Yes, it's Friday again...

...and we all know what that means! Weigh in day. I didn't get home until 11:15 last night, but I was wide awake at 6:30am this morning. I laid in bed awhile, knowing we have another long day today, but by 7:30 my stomach was giving me fits, so I rolled out of bed and headed downstairs to meet my doom. Okay, okay...it's not that bad! We all know that I have this "love-hate" relationship with our scale. I'm always hoping for a loss, but I know that it's possible to lose inches over the course of a week and not actual weight. It's also common to gain muscle (which is my goal!) during the week which sometimes affects what the scale reads. I'd rather trade weight for muscle any day!

But, this week I did lose another pound. Woohoo! Down to 175lbs. I love the fact that the weather is finally nice enough for me to go on long walks and enjoy being outside in the fresh air. Yesterday and today we have been planting our gardens. A different kind of exercise!

And, today is Avalon's 4th birthday! She's getting so big, and her language and social skills are improving every day. We're going to Chuck-E-Cheese this afternoon to celebrate with our grandparents. Every week, I give myself a "cheat item", so I planned on eating a piece of pizza this evening for my "cheat item" of the week. It gives me a surge of calories that keeps my body from falling into a "starvation" mode, which causes it to reserve and store as many calories as possible. When the body feels like it's not getting enough calories, it slows down your metabolism, which causes you to burn calories a lot slower. Thus making it harder to lose weight! So, I eat one item at one meal every week that I've been craving. It's good for me mentally - I don't feel like I'm being deprived - and physically to keep my body in the position to keep losing weight consistently. In the past, I've given myself a full-blown cheat meal, where I can eat whatever I want until I'm satisfied. Bad idea! (For me, at least.) After too many awful meal experiences, I've limited myself to one item. I've found it extremely hard to stop eating when I'm satisfied at a cheat meal, because my flesh gets all excited, my taste buds are engaged...and it goes downhill from there. Once I start giving into my flesh - it's game over. I've left the table uncomfortably stuffed too many times! So, I've found that I have to limit myself to one item. I get to eat a treat, and it's something I can look forward to all week. Kind of like my own little reward for eating well and exercising!

I'm out to plant some more peas. I can't wait until we get fresh produce this summer! ~Bekah