Week 4 Weigh-in: Slipping but not Sliding.

Starting Weight: 477.4 lbs
Week 4 Weigh-in: 466.2 lbs
Weekly Loss: -0.6 lbs
Total Loss: 11.2 lbs

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Yeah, I gained back a half-pound this week, but considering how I know I was eating, that half-pound is a mercy.

I spent most of this past week at my parents' house, taking care of siblings and keeping everything together while the folks took a much-needed weekend vacation. As such, I was cooking for (or buying meals out for) not only myself, but my sibs. My folks also keep a lot of snack foods in the house. While they did provide me with good options, the bad ones were right there beside them. When the good stuff ran out, I just kept on with the bad. And so it goes.

Really, if we're being honest, the half-pound gain is really a 6-pound or so gain, since I lost any ground I would have made up this week, too. Thinking about it that way makes me a little more frustrated.

Not only that, but I slipped into my old eating habits. I was always munching on something (or, in some cases, a lot of somethings), and not stopping myself. At least at work, it's easier (believe it or not) because there are constant distractions. There's work. That keeps me occupied. At "home," I had nothing to distract me, and I kept snacking as I sat and watched TV or played video games.

I think I'm running into the dichotomy of "diet vs. lifestyle change." I have been treating this exercise like a diet that I will go on and then go off. But it has to be more. It has to be a conscious change in how I live, from now on. So that's the goal now, to make that change permanent. That's why the up-and-down inconsistent food intake I've been dealing with has been so problematic. I can't live like that. I need to find a good "food" rhythm so that I can make these changes part of how I live, instead of something I'm just doing for a while.

So here we are. Some ground lost (or pound gained, if you like.) I slipped, but didn't slide. We're back up. I'm hitting the grocery store tonight to restock my house with good things, and we're back in the game.