I've Got Mad Skillz

Today was weigh-in day for the Allan's challenge and I gained 8 lbs.  How's that for talented?  Here's a recap of my awesome weekend...

Thanksgiving was a success.  I went to Mom's for a couple of hours, ate 1 moderate plate, plus one more spoon of potato salad.  There was turtle cheesecake, pecan pie and pumpkin pies for dessert...I had one teensy bite of my sister's cheesecake and that was IT for my dessert.  The only leftovers I brought home for myself was a small bit of turkey.  Extremely proud of myself....extremely.

As you all know, I struggle w/ a monstrous, painful cycle 2 weeks out of every 4 weeks, every single month.  I have PCOS.  The only "cure" for it is to lose a massive amount of weight.  Ha.

I started my cycle last Sunday night...weighing in at 242 that morning for the challenge.  By Tuesday morning I had full-on bloat and the scale said 246....I ate 1800 cals that Sun, and 1200 that Monday....so I knew the 4 lb. gain was all water, and I wasn't upset over it....just felt like sh*t, physically.  The next time I got on the scale was Friday morning, after Thanksgiving dinner.  I was 246 lbs...no change.

Moving onto Friday and Saturday.  Dwayne and I had a fantastic time together this weekend.  We shopped for 6-7 hours on Friday, and another 6 hours of shopping on Saturday, and we ate EVERY meal in a restaurant for 2 days.  Water?  What's water?  I drank almost none.  Instead, I've had 2 Cokes, too much of the 60 calorie, no sugar added, Swiss Miss hot chocolate, and lots of coffee w/ creamer....with a little water thrown in. 

I'm in mid-cycle now...one week down, one week to go...and this is the point where my mood normally goes downhill very fast.  Still having terrible cramps....major lower back and ovary pain....and I'm sooo over it, but can't do anything about it for another week.  However, my happiness from my weekend with Dwayne is actually overriding the normal bad mood and bad attitude that mid-cycle always provides.

He helped me with some Christmas shopping money....we found some fantastic sales....he bought me some new clothes that I've desperately needed., etc.  Dwayne doesn't follow a budget, he just buys whatever, whenever.  His last phone was $300.  Well it finally died Saturday, so he ran to the store to get a new one.  Following MY budgeting skills (finally!).....he chose $150 phone instead of the $300 one.  I was quite impressed and happy that he's paying closer attention to his money.  He was out doing some of his own Christmas shopping, while I was out buying the clothes he gave me money for, and hitting some different sales for Christmas shopping on my own.  After 6 hours, we met back up at home and he told me about the phone.  He knows that I always buy the least expensive phone I can find in the store.  The last one I bought was $80...and it works just fine.  He told me he say a $100 phone on sale for $50 and really wanted to buy it for me as an early Christmas present.....so back out we went and bought the phone.  It was very sweet of him...and I'm thrilled with a few new tops, 2 new pair of pants, a new pair of shoes, and a new phone. 

We decorated our little apt together this weekend for Christmas and it's just adorable.  I found a CD at the Dollar Store....the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra...and it's playing quietly in the background.  The lights on the tree are twinkling....and despite the cramps....I am happy. 

Am I bothered by the 8 lb. gain?  Sure...of course I am.  But I am not wallowing in guilt over it.  I know that getting back to drinking 180-200 oz. of water a day will take care of a lot of it.....my cycle ending next weekend will take care of some more of it.  And I've had such a good weekend with Dwayne and Scarlette that this just happens to trump any bad feelings I have over that gain.  I know I didn't gain 8 lbs. of fat...I know what I did wrong w/ ingesting so much sodium in the restaurant foods and drinking next to no water...so I know how to turn it around.  I also know I set a plan for my Thanksgiving dinner....one of moderation...and I stuck to it.  For that, I am extremely proud. 

More shopping today....we're heading out shortly....and then it's back to business.  I hope everyone else is having a fabulous weekend, too.  :)