.8

I weighed exactly the same as last week, 167.4. YAY! I'm happy with that. This was my first week of sustaining. It will only be called sustaining for 4 of the 8 weeks I'm in it - they're revamping it to be called balance and some "tools" will change. But already it's free. I am required to go to class and clinic for another 7 weeks in order to become a lifetime sustainer or I guess balancer, and then I still get to go for free. I don't really understand what the advantages are of going for 8 weeks, except after that I don't have to go any more.