No Excuses

I guess it was bound to happen sometime...but I kind of ignored the possibility and hoped for the best.  I can come up with a million excuses, but really, there aren't any:

 

Yep, I gained weight this week--I weighed in at 144.4 pounds, which is a 0.8-pound gain.  After last week's morale-boosting triumph, I ate too much and didn't exercise enough this week--no excuses.  I will give some insight into my week last week, just to help me understand where I could have done better (although the answer to that question is everywhere!).

Last week was Spring Break for Abby, so our whole schedule was off.  I had my regular step class on Monday, and actually felt sore on Tuesday--I haven't felt sore after a step class in a while, so I figured that meant I was really working hard during that class, and maybe working some different muscles since the instructor is adding some new moves to her routines.  I also somehow injured my elbow--I woke up Tuesday morning with it really hurting, so I thought I must have slept on it funny...but it hasn't gone away, and it still hurts just as much.  I'm not sure if I hyper-extended it, sprained it, or chipped the bone somehow?  I didn't fall on it and don't remember banging it on anything--nor do I remember hurting it in step class (seems kind of silly--step involves my legs, not really any stress on my arms!).  I don't have any explanation for it, but it hurts--it hasn't hindered my activity level, even though it's a little distracting and definitely annoying.  Wednesday AND Friday's Zumba classes were with the substitute instructor who doesn't really provide a good workout...I was so bummed.  I needed my workouts this week!  I decided to just make what I could of her classes, pushing myself and interpreting what the instructor was intending to the best of my abilities--I told Dan that I felt like the Zumba whisperer in that I was at the front, doing my best to get in a workout that was beneficial, and I felt like the folks behind me in the class were probably following my lead because the instructor is so darn hard to follow!  It still wasn't as good as my usual Zumba classes for me, but I felt better about her class doing it my way than I had previously.  Sometimes life throws you curve balls, and you can either strike out or swing for the fences...I swung as hard as I could, and for that, I was proud of myself.

I spent a lot of time in the car last week--I drove out to my parents' house on THREE different days!  I drove out on Tuesday to drop Abby off for a Spring Break sleepover with her cousins, again on Thursday to pick her up, and again on Saturday to celebrate Easter with my whole family.  That's 6 sedentary hours in the car over the week, and because I wasn't at my own house on those days, I totally dropped the ball on my cleaning schedule (and extra calories burned by cleaning the house!).  Because I wasn't at home, I also wasn't cooking...we ate at a lot of restaurants last week.  Jimmy John's, ColdStone (twice!), Subway, Panera, Potbelly Sandwiches, and Einstein Bros. Bagels all made the menu of meals this week...that's a lot of restaurant eating.  I did really well at Subway and Potbelly (they offer "Skinny" sandwiches--so delicious!), but I way overdid it at Einstein's...we used to go to Einstein's all the time on the weekends, but I've been avoiding it since the Challenge because I know bagels aren't exactly health food.  I was right to avoid it--I totally defeated myself, failed to conquer my food addiction, and pigged out on 2 bagels with cream cheese...  We had family Easter at my parents' house on Saturday, and again, my willpower was low--I ate 8 deviled eggs under the erroneous assumption that because eggs are healthy, deviled eggs can't be that bad for you (if you don't consider 70 calories per half and egg bad for you, then my assumption was correct).  If I had only eaten the deviled eggs and nothing else, I might have been okay--but there were brownies and ice cream, hot dogs, and many other delicious delights there.  It's amazing that I didn't gain 5 pounds this week!

hopefully this week is better than the last

And then Sunday was Easter, which means chocolate in the house.  We all know how I do with chocolate in the house--suffice it to say, there's not much chocolate left in the house today.  I blew it terribly--I weighed in Sunday morning and was feeling depressed about gaining the weight, so I had a bad attitude toward food the rest of the day, and totally binged on Easter chocolate.  I can start over again tomorrow, right?  Here's hoping I get back on track, and that I haven't totally sabotaged my next weigh in already!