I’m back with another update from Project Weight Loss, it’s now the end of Week 5.

For a quick recap, I got started on September 21, 2012 at 149 pounds.

Week 1: 146.0
Week 2: 144.8
Week 3: 143.8
Week 4: 143.6

Today, at the end of Week 5, I weighed in at 139.6

Oh how I welcomed that “3” in the tens place this morning! From 143.6 last week, that looks like a 4 pound weight loss in one week, but a couple of things are going on here.

#1, although I weighed in last Friday at 143.6 lbs (which was only a 0.2 lb weight loss from the week before) I weighed 142.6 on Saturday, so I’m thinking that I really lost a 1 lb in Week 4 instead of .2 pounds. As always, this is why it’s better to look at your weight over the course of days or weeks, because the scale can tell you something very different from one day to the next.

#2, I didn’t weigh myself this morning until AFTER my run, so there’s some water weight loss reflected in the numbers from this morning. I’m sticking with 139.6 though because HELLO! 130’s people!  But I won’t be surprised at all if the scale bounces back up to 140 or 141 tomorrow.

I do think I saw more progress this week compared to last week because I was a bit more vigilant with the numbers.  Looking back at last week, I think I was starting to get a little sloppy with accuracy, perhaps overestimating portions and/or underestimating calories.  Whether or not that was the case, I took my less-than-great results last week and used it as motivation to be more conscious and careful this week and I feel like it paid off.

The Skinny Rules

A couple weeks ago I found Bob Harper’s The Skinny Rules on the new shelf at the library. I snagged it to check it out (along with Gone Girl, I’m about 100 pages in!)

I’ve spent some time flipping through Bob’s book, admittedly skimming it to get a general idea of what he has to say.

None of his “skinny rules” were new to me (drink a lot of water, go to bed slightly hungry, protein at every meal, don’t drink your calories) but I still enjoyed looking through it.  I find books like this motivating at the very least.  His advice is good and I’m glad for some reminders, but I’d heard just about everything he had to say somewhere else before.

I’ve got a couple of my own you’ve-probably-heard-this-before weight loss tips to share this week too. Maybe you’ve heard these before, but these work well for me so here we go:

When You Want Something to Eat but Your Stomach Isn’t Growling

Make Tea!

I use this trick most when a meal is over, but could easily eat more simply because it tastes good. That’s when you turn on the tea kettle and get out the box of tea. Candy Cane Lane is back in the stores right now, I love this tea because it’s naturally sweet and easy to drink without any added sweetener.

Don’t Eat Out of the Container

I use to always eat out of the bag/box/container.  ALWAYS!  And of course I still do from time to time, but when it comes to cutting calories necessary for weight loss, measuring out portions into separate dishes is a huge help to be sure you don’t over do it.

Yes, I counted out 11 chips.  Yes, I felt stupid doing this.  It works though, so I suck it up and do it.

There is another tip there hidden here too among those corn chips.  Sure, you could eat your hummus with cut up vegetables as a better, lower calorie choice.  But in my case, I eat plenty of vegetables already, and b.) sometimes you just want chips, dammit!

So Eat the Chips

This is actually one of the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:  make peace with food.  Nothing is off limits.  Eat what you want to keep yourself from feeling deprived.  Deprivation leads to binge eating.  So if you want dessert or some particular beloved snack food, eat it!  Don’t go crazy with it, add it in to your calorie allowance, it doesn’t have to be a big deal.

Take a Day Off

Now that I’m in the groove, I take Saturday off from calorie counting.  I’m careful not to undo all the work I’ve done all week, but I cut myself some slack on the weekends in general.  Dinner parties, going out to eat, I don’t want to have to worry about how many calories are in everything all the time.  A day off allows me to do the calorie counting thing without feeling like it controls my life.  And I always look forward to getting back down to business on Monday.

This feels like a nerdy example of “cutting yourself some slack”, but we had a family birthday dinner for Zak over the weekend and I made a salad to share.  I brought all sorts of toppings I wouldn’t normally eat on a salad, at least not on a normal, every day salad when working toward weight loss.

Dried cranberries, honey roasted pecans, feta cheese and honey crisp apples – the dried fruit and roasted nuts are the two particularly calorie heavy toppings here, but are a welcome change to something I eat just about every day, calories shmalories.  I ate cake and ice cream too!  It is absolutely possible to eat the foods you enjoy and still lose weight.

A break down of the week, weight, net calories (calories eaten – calories burned) and exercise:

Friday, 10/19
Weight: 143.6
Net Calories: 1317
Exercise: Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30, Week 3

Saturday, 10/20
Weight: 142.6
Net Calories: –
Exercise: 4 mile run, 38 minutes

Sunday, 10/21
Weight: 142.6
Net Calories: 1698
Exercise: Yoga for Runners, 40 minutes

Monday, 10/22
Weight: –
Net Calories: 1414
Exercise: 2 mile walk with Kaz in Ergo, 40 minutes

Tuesday, 10/23
Weight: 143.8
Net Calories: 1405
Exercise: 4 mile run

Wednesday, 10/24
Weight: –
Net Calories: 1440
Exercise: Rest

Thursday, 10/25
Weight: 141.8
Net Calories: 1050
Exercise: 30 minutes Slim and Sculpt Pilates + an (unexpected) 8 mile bike ride on a beautiful day! 40 minutes

Friday, 10/26
Weight: 139.6

Got any oldie-but-goodie weight loss tricks that work for you?  Have you read The Skinny Rules?  Have you read Gone Girl?!  (Don’t spoil the ending for me!)