Slow and Steady

I know that slow and steady wins the race and that the best way to lose weight and maintain the loss is to lose it slowly, but it doesn't make the slowness of progress any less frustrating. Over the past few weeks, I feel like the scale has done little to respond despite the effort I have made to be active and watch what I was eating. Clearly, the loss is more visible than the scale would suggest, because others have commented on my weight loss and the clothes that were tight are definitely fitting better.

Lately though, the most frustrating thing has been an incessant headache. Not a throbbing, debilitating type of headache, but a constant dull pain. Early on, it was at the top of my head, but as the week progressed, it seemed to be located more where I was used to having a sinus pressure or stress induced muscle tightness headache.

It started mid-week and just left me unmotivated and trying every combination of ways to address (I'm not one to take medicine, but I did eventually have to take something to see if it would make a difference). I have tried slowly drinking water all day, to ensure that I was evenly hydrated - I almost always drink more water than the recommended amount, but I have a tendency to drink 16 oz before 7 and then a little more before lunch, 16 oz at lunch time and then a little in the afternoon, 16 oz on the drive home and then some in the evening for about 64 oz each day. I was drinking about 8 oz each hour to make sure it wasn't being caused by dehydration. That didn't seem to have an effect, so I decided to cut caffeine - not that I have much, usually a cup of coffee (16 oz cup) and a handful (or two) of M&Ms account for 99% of the daily caffeine I consume. The first day, I made my coffee half regular and half decaf. The next day, I skipped it altogether. I did maintain the chocolate though. This didn't have much effect (I know, caffeine is supposed to help headaches and cutting it can cause headaches, but I needed it gone to make sure it wasn't impacting my headaches), so I tried to eat at regular intervals. I started to spread out my meals. Instead of eating it all at once, I would eat my banana and then have the oatmeal an hour later. I would eat the main course of my lunch and then have the yogurt and then the fruit across the span of the afternoon. This didn't seem to help. I was trying to get to bed earlier and because I didn't have class this week (the break week between classes at the Y), I opted to allow myself to sleep in. This didn't seem to help.

Finally yesterday, it just seemed to be better. I got up and got laundry folded and put away. I got the dishwasher emptied, the dishes in the sink cleaned and put away. We drove to my son's soccer game and my head bothered me a bit on the drive. I was fine during the game. We drove to roller skating and my head was bothering me again. I roller skated for two and a half hours and was fine. We drove to dinner and my head was bothering me. I was fine at dinner. We came home and my head was bothering me. I rested on the couch and watched TV. I felt fine when I headed to bed. This morning...we are a couple of hours in...I am doing fine.

Based on timing, I have a sidebar theory that I will explore at my next doctor's appointment. If it comes back before then, I probably will head to the doctor to try to understand the headaches.

Classes resume tomorrow at the Y, so I am hopeful that I will continue to feel good and can return to regular activity this week.

The good news is that despite all of this, the slow and steady race continues and I haven't lost ground, just haven't gained much either.