6.15.2013

Weigh-In: Weeks 6 & 7 (With Bonus Job Information)

Starting a new job is exhausting. I don't know if any of the rest of you are introverts like me (I have this completely unsubstantiated belief that the majority of the Internet is made up of introverts, because it's much easier for us to communicate when it's not face-to-face), but meeting a whole lot of new people, learning a new social system/authority hierarchy, and spending ten hours a day interacting with people are like the TOP THREE things I don't do well with and/or drain a lot of my energy. This is not an excuse about why I haven't been blogging, by the way, since I realize that no one but me cares about that. But it is the reason I haven't been blogging much in the last few weeks: I am drained. I am just tired. All. The. Damn. Time. I'm sure it will get easier as I adjust and make friends and learn to cope again, but after 20 months of laying around and being predominantly alone, this is a huge adjustment.

Also, my new office has oddly restrictive policies regarding the Internet and smart phones. As in, don't touch them. At all. When I type it out, it seems like it really isn't a big deal--when you're at work, you work; do personal Internetting on your own time; yadayadayada. But any time my phone vibrates in my purse (in my own office) I have this paranoia that someone is going to say something about it. That's how strict these policies are. And I know my anonymity makes it difficult for you to understand what my job is like, but I assure you that I am not dealing with any classified intelligence or anything else that would make a company wary of personal communications at work. It's just that my boss doesn't like smart phones. She calls them "an addiction with people your age." So. There's that.

I had this whole post written about my new job and the parts I like and the parts I'm worried about, but it came off so much more down than I meant it to, so I scrapped it. I guess the long and short of it is that this job is not exactly what I thought it was going to be, that my boss is more difficult that I thought she would be (not that she's reached the heights of Crazy Boss Lady or Big Jerk Boss Man, but there are...similarities), and the office has some personality dysfunctions that are worrying. So that's fun!

I'm working through it, because it is what it is and I desperately need the job, but I will admit to you that I haven't been all that happy with God lately. It's really hard to reconcile the facts that 1) He has placed me here and 2) His plans for me are good, with the fact that this is yet again a difficult place to work. I've had to deal with a lot of entitlement issues (like He owed me the perfect job with no problems and desks made out of candy and people who are exactly like Jesus because I've PAID MY DUES sitting on my couch all sad and lonely...or something) and I've been convicted again and again by the fact that I don't trust Him as much as I thought I did or claimed to do. If He truly is enough for me and the source of my identity like I say He is, then I need to let go of my plans for stability and comfort and go wherever He sends me--usually, the places that need His grace and His love the most are the least comfortable and the least stable. But, man is that hard. It's like I'm a work in progress or something. Who knew?

ANYway, here we are. Moving on to the business portion of the post. I've skipped TWO weigh-in updates, so that needs to be remedied. I switched to Friday morning meetings, since I now work Monday through Thursday (I'm working four ten hour days so that I can have Fridays off--one thing I DO love is that my boss is very flexible on when and how I get my hours in). This will throw off all of my weight loss goal dates, but I'm lazy and I don't want to go change them, so I'm just saying those goals are "the week of [insert date here]." Cool? Cool.

So, here are the stats for 06.07.13:

Original Weight: 312.0 lbs
Today's Weight: 301.2 lbs
Week's Loss: -2.8 lbs
Total Loss: -10.8 lbs
YAY! I hit ten pounds lost. I got a five pound sticker to put right next to my other five pound sticker! Hooray! Except. Look out for the other shoe; it's about to drop. The stats for yesterday:

Original Weight: 312.0 lbs
Today's Weight: 302.8 lbs
Week's Loss Change: +1.6 lbs
Total Loss: -9.2 lbs
Yeeeeaaaahhh... So that was fun! It was a pretty excellent cap to an already stressful and exhausting week. There's no reason I can find to explain the gain. I did not change my eating habits much--in fact, I was better at eating on a schedule, because I'm now at work, at a desk, on a schedule. Luckily, WW does not take back your stickers if you gain, because that would be mean and I would never go to another meeting again. But it still sucked.

I'm not sure I love the new meeting, because the new leader is kind of... unbending when it comes to talking about the program. I mean, she works for them, so she's got to give the party line and all that, but part of the amazingness of WW is that you can make it work for you. It's not pre-made food or a list of things you can/can't eat. It's about calories in and calories out and you figure out how to maximize that process for yourself. I guess she's just a little...judgier than I'd like.

The basics of this post is that A LOT of things are changing in my life right now. That may even be the reason for the weight gain--apparently stress can do that? Although, I just checked and the scale here at home says I'm right on track, so it could have been equipment failure? Whatever the reason, I'm sticking with the program because it's the best thing I've found and I don't want to be over 300 pounds anymore.

How have YOU been doing, friends? I could use some good news and some success stories. That's not to say I don't want to hear from you if you're struggling like me--we can hold each other up and it will get better.

3 comments:

  1. Okay, I'll tell you a story. I promise you it relates to your post, especially the whole trusting God stuff.

    I, like you, moved to Texas from a very cold place (Canada by way of a two year stint in Iowa), nine years ago. I moved here for a job in my field that I thought would be PERFECT for me. Anyway, the job was... well, not awful, but woefully short of what I'd wanted. I moved here single, with only my two dogs. Within that first year, I was disillusioned with my job, I'd wrecked my car, and I was TOTALLY miserable. I remember my mom coming to visit me, and me dropping her off at the airport in Dallas to go home, and just crying and saying, I don't know why it makes me so sad you are leaving. (This might be normal behaviour for some people, but I have always been VERY independent.) I guess I was just disappointed - I had been hoping for something more, or different.

    But anyway. Life is strange, and God definitely put me in this place for a reason, and it was not the job. Within two years of moving here, I had met and married the best person ever. We now have three children, I don't work at that job anymore (I am a SAHM), and we are completely renewed and convicted in our faith, together, as a family.

    I have no idea what will happen with you. New jobs are always overwhelming and you do usually need to work through some growing pains - so you may well come to love it. Or perhaps you've been put there for another reason and you just don't know it yet. I wanted to share my story anyway.

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  2. When something happens that you wanted so badly, and it's not quite as great as you hoped it was going to be, it's really okay to be a little disappointed.That said, I hope it gets better for you. And well done on the weight loss. I'm going through it too, and it truly sucks, doesn't it?

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  3. Hopefully with some time things will get better with the new job, and if not at least it is something to tide you over until you find something better. Maybe the something better wasn't ready yet so you just needed something to fill in the gap (and bank account) until better is ready. That is how I would view it. Everything happens for a reason. When we first moved to Dallas and were living in a friends spare room and didn't have two dimes to rub together the husbeast got a miserable job that sort of made him want to cry. He just used it to keep us afloat until he found a brilliant job he adored. So you know it gets better.

    And yes stress can make you gain or retain weight. Stress is awful like that. I stress too much and I think breathing makes me gain weight. It is awful.
    I actually had mystery weight loss last week. I went to the doctor on Friday (after a Monday weigh in) and their scale said I weighed 5 pounds less than I had on Monday. I joked with the nurse that her scale was so much better than the one I used but I just figured it was the difference in scales and nothing concrete. I figured when I got to the gym Monday for my weigh in I wouldn't be down 5 pounds. Only on Monday I was down 5 pounds. No clue how it happened. I wasn't that fabulous on eating that week or moving. So you know...crazy. I will take it though.

    We just have to keep on keeping on.

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