Four Weeks For Health: Week 1

In case you missed it last week, I've got a new mini-goal that I'm calling Four Weeks For Health.  The goal: lose one pound per week in four consecutive weeks in order to a)give me a string of weeks with a loss to rejuvenate my progress & motivation & b)put my weight at 150 lbs, otherwise known as the high end of my healthy weight range.

Week 1 Actions (what I did differently):

Eating my steak over a bowl of my garden's lettuce with a
teaspoon of olive oil as dressing.  Two GHG's where I would
previously have had none!

• I was a religious tracker.  I've been having a bit of a tracking revival &, though it shouldn't be a surprise, I'm finding that the times that I am a truthful, diligent tracker are the times I have success.  Most of the major "weight loss" programs utilize some sort of food journaling.  Why?  Because it works.  This week I reminded myself that I'm not special, or above the fray & I tracked EVERYTHING (yes, even the chunk of ultra processed, ultra delicious white bread that I stole from Coraline's sandwich at a restaurant).
• I watched my "good health guidelines."  That is fancy WW speak for making sure that I am getting in required nutrition: at least 5 servings of fruit/vegetables, 2 servings of dairy, 2 servings of healthy oil & 1 multi-vitamin.  It doesn't sound hard...because it isn't.  And yet, I realized that I had let dairy slide because I didn't want to allocate points to milk when I could have animal crackers or pita chips.  And here's a big confession: this is the very first time in all of my time with WW that I have ever paid any heed to the healthy oil recommendation.  I guess I always thought that as a woman with a weight problem, the oil would take care of itself.  Turns out it didn't. 
• I snacked purposefully.  This goes hand in hand with GHGs, but I really paid attention to the difference between a snack & a treat.  Treats are fine in moderation, but snacks should be part of my nutriton plan & give value to my body.  If I was down a dairy serving in the afternoon, I had a glass of milk rather than reaching for a delicious, but nutritionally bankrupt Diet Coke.  If I was short a veggie, I reached for cucumbers with my hummus rather than crackers.

Week 1 Results:  Down 2 lbs!

I am, of course, giddy with my outcome, but in thinking about the purpose behind this exercise, I am not altering my goal for Week 2.  The biggest reason for setting up the goal as I did was to build momentum.  More important than total pounds lost, I desperately need a pattern of success--consecutive weeks "down."  So, my plan for Weeks 2-4 remains 1 lb/week.  Here's to Week 2!