Lady Luck loses weigh in weeks 3 and 4

I know. I'm late writing this. I'm not going to wait until Sunday to post this, since I didn't post last week.

My weigh in for week 3 was : -5 pounds total.

My weigh in (so far) for week 4 is : the same.

What does this mean? Lady luck has hit a plateau.

In all honesty...last week, I fell off the wagon hard. I had a pretty BIG mental breakdown, nothing in my life was okay, and I felt like I was falling apart.

And, because I was caught up in stress and frenzy, I let my ultimate goals slip, which in my book, is not okay.

I did not go to the gym a single, solitary time last week. At the end of week two ( two weeks into my weight loss journey mind you), I had already burnt myself out.

I got off the elliptical after being on there for 45 minutes, I was exaushted, and I went into the shower room feeling so dizzy that I had to sit down and drink a bottle of water and take deep breaths before I could do anything.

Why did this happen?

• I didn't plan my workouts well--I was trying to cram in as much as I could so I could see the scale drop.
• I wasn't doing a good job at logging my calories into the daily plate, so I was slipping off the wagon eating wise, and tried to make up for it by exercising too much before my body (and mind) was ready.
• I was working long hours ( still am), wasn't getting enough sleep, and my stress level was overall through the roof.

So because I bit off more than I could chew, and I set up unrealistic goals from the start, I overwhelmed myself which resulted in a week long set back.

I finally made it back to the gym yesterday, and it felt really good to be back ON the wagon.

I am happy that my -5 pounds has been maintained. I haven't really noticed any changes besides the numbers, but I can tell my circulation is improving.

I have also decided that instead of trying to meet my goal as quickly as possible, I need to change the way I live and take on a healthy LIFESTYLE, rather than making this a race I won't win.

I can also tell you that I need to get my eating under control, which is why I haven't seen the scale budge, here is what I'm doing wrong:

• I'm eating out too much.
• I don't bring enough healthy food to work so when i get hungry, I end up buying convenience food because its what is there.
• I'm not logging my calories as I go along in the day, I'm doing it at night, so this results in "WHOOPS" I ate too many calories today.
• The minute I get upset, I stick something unhealthy in my mouth.

So the good habits I have decided to develop are:

• Working on STOPPING cheating
• Logging my calories in every day
• Going to the gym for a minimum of three days a week
• drinking 8 glasses of water, at least, everyday
• taking flaxseed oil (You NEED flaxseed oil, it will help your weight loss and improve your circulation, since I have been taking it, my skin has become less red and blotchy) and multi vitamins

I also realized I'm not working out as much as I like or enjoying it as much because I'm working out AFTER work when I'm tired. Like tonight, I worked 9:30-8 and made excuses as to why I shouldn't go to the gym. Now, I feel guilty. Starting tomorrow, I'm waking up early, and working out will be the first thing I get done, I'll have no excuses, and I'll start my day feeling great.

Are you trying to lose weight? Here are some tips that are seriously helping me:

- Drinking a ton of water. A glass right when you wake up, A glass when you get thirsty, a glass before and during your meals, a glass after. I have reviewed my calorie logs over the past three weeks and the days on which I drank at least 8 glasses of water a day, I didn't go over my calories.

-Subbing bread for Lavish wraps ( the low carb, oatbran and flax seed kind), very few carbs, very few calories, and you can get really creative with these (plus they are yummy!).

- I'm a pasta fanatic. This is where I used to eat a LOT of my calories. Now I measure out one cup only of cooked pasta and mix in one cup of vegetables and I feel just as satisfied if I ate two cups of pasta (which is double the serving size on the box, and full of carbs and calories).

AND REMEMBER my fellow peers that are trying to lose weight: baby steps are key!