Seven in a row. And a new ID.

This morning I'm going back into "weight loss mode" for, I think, the first time since I got back down to my postpartum goal weight.  I've been within bounds for close to three months -- not a bad run, considering I'm dealing with the ups and downs of breastfeeding.

(A note on that -- When I was heavy, I didn't even notice that breastfeeding made me need more food.  I figure I was already eating so much and throwing off the excess in heat, that my body just threw off less heat and fed the baby from that.  Now it's very, very obvious that feeding the baby means I have to eat more, though the exact quantity is difficult to hit.)

I weigh daily.  One way I make this work for me -- one rule -- is that I return to stricter habits when I have seven readings in a row that are above my target weight of 112.  It goes very nicely with daily weighings (seven days = one week) and it's not hard to remember.   Seven is enough data points that a trend can be visible among the random ups-and-downs.  

I still have a hard time understanding why people say "Oh, I can't weigh daily."  Data from the National Weight Control Registry has me convinced that daily weighing is not harmful (even though you will frequently see that advice on dieting sites and in books as if there was evidence that daily weighing stalls weight loss all by itself).  

I guess I can understand it depending on the personality.  I have to hold myself back from restricting my habits too soon -- like, oh no, I had a bad food day and the next day the scale reads 2 lbs higher, I better act NOW.   Well, I hadn't thought of this possibility, but it can act the other way too -- a friend of mine told me she doesn't weigh daily because, when she happens to have a lower reading, it's easy to convince herself she "has room" to go off habits that day.  

(Which is a normal part of maintenance -- but is an act of pure self-sabotage in attempts to reduce weight.  "The data shows that what I've been doing is working!  I should do the opposite today!")

Anyway.  Seven "high" days in a row, and it's time to check my habits.  I consider myself back in maintenance after I bring my five-day running average under the target.  That can take a few weeks.  

Habit number one:  tomato juice and boiled egg for breakfast...

 

 * * *

In other news, my new driver's license arrived today.  It strikes me as a really stupid idea to scan pictures of my ID and put them on my blog, so I won't, but let me tell you -- the difference between the old one and the new one is really cool.  I keep putting them side by side and looking at them.

A couple of times over the last couple of years, I pulled my driver's license out to prove to someone that I used to be heavy.  (The weight listed on my old DL is 160 lbs; my new one, 112.)  I think I'll go on carrying the old one in a spare slot in my wallet.

 

Comments

[Barbara C.]

We don't keep a scale in our house (unless you count the Wii fit). Let's just say that it's better that way.

But really I am surprised that they let you keep your old driver's license. Back in KY they used to make you turn in your old one when you got your new one. I wanted to keep my first driver's license with my braces, long frizzy hair, and gigantic blue glasses...talk about a moment in time.

I don't know what IL does when you get a new license, so far they've just given us renewal stickers. Of course, I've never had the option to receive my license by mail.

[Christy Porucznik]

I think that a lot of the 'don't weigh every day' advice is coming from the eating disorder treatment community and the notion of focusing on something else, like how your clothes fit, rather than a number on a scale. As you say, different strokes for different folks.

BTW-- worst weight loss related comment I have heard in a while "You look skinny. You should get a mammogram." From a physician.

[bearing]

Skinny = mammogram? That does not compute. Please explain.

Re: license: I had to go to the DMV to renew my license, but I received the new license in the mail a few weeks later. They clip the corner off your old one and hand it back to you. I guess the theory is you can sort of use it for ID until the new one comes.

[Christy Porucznik]

skinny = mammogram means that such weight loss must mean you have cancer. I guess the extra bit of info that you haven't been announcing to the world "I am trying to lose weight" should be part of the equation.