when times get rough.

First of all, my back is finally feeling better. I no longer have that awful pulling pain every single time I move! I can't begin to describe how great it feels to walk without limping AND in super slow motion. It's not 100% yet, I still cringe when I get up after sitting for a while or sleeping, but it's so much beter. THIS also means I have no excuses to get back to the gym now. I didn't miss the gym like I miss other things .... but there were days when it felt strange to go straight home from work instead of hitting the gym before. Don't get me wrong - there were definitely days when I was READY to go right home after work instead. :)

I have ONE MORE WEEK of intense work before I get a break. This means no more working straight-through the weekends, not AS many late nights and maybe even a few days off! I'm really looking forward to it! I can't remember the last weekend I didn't work.

My weight is currently the SAME this week. I'm okay with that. Last week was rough. I haven't exercised AT ALL and I've been thrown some family stress to go along with the craziness at work. I let my emotions get the best of me the past week and gave in to A LOT of temptations. A LOT of things I haven't had in a while. Things I probably won't see again for a long time.

cake
more cake
skyline chili (homemade) OMG, has anyone had this stuff?!
full fat hot dogs ... as in, to the max fat
fries
more cake (a lot of birthdays this past week ... NO excuse, but I'm using it right now)
ribs
bread pudding

I didn't overload on any of them, but I didn't have ONE bite either.

Did I feel great afterwards? NO. I felt sluggish and cranky. Gross.

I was sad and overwhelmed and I used the bad foods to help me cope. While I didn't gain anything, I feel like I lost out on a week I could have at least used to TRACK my points better. Everyone has their bad days. Their bad weeks. Even a bad month. My friend Erin has been back and forth the past month, but she's PUSHED through it. She buckled down and counted her points ALL week and she ended up losing. Even after the previous weeks of decisions that may not have best .... she pulled through and decided she's ready to KEEP moving forward and I'm proud of her! It's exciting to know that good, hard work PAYS off. She may have gained 3 lbs during the rough weeks or she may have gained 7. Something lower or inbetween. It doesn't matter because she's back on track and she's 1 lb LESS than a month ago!

Other peoples stories and losses PUSH me to try harder. I often relate things in real life with what I've read on here. Although I made those poor decisions the past week (and even some the week before) I'd stop and think about WHAT I was doing. Although I listed a whole lot of foods that really AREN'T good for you, I never over-indulged. Sometimes I took a bite. Sometimes I may have had a small piece. That doesn't make it okay, but I'm proud I didn't go overboard. I definitely would have gained if I had gone crazy with those choices.

My jeans are getting LOOSER! I wore three different pair this weekend and they're all a little more baggy than they have been. This excites me a lot. It wasn't too long ago that I purchased a new pair and now I'm on my way to hopefully another! We took some pictures this weekend as well, and I can definitely see a difference. It's little things like this that really put a smile on my face.

Hope everyone's having a great day!