Huh

 232.3

I'm surprised. I thought surely the amount I ate yesterday would equal a gain today rather than stopping me back down to what I was on Saturday.

I wonder if I need to pay more attention to my protein and fiber intake. When I've had food cravings lately, it's been very specific (fried chicken, to be precise, and then the rotisserie chicken yesterday). That definitely feels like a protein thing. I also don't poop at much as I did off the medication (which seems like I should be gaining rather than losing, but I guess it's because I don't have the volume of food to process), and maybe more fiber would help. I do take a fiber supplement, but maybe I need to look at my food choices more closely. 

Anyway, I'm relieved. Next weekend will be a bit of a test. I'm flying to St. Louis on Friday for a very quick trip to visit my in-laws, mainly to attend a baby shower for my niece on Saturday. I'm just flying in Friday night and back on Sunday morning, but I'm sure there will be plenty of food and wine. We'll see how I fair. 

I'm pleased that I'm nearing a 40-lb loss from my highest weight. I'm pretty sure I topped out at 271, although I didn't document it and although I was 266 at the start of August, I'm still counting those extra five pounds. 🤣 Even with the success I have had, it's daunting to think that I still have 60+ lbs to go to reach my target of 170. 

If my weight loss stays at about this speed, I would hit my target right around the time we go skiing in March, but I'm not expecting that to be the case. I need to work out do I can actually survive a couple days of skiing, and I'm pretty sure assuming muscle will have some kind of impact on my weight loss, although I didn't know what that will look like. More muscle means more density, but it also means more calorie-burning potential. 

Tomorrow won't be good

 232.8

I was about half a pound up from yesterday morning. Not sure exactly what I overate, but it must have been something. 

Tomorrow will be worse, though. I have been working a hockey tournament all weekend, and I didn't get anything to eat this morning, just some coffee. So I was pretty hungry when I left the rink, and I hit McDonald's on the way home. Although I did not eat a ton, I did have most of a small McChicken sandwich, a couple of chicken nuggets, and about half a small fry order. More than I would've eaten otherwise. But I was still hungry this evening, and I snacked on done rotisserie chicken while I was breaking it down for dinner, and then I had a bowl of chicken and pasta. So I fully suspect tomorrow will be a gain.

There it is

 233.6

Halle-freaking-luia.

There's the drop I've been waiting for for almost two weeks. And of course, no idea how/why. My eating yesterday was generally unremarkable: coffee and cottage cheese at breakfast, a couple of cheese sticks as snacks during the day, a Healthy Choice meal for lunch, and a small chicken BLT and baked potato from Wendy's for dinner. I also drank a water bottle full of that protein and collagen loaded tea stuff off and on throughout the day. Absolutely none of that is unusual. So I'm not sure exactly what made my body let some weight go, but I'm relieved. 

Now I just need to make sure I don't yo-yo back up tomorrow.

Ugh

 235.4

Again. 

I had hoped I'd drop today, but no. Still stuck. I really need a morale boost. At least I awoke to good election news. 🌊🌊🌊

Still plateauing

 235.4

I just keep wobbling around here in the mid 230s. I was hoping this week I'd see a big drop with my step-up dosage after last week's plateau, but I'm still in much the same place as I was a week and a half ago. I need to add in some exercise, but it's going to have to be from home this week. I just don't have the time to get to the gym. 

Better

 235.2

That's what I was hoping: a drop after the plateau. Hopefully that will continue, and I won't have the long, frustrating plateaus very often. 

When I posted my frustrations yesterday morning, I was incorrect about something that I had to go back and change. I had initially posted this my medication strength had increased last week but I was wrong. Last week had been the final dose from the original 12-week, 3-vial shipment I received back in August. The strengths of those medication dosages went from .25 mg to .5 to 1.

This week is when I shifted to the second set of three vials, which I hadn't realized until they were shipped to me were stronger still than the last one. I think these start at 1.5 mg and go to 2 and 2.4, which may be the final strength. I should probably look at the prescription to be sure 

Anyway, I had been disappointed because I had thought this past week was a stronger dose of medication with no noticeable change, when actually it was the same strength as the previous three shots had been. 

What I did notice last night and this morning, with this new, stronger dose, is an increase in feeling queasy and unsettled in my stomach. I had a queasy feeling, not needing to vomit or anything but just feeling unsettled, last night after I took my shot. We'd eaten pizza for dinner, and I only had two small pieces and a boneless chicken bite, but it wasn't sitting well when we went to bed. Then, I woke up with some heartburn in the middle of the night and have it still this morning. I need to remember for the first day or two after a shot that I should take an extra Prilosec before I go to bed to compensate. 

I'm also already thinking about where the shortfall in my supply is going to affect me. I wrote about this previously, the idea that I'm going to end up about four weeks short of a full year's worth of medication. They send the batches out in 3-vial, 12-week shipments, but that's technically not a full year, that's only 48 weeks. The August-September-October shipment didn't cause me a shortage because I didn't take my first dose until the end of the first week of August. I received my second shipment a solid week+ before I had to take my first shot from the new batch. For my third shipment, I'll be due to take the first shot from it January 22. That's going to be tight, because my shipment isn't listed until January 30. I wonder if I'm going to need to reach out to them about that. If I'm close to having a week without there, I'll definitely have a problem in April.

Plateaus suck

 236.5

I haven't lost any weight in a week and a half. The morning after my birthday last week I weighed in at 236.5, and two days later I was at 235.6. Then back up half a pound, down to 235.4 on Sunday, my lowest to date, but then back up almost two full pounds on Monday, back to 236.5 on Tuesday, and that's where I've sat the entire week. 

I had hoped this week would be good. But no, it's been a plateau.

There are some possible reasons. Last week was "birthday week", and while I didn't have much of my own birthday cake, I did have some of my son's over the weekend, although it really wasn't much. We did go out to eat several times: hibachi on Friday night (lots of salt), chicken nachos on Sunday (probably also salty). Those could've made me retain water, and I probably ate more than I needed to. I also ate full meals at dinner on Monday and Tuesday because my in-laws were here, so that probably means I ate more than I needed to. I also had several pieces of candy--I got a chocolate bar from a coworker and my son got a bag of Lindor truffles that I ate a few of, but although I hadn't eaten more than a few pieces, that's certainly more than I needed. I haven't prioritized protein as much; I've eaten leftover mashed potatoes for my lunches the last two days. 

While I have all those reasons, I swear, I still did not eat much this week. Literally yesterday all I had was two spoonfuls of cottage cheese, leftover mashed potatoes, and some air fried chicken bites. That just does not seem like enough to stall me out. 

It's been a shitty week, too. My classes haven't behaved well, and as a Star Trek fan, I'm heartbroken that we lost Walter Koenig (Chekov) and Patrick Stewart (Picard) this week. Patrick Stewart hurts a lot. TNG was "my" Trek. I liked Captain Picard's style of leadership much more than Kirk's: he was much more cerebral and literary about things, which I loved. I also loved him as Professor Xavier in the X-Men movies. As I learned about him as a person, I appreciated him even more. He advocated for women, the LGBTQ community, and the arts. He was funny and talented. He seems like he was a lovely person. 

My son's hockey season is also contributing to my stress level. There's drama that doesn't need to happen, and I hate that.