Category: 20lbs in 20 weeks

Now that Passover has ended, it is time to get serious about my weight loss again.  After all, I expected some weight gain but I weighed in at 194 pounds yesterday. 194! The last time I weighed in there was way back in week 6 (February 20th weigh-in).  It stings to realize that my work from the past weeks were undone by a couple of carb-loaded matzo days, but I’m not letting my resolve weaken.  I have 5 more weigh-ins until my challenge is over and 9 more pounds to lose.  It may be tough, but it won’t be impossible.  I can do this!

This week’s weigh-in brought a not-so-pleasant surprise. From being a half a pound away from my goal, I went up to 189 pounds.  All that pre-Passover snacking took its toll.  To make matters worse, I’m sure I’ll gain weight during Passover itself.  Still, this just means I’ll be as good as I can be during the Eight Days of Matzoh and then will redouble my weight loss efforts post-Passover.

Sunday morning, I stepped on the scale and nearly jumped for joy.  The scale said I weighed 185.5 pounds.  This is only a half a pound above my goal weight.  Huzzah!

Of course, I’m not claiming victory anytime soon.  The next three weeks will be tough ones dietarily-speaking.  (Is “dietarily” a word?  Well, it is now!)  As I’ve been saying for weeks now, Passover is approaching.  I’ve been mentally getting ready for packing on some pounds due to Matzoh overload.  Still, I didn’t remember one other “Passover is approaching” danger: Pre-Passover “Gotta Finish It Up” Snacking

You see, when Passover is here, all non-Kosher-for-Passover foods must be put away so Passover foods have room.  Of course, there is limited space to “put away” these foods and some of them might spoil if not consumed during the eight days that we celebrate Passover.  Since I hate wasting food, I wind up snacking on it.  Sleeve of opened Girl Scout Cookies?  Munch on them instead of putting the box in the bin.  Ritz crackers?  They’ll go nicely with that block of leftover cheddar instead of taking up room in the cabinets.

In the end, I wind up with less food to put away (good), but more pounds on my waistline (not so good).  I’ve all but given up on keeping track of points this week.  I’ll try to mentally keep score to keep my snacking down, but I’m not going to add the stress of points tracking to the stress of Passover preparation.  I’ll just have to re-double my weight loss efforts once Passover is done.

After Disney World, I gained 5 pounds.  I expected to lose some of that this week.  I figured three pounds.  If I was lucky, four.  During the week, I weighed myself and was startled to see the pounds dropping drastically.  When I weighed myself Sunday morning, I was 187 pounds.  One Hundred Eighty Seven!  That’s a loss of six pounds in one week.  It was quite nice and gives me some hope for my post-Passover weight drop.

This also means that I’m a mere two pounds from my goal.  Given my past weight loss averages, I lose between one and a half and two pounds per week.  With two weigh-ins before Passover begins, I’m nearly certain to hit my goal.  Still, considering that Passover is going to be a guaranteed weight gain time, I’m not going to count the 20 Pounds In 20 Weeks challenge as successful unless I hit 185 pounds after Passover has ended.

Still, I’d say I’m doing quite well and am well on my way to completing this challenge.