Week 9: The Set-Point

"You can outdistance that which is running after you, but not what is running inside you." 

-Rwandan proverb

I started this week with the best of intentions--I made a big batch of Black Bean and Quinoa chili for my lunches, had a big bag of salad greens ready for dinner, and a full schedule for workouts. But good intentions don't always mean good results.  The chili ended up making my colon hurt (maybe too much fiber), so I nixed it after two days.  I didn't feel like eating salad by the time Tuesday rolled around.  I had a cold, so my workouts happened, but at a much lower intensity than normal.  I went to the Coffee Bean twice with friends and justified a pastry both times since I don't drink coffee.  And to top it off, I attended 2 parties and ate all sorts of things I shouldn't have eaten.

The results are a little ugly, but not as ugly as they could be.  I ended up gaining .4 pound this week. I was disappointed to see the number go up once again, but I was also glad it didn't go up more.  

I was thinking today how irritating it is that my weight has lingered around the same number, give or take 5 pounds, for the last 2 months.  It reminded me of something I had read about before called the set-point theory.  Basically, many scientists believe that each person has a "natural" weight that their body gravitates to. They attribute some people having a much harder time losing weight or trying to get to a certain size to the fact that their natural weight or set-point is higher.  When I first read about this, I thought it was a little hokey, but as I was thinking today, it actually makes some sense.  Before I lost weight earlier this year, my weight kept going back to the same infuriating number over the course of about 3 years.  It would go up and then down and then back up, but always hover around the same number. The research says that you can to some extent "reset" your set point, and I think that's what I did, to a weight that is 20 pounds lighter.  

So today, I thought to myself that it was time to reset that set point again, this time even lower!  Obviously it's going to be harder than I thought, but I am up for the challenge.  I can tell that my body is fighting itself. When I eat things that used to be regulars in my diet, like a homemade cookie, it wants to enjoy it, but it doesn't! That is either really depressing or really exciting (I'm thinking a little of both!).  Now I just have to tell my mind to stop picking those things up, because they won't be worth it if I'm not even enjoying the calories!

The fridge is stocked with vegetable soup for dinner, turkey and cottage cheese roll-ups for lunch, and carrots and hard-boiled eggs for snacks! It's a new month and I'm determined to make it a healthy one (for real this time)!

Pounds lost: 1.4

Pounds left to lose: 28.6

Love,

Candace