Week 11: -2.8

[Written pre-weigh-in...]

If tradition holds, today should be my big loss weigh-in, but I'm really not feeling like it's going to be a big loss kind of day. Of course, I never feel like it's going to be a big loss kind of day, regardless of how much I actually end up losing, but today I am feeling particularly pessimistic because not only did I use more of my weekly points than ever before (I had 1.5 left as of last night), and not only did I get fewer activity points last week than usual, but I also had to guesstimate on so many things I ate that I'm betting I probably ate quite a few more points than I realized.

It's okay though. I've been thinking a lot about big losses versus eating more food and while I'm very enamored of the big losses, I know that logically, it makes much more sense to eat as much as I can, even if my losses become consistently smaller. Our bodies are really good at protecting us from starvation and so if I'm starving myself by eating 20 points a day, I may see big losses for now, but as soon as I start eating 22 or 24 points a day, my body is going to desperately latch on to those extra points and my weight loss will stop. However, if I eat 30 points a day, even though my losses may be smaller, I'll be able to go up to 32 or 34 before my body starts desperately latching and in the long run I'll be much happier at 32 or 34 than I would be at 22 or 24.

SeaShore commented on a recent post that she lowers her daily points only when her weight loss slows/stops (instead of at each new "decade" of weight) and I think that's really smart. Every body is different and it makes sense to pay attention to what your body tells you instead of following some generic guideline. And of course, it makes the most sense to eat as much as your body will let you get away with. I just started reading Bryher's blog and she mentioned that it looks like she can eat 30 points a day on maintenance. 30 points! Given my level of comfort at 32 points, I'm pretty sure that I could survive reasonably happily on 30 points...if my body will let me...and my hope is that maybe I can make a convincing case for it to do so! :-)

[Written post-weigh-in...]

Well, once again I prove that I am entirely out of touch with my body and have no idea what it's doing. As of today I am down 2.8 pounds for a grand total of 29.8 pounds, 0.2 pounds beyond my 10% goal and 0.2 pounds away from losing 30 pounds! Clearly eating my weekly points is the absolute right choice and hell, I should probably eat my activity points too (although I'm not quite brave enough to take that step yet). At first I wasn't sure about eating my weekly points. I wanted to do it and I decided to give it a try, but I fully expected that I would stop losing, or that my losses would drop to, say, 0.4 pounds or something. But it's been three weeks now (I think), and everything appears to be progressing normally. It was Rochelle's comment that inspired me to try eating them and I'm so glad she left that comment!! :-)

Now I'm off to the grocery store to change up my evening treat. I just learned that Pepperidge Farms crispy chocolate chip cookies are only 3 points, which means I can pair one with half a cup of reduced fat vanilla ice cream for a fabulous 5 point dessert!