Alterations

We just went and had family pictures done. I am a freak about family pictures and had to make sure everyone's outfits coordinated. I used an old skirt for myself and bought a new shirt to match. I bought my hubby a shirt and tie (yes we did formal pics) to match my skirt. The kids were all coordinated. One problem! The skirt literally fell off of me! So I decided to pull out the trusty old sewing machine and a do a little altering. I never measured my waist before I started this journey (or even now for that matter) so I really had no clue how many inches I had lost around my waist. Well, I measured what I took off the skirt and it was 7 inches! I was pretty excited! I don't know if that is a lot but it seemed like a lot to me.

I have also made some alterations to my diet. I am not, by any means, advocating this method of eating, BUT, it seems to be working for me (though this weekend might tell a different tale, we'll have to see). After all the dieting, I just couldn't count calories/points anymore. But I knew that doing nothing wasn't the answer because I saw the weight coming right back. I tried intuitive eating, but I think that I need to read the book and know what I am doing before I really get into that one.

So, here is what I HAVE been doing. I actually started doing this accidentally, but it worked, so I have stuck with it for about 6 weeks now. Saturday through Tuesday are "free" days. I don't watch what I eat. I usually put on a couple of pounds. Then Wednesday and Thursday, I cut back a bit on my free eating. And Friday is full on diet mode. I have a "threshold" weight of 136.6 that I want to stay under (that was my second to last weigh in on my last weight loss competition). Saturday is my weigh in day and so far, I haven't gone over that weight once!

Again, I AM NOT advocating this lifestyle. What I would advocate is finding something that works. Experiment. Try different things. But track yourself. That has been the key for me. When I don't track my weight, I balloon. When I do, I see myself getting out of control, and I reign it back in. I have also heard that when you have more muscle vs. fat, your body is able to more effectively utilize calories that you do consume. I really don't think this method would have worked 50 pounds ago. But it has been working to maintain my current weight so I am going to roll with it for a while!