I have confusion, BUT I also have bragging rights.

Last week was...stressful. Then this weekend, we traveled to the Lone Star state for a family reunion. We slept in the living room of a timeshare, which was supposed to have an uncomfortable sleeper sofa. As it turned out, it didn't have a sleeper sofa at all. D'oh. We ended up on the couch and an air mattress provided by my BIL. Oh well, we weren't planning on getting quality sleep anyway. Then there was the time change. Then the fact that we dined out for every meal (aside from breakfast Saturday and Sunday). I decided to "wing it" with WW--it'd be a test of my knowledge.

So a lot of challenges stacked against me this week that should have impeded upon any weight loss. All I could think of as I stepped on the scale and waited for the bright blue number was: "Don't gain, don't gain, don't gain..."

Then...

4 POUNDS LOST.

Let me tell you, there was fist pumping, dancing, hooting and hollering, and perhaps a "Wapah!" in there.

4 pounds lost during what should have been a really awful week for weight loss. I am confused and bewildered considering that some weeks I do awesome all week and there's very little to no weight loss. Oh well. I'll take it!

My strategy was basically to try to drink as much water as possible, make sensible choices, and eat until I felt satisfied and never stuff myself to the point of being uncomfortably full. I indulged in a little extra of this absolutely to-die-for sauce on night one (everyone could have drank that stuff by the gallon), that made a reappearance on night three and I joined in on the gelato indulgence when we took the boat tour along the Riverwalk (the boat ride was a lot of fun and the atmosphere at night along the Riverwalk reminded me of Disney and Pirates of the Caribbean mixed with Vegas), but I stuck with my plan. It was easy to get exercise since we stayed active going to places and swimming.

I'd like to forget the week when I had the false weigh-in after the stomach bug and the low feeling afterwards when the weight loss didn't stick. That said, I'm thrilled to be down a different weight "category." That middle number only has one more number to roll down so it makes goal feel within reach.

Another really awesome discovery? I'm down another jeans/shorts size. I figured that out when my jeans wouldn't stay up after being freshly washed and pulled from the dryer and only being on for 5 minutes. Despite the saggy butt, I'm not buying new jeans until I hit goal so should the need arise, perhaps I can find another pair in the closet that runs smaller. (Good thing it's summer and 900 degrees.) I think a couple more pounds would make the next size down a little bit more comfortable. Ultimately, I'm hoping to be down 2 sizes from the jeans I wore this weekend. I'm not sure it's possible for me to get smaller than that without developing an eating disorder.

What I did well this week: I survived a vacation with a pretty impressive weight loss to show for it. Monday-Thursday of last week, I had my goal weight that I was working toward for the week written on the inside of my left wrist. (Stealing an idea from Biggest Loser contestant Jay.) I didn't expect to reach it in one week (it was my next mini goal), but it was to remind me why I should go do the stairs, walk when I didn't feel like it, drink more water. I'm 0.2 pounds below that weight.

Obstacles/Challenges: Stress and lack of sleep for the most part. Hopefully having a more low-key week and getting more Zzzz's this week will help push my weight loss along.

Motivation for this week: Legitimately reach my stomach bug weight again. Oh and I have another number written on my wrist. Even if I see it with a 9 behind the decimal point, it'll still be nice to see on the scale next Monday.

Something I've discovered this week is how little importance I gave my opinion, my feelings, my existence in the past. It wasn't entirely my fault and I'm not about to go into that or place blame because it's in the past and I can't change the past, but I've noticed how much I'm evolving as a person when it comes to that. I now know that I have the right to exist, to have an opinion, to stand up for myself, to have a voice, and to be strong. I'm losing weight, but there's so much more to it. I'm gaining confidence. I'm gaining strength. I'm gaining certainty in who I am. You can see that in my current before/afters.

Before (June 2010)

Current (-55+ pounds)

Pssst--8.8 pounds away from the weight I was when I was 17. Oh and I'm off to reward myself to Bare Minerals makeup for reaching my next mini goal. Scoooore!

Oh and I've kind of done a side-by-side of WW and MFP (My Fitness Pal) for a couple of weeks. If you're not wanting to shell out money for WW, give MFP a try. They have a lot of neat tools and reports to help you along. Oh, but careful with the "If every day were like today, you'd weigh..." feature at the bottom of the food diary. It's not really accurate when you have big exercise days and sort of slack off over the weekend. Be realistic. Oh and on average, I eat between 1200-1500 calories per day while staying within WW points. Keep in mind that most (but not all) fruits and veggies are "free" on WW, but they do contain calories. Not a lot and I'm not about to stress if I go over on calories because I splurged on, say, an orange. ::gasp:: A good point made by another WW subscriber is "We didn't get to the point of needing WW by eating too many fruits and vegetables."