Day 7: Bad News and Good News

The morning started with a bit of bad news...OK, maybe not BAD news, but mediocre news:  I only lost a half pound overnight.  Yeah, I know...it's a half pound less than I weighed yesterday, but those bigger numbers are nice to see.  I've reviewed my day, and I have some ideas about what may have gone wrong:

• I didn't drink enough water yesterday.  Between being busy yesterday and the ice maker being on the fritz, I just didn't get around to drinking as much as I should have...probably only had about 72 oz or so.  The downside to drinking so much is the added trips to the restroom, but I'll take the increase in the TP budget in order to flush out all of the extra fat my body is burning!
• I messed up and ate something that wasn't on the protocol.  I was rifling through the fridge looking for some pickles without added sugar to go with my hamburger when I spied my favorite pepperocinis.  "Ha!"  I said to myself (really...I said it out loud.  I felt stupid afterward, but I really did say it).  "Pepperocinis don't have any sugar.  I'll have those instead."  The problem with that is that peppers aren't allowed on the protocol.  See, pickles would be OK because they're made of cucumbers, vinegar, and spices--all items which are allowed.  According to nutritiondata.com, the caloric difference between peppers and cucumbers is small, but the carb content in peppers is triple that of cucumbers, so it makes sense that they aren't allowed.  I just didn't even consider that fact before I ate them.  According to the doc, though, that was a better "cheat" than most that she hears and fortunately, it didn't do a whole lot of damage.
  
• My yucky apple could have also been a problem.  I haven't been eating my second fruit some night because I haven't been hungry.  I decided to try the baked apple thing last night after the kids went to bed, so I didn't have it until about 8:30, which is probably too late to be eating anyway.  I'm also kicking myself for eating it since it didn't even taste good.  I should have just pitched it, but some habits (eating everything on your plate) are harder to break than others (for me, skipping breakfast has been pretty easy).  
• I've read a lot about the role that sleep plays in weight loss, so I've been trying to get to bed at a decent hour.  I got caught up in doing some things last night and didn't head to bed until about midnight, which cut my sleep down by about 2 hours.  I don't think that was my primary mistake yesterday (I would say the high-sodium/higher carb pepperocinis, coupled with my decreased water intake are probably to blame for my slower weight loss), but I want to try to do better about my sleep schedule so I don't end up sluggish during the day.

So, besides all of the diet lessons I learned today, I made a quick visit to the doc to be measured.  The good news is that I've lost a total of 8.25" in the past two weeks.  I fit into some old pants today, so I was surprised that my waist and rear didn't change at all, and my hips only went down 0.5".  I lost 1.0" each around my bust and ribs, 1.25" around each arm, and between 0.5" and 1.0" around each thigh, knee, and calf.  More good news: my blood pressure has gone down 14 points, so she told me to cut my blood pressure medication in half!  

I need to figure out dinner for tonight.  It's been challenging feeding the Littles and the Bigs, but it's worked out OK so far.  (Although I might have to eliminate pork products completely because HS is creeping the Littles out by sniffing their bacon and sausage.)  I haven't been tempted to eat any extra foods or taboo items, but cooking has been tough because I'm a taster.  I hate not knowing if something tastes right while I'm cooking it, but that's just another habit for me to break.  I'm trying to keep things "flavor-able" for HS, so I might try some "safe" Salsa Chicken tonight.  I'm being extra-vigilant about foods today, so HOPEFULLY I'll have bigger numbers to report tomorrow!