Bounce Back

Part of the reason why I didn't get too down about going back up last week is because of what happened this week. As is my usual bit when I take a slight step back, I take a big step forward the following week. This week, it was dropping 5.6 pounds and hitting the 325 mark.

I'm certain part of what helped this week was having a full mouth scaling done over two days which essentially limited me to eating soup on those days followed by my sleep schedule being so wonky that I only ate one meal on Sunday with a couple of snacks. I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, though.

So to summarize the path to this point:
Starting Date: 7/6/09
Current Date: 5/24/09
Starting Weight: 400# (minimum--could have been more)
Current Weight: 325#
Total Loss: 75#
Goal Weight: 200-225
% to Goal: 37.5-42.8

I'm accepting at this point that I am unlikely to hit the 300 mark by 7/6. That's essentially six weeks left until that point. If I lose at the recommended level of two pounds per week, that will put me at 313 on 7/6. I would have to double that plus a little extra to get that point, and that isn't healthy weight loss, opening me up to other health problems and the potential of rubberbanding. On the good side, however, I had a good chance of hitting the 300 mark by the time my daughter is born, and that's good enough for me.

New Orleans caught up with me

I had a bit of a disappointment yesterday morning when I weighed in and found myself up two pounds. I have to chalk it up to the extra eating in New Orleans along with the lack of exercise lately as well as the extra eating I did the last week. I've been unmotivated in general, which has all bled into the back slide.

One change I'm making is I'm going to be looking at limiting my points on a daily basis. While I'm allotted 44 on any given day, I'm going to limit myself to 40 just as a personal trimming measure. While it's not a huge deal, it's going to hopefully help me make a difference mentally.

Part of me is very tempted to start parking my car at the MARTA park and ride in the morning and taking the bus up to the park and ride lot across from work just to help me avoid the temptation of going out for lunch. I'll likely end up not doing it, but I might go back to going to the gym at lunch as a different measure.

Regardless, I need to get back on a solid downward trend and off of this episode of doldrums on the seas of weight loss.

Point Friendly Discovery

One of the things I'm always on the lookout for things that are easy and quick to make, especially that can be nuked at work. Given that I'm a huge fan of Chinese food, I always look for things of that cuisine to see if there is anything that would work for me. My favorite Chinese dish (at least that I can find easily) is General Tso's Chicken. Unfortunately, the dish as normally prepared isn't very points friendly (try about 18 WW points a serving).

Last night, however, I found a little bit of the holy grail when it comes to this dish and weight loss.

Tai Pei makes microwavable Chinese food (they're the ones that come in the little take-out Chinese food style containers). Looking last night for something quick to fix for myself and Bradley, I noticed the photo of their General Tso's Chicken has the chicken unbattered. Looking at the back of it, I pulled out my iPhone and the pulled up the WW points calculator.

The entire container? 3 points. This beats the Healthy Choice version of General Tso's (5 points), notably because of the rice in the HC version.

So now I have another option for one of my favorite Chinese dishes that is easily taken into work and won't kill my points for the day.

A bit of progress

It's kind of ironic that I had more progress this past week than I did the week before. I didn't make it to the gym at all this past week, primarily because I had a corneal abrasion and I really dislike going to the gym in glasses. When I weighed in this morning, though, I was at 329.4 pounds, putting me down below 330 for the first time in this journey.

One thing I did do this week, though, was cut down on how much I was eating out for lunch. I've gone back to eating the Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer meals for lunch most days, limiting myself to one or two days eating out (generally Monday and Wednesday). In addition to saving me money, it also means I'm only using 5-6 points for lunch instead of 10-12.

This week is going to be interesting because I'll be in New Orleans starting Thursday night through Sunday morning, staying in a hotel and playing in a poker tournament. This means I'll be around the rather rich food in New Orleans as well as a casino buffet during breaks in the poker tournament. Granted, I only have two 'must hit' restaurant things while I'm in NOLA this time: Cafe du Monde for breakfast one morning and then the Green Goddess in the Quarter for lunch or dinner at one point. The trick is going to be avoiding gorging myself at the buffet, especially if I get frustrated during the tournament.

At least while I'm in New Orleans, I'll be walking most of the places I'm going. This also means if I get frustrated I can take a walk, get it out of my system that way, and then head back to the tables while grabbing a snack or a light meal.

All in all, I'm happy with the increased loss this week. While it's unlikely I'll hit 300 by 7/6/10, I'm should be very close to it and on track to make the top end of my goal weight (225) by 7/6/11.