Weighing In - Week Four

Yippee! I must be totally honest here, I seriously doubted that I had lost any weight this week. Actually, I was so nervous, I "cheated" and weighed myself last night after dinner (photo on left) so that I could better brace myself for the bad news. You can imagine how shocked I was when the scale said 187.2 lbs. In fact, I didn't believe it. So when I got up at 6:30 this morning and weighed myself AGAIN (photo on right), and AGAIN it stated 187.2 lbs, I was pretty stoked!
With my schedule being thrown so far out of whack by going back to school and developing an upper respiratory infection due to allergies, I didn't have much time (or energy) to get in those daily workouts. The only thing keeping me losing instead of gaining weight at this point would have to be my restricted diet and constant movement during the day. I'm not "exercising" exactly but I am trying to get mini-walks in at school. Also, I've been really trying to make sure what I eat is healthy and not excessive in calories. Now, I'll admit to having had corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day (no potatoes) and I even had a slice of pizza in class on Friday (only one small slice) but most of the week I was sticking to salads, cottage cheese, smoked chicken and veggie sandwiches and simply salted popcorn. Oh and of course, water, water and more water.
I am hoping, once I kick this infection, I'll have a little more energy to get back into some sort of doable exercise routine. The weather is really getting nice so I fully intend to start getting outside more often. Also, as I get more and more used to these 10 hour school days, I think I'll be able to better plan my before and after school workouts.
In the meantime, today shall prove a bit of a challenge, I'm sure. I'm going out for lunch at The Cliff House in San Francisco today and then heading over to the Tutankhamun Exhibit at the De Young Museum. If you've ever eaten at the Cliff House, then you know their food is superb but definitely NOT low calorie or low fat, in any way. And I'm fairly sure the same can be said for the Cafe at the De Young. My best bet will be to eat a healthy meal at home first so that I'm not starving once we hit the city and to pack water bottles in the car so that I'm not pay $4 a bottle at the museum.
Now my little tip for the week: Altoids! I've found that if I get a hunger pang or food craving (my fellow students like to bring delicious smelling foods into the class room) then if I suck on two Altoids at once and drink some water I'm usually able to go an additional 45 minutes to an hour before I get hungry again. Also, if I have one right before I eat a meal or snack, I tend to eat less for that meal. I believe the can says it's 5 calories for every two Altoids so for the amount of assistance they give me, those 5 calories are A-OK with me.
Now it's 7:20AM and I must go do some laundry before heading to San Francisco. Happy Sunday everyone! Until next time, thanks again for all the feedback and support.

Total Weight-loss So Far: 5.8lbs!