So I am typing this in bed. Plan was to come to bed, check in and go to sleep but I got so caught up in reading all your posts from yesterday I'm still here and still awake. Wish I had time to respond to them better but I'll just say thanks everyone for your honest, supportive and inspirational posts and well done to everyone as it sounds like you're all making progress even if it involves pass days. Once again I feel lucky to be part of this group.

Exercise: cycled to work and went for a run at lunchtime. Was a gorgeous, sunny and warm (for winter) day here today but got a little caught out by the wind, still matched my PB for that route though so pleased.
Tracking and calories were good and protein was highest so far

damn those lying scales !!!

I've weighed in today and my weight remains the same .... I only measured 1 week ago so i didn't expect any results there either !!! .. however I measured just to make sure

I use this site to measure BF / lean mass http://fitness.bizcalcs.com/Calculator.asp?Calc=Body-Fat-Navy

AND!!! ......

In ONE WEEK
I have LOST .........
2 inches from my belly
1 inch from my hips (widest part round the bum)
I have lost 1 % of of my body fat
I've lost 2 lbs of fat

I've GAINED ..........
2lbs of lean mass

so yay me!!!! .. I actually couldn't be happier with a 0 lb loss on the scales

Roll on 3rd of July when I can measure and record my "size' losses

who needs that damned scales anyway!!!

remember to measure its so much more of a feel good factor to lose inches

debodom1962 wrote: »

... I actually had to look up INTJ and guess what, I found my picture under the definition.

@debodom1962. Probably right next to mine

debodom1962 wrote: »

I am also a self sabotager and in the past,...

I had to learn to build "slack" into my perfectionist goals. Like:
- I am allowed 3 pass days a month.
- I am allowed 2 consecutive days without strength exercises.
- I am allowed bad days, just not consecutive, and no playing "catchup" or overcompensating.

I allow these concessions in others, so I MUST allow these concessions for myself. Took a LONG time to learn.

debodom1962 wrote: »

... if the scale wasn't right where I thought it should be, stinkin thinkin would set in and it would set me up for a week or month of binge eating. I've gotten better at just acknowledging the gain and moving on.

This is one of the reasons I weigh daily. If I'm going go get bad news, it only affects a day, not a week.

Other advantage of daily weigh over weekly is that:
1) A "bad" reading will only affect you for a day (if you let it).
2) You see the daily fluctuations (my graph is very interesting and usually not linear).
3) The actual weight number on it's own means less and less and the "trend" become a more important part.
4) You quickly realise that it takes time for things to move. Work hard 2 consecutive days and the weight may start to move 2 days later, some foods store more fluid in the body than others, fibre takes time to pass out of the system, etc...
5) Weight is an aggregate of components that are difficult to separate (body fat, lean muscle, water, etc..). The mix of these components change daily.

Other things are more important than weight (family, friends, integrity, health). These are not measured by the bathroom scales.

@craigo3154 yes, I think I did see your picture there Thank you for all the words of wisdom. I actually do weigh daily which is probably why the number doesn't have as much power over me as it used to. I still acknowledge it and go on. My "official" weigh in day for my other Team Challenge is Monday, so I "officially" weigh in on Monday. My weight moves so slow that I'll play up and down with one pound for weeks, and then finally, that number will disappear forever, and it will be like that with the next number. I've also had to let go of the perfectionist crap. It was driving me and everyone around me bonkers. I've got a little OCD tendencies and also control issues. One of the most liberating feeling was finally letting go of trying to control others and all aspects of my life. I was so sick of micro managing and overthinking everything that I just finally hit myself up side the head and let it go. It wasn't easy and sometimes the tendencies try to come back, but I hit myself in the head again and let it go.

Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes, 50 minutes elliptical, 15 minutes strength plus time outside playing with pups
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Absolutely.

You know, it's funny, I used to hate tracking my food. I have been through WW a few times (to no avail) and that was always a sore point with me. But MFP makes it easy. I find that if a dish has multiple entries, I always pick the one with a higher count because I'd rather be over than under. And I am putting more and more recipes in to get a more accurate count and I'm moving more because I'm involved in some challenge groups too. Hope everyone has a great evening.

Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes, Kettlebell 5 mins, stationary bike 20 mins
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes

Check in for yesterday :
Did I exercise for at least 20 minutes? Yes 5 mile morning walk
Did I stay within my calorie budget for the day? Yes
Did I keep track of everything I ate and drank? Yes