Twelve Weeks

As I typed the title of this post, I suddenly remembered the movies "28 Days Later" and "28 Weeks Later". Fortunately, no zombies were involved in the writing of the post you are about to read!

Well, it's been twelve weeks since I started using the Paul McKenna approach to eating and weight loss. With the exception of last week (more on that later), I only weigh myself every two weeks, plus or minus a day. Obsession with the scale is something that McKenna warns against--and with good reason, in my humble opinion.

OK, I know you all want to know the results of this most recent weigh-in. If you've been following this blog since the beginning (not hard to do, lol), you know that when it comes to weight loss, my middle name is Molasses. And this weigh-in has been no different. I still weigh what I weighed two weeks ago. The difference is that I feel less disappointed in this result than I have in the past.

Over the past ten days, I have averaged close to 10,000 steps a day (and that's including a low-step weekend). Last week and this week, I have been working at the same downtown hotel for three different conferences and have taken public transit rather than the car to get there. I'm actually feeling the muscles in my legs a little more than usual and my arthritic knee has not protested any more than usual. This is good. And I'm hoping that upping my step count will contribute towards a small weight loss at my next weigh-in.

I have continued to reflect on intuitive eating. I realize that it is still a challenge for me to respect the fullness signals my body sends me. Being so small, sometimes the signal will sound after just a few bites of food. Even when I try to eat very slowly, it's hard to feel psychologically satisfied after having eaten such a tiny bit. It's also more difficult when you're eating at a restaurant, which I almost always do when working. Leaving more than half my plate full is a real challenge. Two days ago, I actually took a doggy bag and had a few more bites when I was on break a few hours later. I still ended up throwing out a fair bit.

Back to my weight loss/stability. In the past twelve weeks, according to my scale, I have lost nine pounds. Six of those pounds were in the first four weeks. Now remember friends, we're talking about someone who measures 4'10" on a good day! I need some applause, please! Last Friday, I visited with my endocrinologist, whom I see regularly due to a thyroid problem. I was on medication for one year and was given the green light to stop the medication on the very day that I began following the McKenna programme. According to my doctor's notes, I had lost 5 kilos--two pounds more than my scale tells me. My doctor was a little worried because one of the symptoms of hyperthyroidism is weight loss. I reassured her that nothing was wrong and that the weight loss was actually intentional. In any case, the blood test confirmed that all is well with my thyroid.

So that's the latest, up to the minute story. I can feel another post coming on, but I'm going to save it for another day. Now, I have to prepare my for my next conference.