Measuring progress

After I swore to myself I'd only weigh once a week, on Tuesdays, I'm busted. But I lost a pound this morning, so who knows if the Big Stall is over. I'm really not going to weigh again until Tuesday, which is the four-week anniversary of my Dec. 27, 2011, gastric sleeve surgery.

I was thinking about how my friends get over weight loss stalls, and I did some research on techniques that have been effective for others.

• Keep on keeping on. If you keep on eating and drinking the right things, you'll keep losing.

• Move more. Make sure you get in 20 or 30 minutes of cardio daily, like walking the dog. If it's really cold where you are maybe try a stationary bicycle, treadmill or as one of my good friends calls it — the "ellipti-hell." In most places, there are still malls where you can do walking as well to get out of the cold.

• Get in your 64 oz. of water or liquid under 15 calories per 8 ounce serving. I like to drink the ones with electrolytes and other replenishing minerals or vitamins, so I'm a big fan of PowerAde Zero, SmartWater and Propel. The best low-cal fruit drink out there is Diet V-8 Splash. I love to get the huge 32 oz. size of PowerAde Zero and sip one before breakfast and then I've already gotten in half of my liquids.

Remember if you think you're hungry, you might really be dehydrated. To determine if you are dehydrated, pinch the skin on the top of your hand and if it doesn't spring right back, you may be.

• Measure yourself. You may be losing inches instead of pounds. The body is so interesting this way — your losses might be showing up with your tape measure instead of the scale. I sadly neglected to take my measurements before I started my weight loss adventure, so I'm recording them now and plan to do it on the first of every month or after I've stalled for a week or two, whichever comes first. I know I've already lost inches because my largest fat jeans are falling down, so I have them pinned up with safety pins. Hooray for that. I plan to keep doing that until they're just too embarrassing.

Here there are (taking large breath):
Bust w/bar: 43"
Waist: 43" (makes me wonder if I'm a tree trunk ... I think getting a waist back will be sublime!)
Hips: 50.5"
Neck: 16.25"
Upper right arm: 16"
Thigh: 30.25"
Right Calf: 17.75"

Onward!
Carol