In the summer of 2011 I tried out a Scaleless Summer, where I put away the scale and focused on what I was putting in my mouth instead of focusing on the number on the scale. I started out the summer weighing 217 pounds. About a month later I went to the doctors and weighed in at 213, totally forgetting that I wasn’t suppose to look, but was really excited about my weight loss. My plan to fill half of my plate with veggies before adding protein and carbs was working well and creating weekly meal plans on Sundays left me feeling great. My workouts were all over the place, but I knew I was making some good decisions in regards to what I was putting in my mouth.
July was a really stressful month for me as I tackled 2 graduate classes, interviewed for a new job, rocked the house on my current job (at the time), accepted a new job, and went on a vacation with Neal to Florida. Still, by the end of July I was feeling great and knew I had lost/maintain my weight.
August was another story though. I love the summer, but with the heat comes lots of eating out (baseball games, happy hours, dinners with friends, etc.). Although I love the summer, it can be a challenge to know how many calories I’m consuming each day. In addition, I really struggled with overeating August through September. It could have been stress or it could have just been my inability to say no to the foods I love. Either way I have consumed way too many calories in one setting on a number of occasions.
At the end of the summer I weighed in at 226.6 pounds. I was honestly shocked to see my weight that high. I didn’t feel like I’ve gained almost 10 pounds over the summer nor did I think I look like I’ve gained 10 pounds. It could be muscle mass, as I do put on muscle rather easily and have boosted my workouts up. Either way, 226 at the end of a scaleless summer was not where I wanted to be.
I learned a lot in the summer of 2011, both about my workouts, my eating habits, and about my mentality surrounding weight loss. To some degree I feel that I have been on a 4 year plateau. My weight has gone up and down during that time, and as of June I was 9 pounds from my lowest weight (208 in the summer of 2007).
I want to will defeat this plateau. I want to will break 200 pounds. I want to will love myself through the entire process.
The Scaleless Summer was not a loss by any means. I rekindled my “love” for running and have started training for a 15K with Neal. I also learned a lot about my body, my portion sizes, and what it’ll take to lose weight and create healthy habits. Over the past three months I have learned what my two main issues are in regards to my eating… 1. Eating when I’m not hungry 2. Rare binge eating sprees. As Neal said though, “it’s nothing I can’t conquer”.
Check out my Scaleless Summer posts:
