Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

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My cousin and I at the family reunion. Ha ha ha! JK!

OOOweeee it has been a crazy few weeks. Me and the kids drove to Utah to visit my family, played with my sisters and their kids and my parents, went to a family reunion at a cabin, then promptly hopped on a plane and flew out to California for a vacation with my husband and his family.

When we were planning this trip and I realized I'd have 2 weigh-ins while in Utah and my final weigh-in in California I was nervous. Getting away from the "safety" of my normal schedule and eating was a scary prospect.

This week I had a few surprises. First...I started my  period on Monday.  Remember my post about crazy salt cravings?? Guess what, I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE THEM. I had no idea my period was coming because I skipped: 1) salt cravings 2) face breakout 3) grumpiness. WHAT?!? Then I read this article. So cool when you see all of the benefits that come with eating well and exercising, isn't it?

I had big plans this week to go to my sister's house to run on her treadmill. For a few different reasons, this didn't happen.  I swam laps mostly every day, but since I was in Utah with both kids and no husband, I didn't get to swim as long or as hard as I had planned.  I helped my parents out with some gardening too, but was still worried because I am so used to an hour plus of a fairly intensive workout.  My eating did go as planned, though.  I was very proud of myself for surviving THREE whole days of a junk food extravaganza a.k.a my family reunion. Costco cookies and chips out ALL THE TIME, brownies, my sister's really yummy homemade cookies, it practically looked like one of the Biggest Loser Temptations! But I did it. None of those treats were worth sabotaging all of the hard work I've done for the past 7 weeks.

So when I weighed myself in yesterday before hopping on an airplane I did it a bit nervously but also hopefully. And I weighed in at 245.5!! A whopping FIVE pound loss since last week, my second biggest weight loss of the copetition,  and 22.5 pounds lost since the beginning of Win, Lose or Blog. Yahoooo!

Why did I lose so much this week? I'm not sure. I'm wondering if it could be proof of the caloric intake vs. calorie burning (this week, I exercised less and ate the same, maybe evening that out better?) or if a change in exercise challenged my body? I'm not sure that I'll ever know.  What I do know is, there are new challenges this week.  I'm in a new place, and I need to continue to eat well and try to fit in as much exercise as possible.  I also need to buy a new scale. I didn't pack mine, and my in-law's dial scale (lean to the left and you gain a few pounds) just isn't gonna cut it.  Hopefully they aren't insulted when I leave a scale here for them. Ha ha!

My goal for this week is to round out my total weight loss to 25 pounds. More would be awesome. :)

I appreciate everyone's help and encouragement during this competition. It has been a wonderful opportunity for me! I'm planning on posting more this week, and talking about some of the things that have helped me to make THIS weight loss journey a success. Are there any questions you have for me??

Thanks ladies!!

Steph