Two steps forward, one step back

Or in my case, 13.2 lbs forward, 1.8 lbs back. That's right, I had my first gain since starting this journey. At my weigh-in yesterday I gained 1.8 lbs.

Fortunately, I have continued to journal. Over the past two weeks, I used at least 26 of my flex points each week. When compared to the previous weeks, this was a lot. For the weeks I was loosing, I was using between 7 and 12 flex points. This was in addition to 1 - 2 hours of cardio and enough water.

The other really successful weight loss week was the week I limited my junk food to 4 points per day.

Last week's goals were to journal and to drink sufficient water. My journal has again proved invaluable in helping me figure out what went wrong (or right). I did miss 2 days of water last week, but that was at the very beginning; I am finally doing better on this challenge.

The last goal was to grocery shop based on a meal outline. That didn't happen, mainly because I ran out of time to grocery shop. By this weekend, though, I'll have to go or we'll be eating crumbs from the back of the pantry.

I am going to approach this week with a desperate vigor. I will not go back. I was just starting to like my smaller slacks. So, this week I am going to try the following:

(1) Instead of banking my points, like the 1-2-3 program, I'm going to use the Flex Plan but I'm limiting myself to 15 flex points for the entire week. If I stretch it out, then that will give me about 2 extra points per day.
(2) I will limit myself to 4 points of junk food (as previously defined). However, I am making a special note that graham crackers and marshmallows don't count as junk food.
(3) I need to work out more. I've been lax, falling back to maybe 1 time per week. So, I am committing to 2 hours at the gym this week, with at least 1 hour of cardio.