The weight loss lessons I have to learn every time I want to lose weight.

Today I did Cathe's Total Body Giant Sets, and finally got a chance to use my beloved barbell this week.  Please excuse my laundry hamper in the background; for once it was not guarded against large dog's pilfering because I have been home all week.  And I was too lazy to take a different picture.

Barbell: DEEElicious!

While you don't use the barbell for upper body in this particular Cathe workout (she has others where you do), the upper body portion of this workout is nice because it gives you a set of these:

kerBLAM kerBLAM

Large dog was very surprised to see those guns, because they've been hidden since fall began.

He's not really surprised.  He just wants treats.

Female cat, as usual, was unimpressed.

Hyooman. Take your guns and leave.  Sleeping here.

What you should be impressed with is my eating today; it was good all around and I didn't succumb to any of the crap in the hubbs' junk food stash today.  That's because I was too busy working on work stuff today to even go downstairs near it or even think (fantasize) about what chocolately or salty goodness was in there.  And that's a lesson I've learned--and had to re-learn--over and over again concerning weight loss: if it's in the house, I'll eat it.  So what are some other lessons I've learned, you ask?  Well, below are a few of my favorite weight-loss lessons I have to learn every time I realize my pants aren't fitting anymore:

• If I stop weighing myself, my weight loss stops too.  I know they say you shouldn't weigh yourself every day, but if I don't get that daily feedback (with an understanding that it's the trend over time you need to look at, not the day-to-day fluctuations) I tend to be all, "Hey! I lost weight!  I'm good!" and then slowly begin adding back junky food bit by sneaky bit.
• For me, "I can eat out all I want as long as I watch my calorie counts" is a complete and total lie.  Most of the take-out stuff is junk, and I eat too much of it, and then the weight creeps back on.
• Eating 30 health bars a day doesn't mean you'll lose weight.  I have a tendency to overdo it on the health bars, especially now that I'm in a more sedentary job.  I have to switch out "health" bars for carrot sticks (VEGGIES BUH) so I can mindlessly snack the day away without guilt.  
• "I can eat what I want as long as I work out every day" is another complete and total lie.  I worked out every single day for 45 minutes for an entire year, didn't change my eating habits, and consequently didn't lose a single damn pound.  Only when I started eating right did the pounds start coming off.  Exercise makes me feel good; eating right makes me look good.
• If you have a bad eating day, just start again tomorrow.  If you don't give yourself another chance, you'll start spiraling down into the vortex of "I CAN'T DO THIS" and then, you know, you won't because you've told yourself you can't.  And then you will lose no weight whatsoever due to mental self-sabotage.
• View food as fuel, not a reward.  About every 3 nanoseconds I have to remind myself that I eat food to fuel my workouts (and, you know, live), not to give myself a nice hit of sugary crack to make myself feel good every hour.
• Know that your weight doesn't define you.  I grew up with a very warped "if you're skinny you're happy and liked and accepted" idea.  Now that I'm in my 40s and have tons more life experience that the teenager that used to think that, I realize that skinny is nice, having awesome guns and muscles is even better, and knowing who you are no matter what you weigh is literally the best.  Oh, and winning the women's race at an Olympic distance duathlon a full 30 pounds heavier than you were at a size 2 helps you remember that, too.

OK, before this post gets way too serious, here are today's learnings:

• Man did I miss using my barbell.  If I start talking about how much I missed it this post is gonna get way too weird.  Well, weirder than it already is, at least.
• Another lesson I learned today is to keep my hands busy with work (ugh) so they will not reach for food.  
• Or at least check my email a few times a day, because that always makes me want to pull my hair out and my hands will be busy doing that rather than picking up bad things to eat.
• As long as you chart your daily weight over time and see a downward sloping best-fit line, it's all good to weight yourself every day.  If you obsess over normal day-to-day fluctuations, you should weigh yourself once a week to retain your sanity.
• Nothing tastes as good as lifting a heavy barbell feels.
• kerBLAM....whoops.  One of my guns must have misfired.  Sorry.

Tomorrow's workout: 13 mile run.  Seeing as it's going to be a high of 7, looks like the treadmill for me.