Do the changes equal the results?

I changed a few things this week. When I weighed this morning, I was down almost FIVE pounds from last Friday. I've been thinking this morning about these wild fluctuations. While I'd like to believe that my changes this week (not all "good") had some impact, I can't help but wonder because this isn't the first week that I've had such a wild change...

Here's what I changed:
- Instead of mushroom frittata for breakfast, I had oatmeal most days.
- I had artichoke most nights for dinner or snack.
- I had some wine during the week.

Here's what changed without me:
- Last Friday it was PMS time. This week, that is past.

Here's what changed:
- I am down 4.6 pounds.
- I am much less constipated.
- I feel thinner (validated by both scale and clothes).

While I think that the food changes probably helped at least somewhat (even drinking some wine wasn't bad because I actually sat and thought: "do I want to have a glass of wine OR a no-fat juice-cicle for dessert (not both)?"), I think that a lot of it is the time of the month issue. For me, this is very weird, because I don't actually GET my period usually (I'm on bioidentical hormones for menopause which are supposed to make you regular, but they aren't doing that for me...yet). I didn't actually GET my period this week. But on the day when I am supposed to and I switch the hormone mix, I FEEL like I do when I DO get it (i.e., the PMSy bloat goes away...I don't really get severe emotional PMS, never did).

With this theory, I am going back and looking at my records of all the ups-and-downs of the past months to see if I can see a pattern in what days of the month I weighed less and which more. There might be some good info in there. In the meantime, I am going to keep up with the oatmeal and artichokes (along with continuing the stool softener) and my regular exercise (I am definitely getting more fit...I can do more resistance on both the elliptical and weights). I am also going to try not to overdo in celebration of being down this week (I think I just MAY tend to do that a bit). I'd really like to see the scale keep going DOWN.

DB is back from Nearby Town late tonight and I am so happy!! It's been two weeks almost that he's been there with his parents this time (although I did get to see him for 17 hours or so on Saturday/Sunday). I know that I am more challenged to eat well when he is around (although it's better than it used to be), so I will try to be more vigilant. Hmmm...that's another thought...I should look at how I do on weeks when he is away. That might be one of the variables that contributes to the wild fluctuations too...

Somewhere in here are clues that will help me vanquish these lbs.! :-)