Andras, who is trying to lose 55 pounds by Oct. 23, her ninth wedding anniversary, had been losing an average of four pounds a week before she saw the scale go up 16 ounces last weekend.

The culprit: buttered popcorn and two glasses of wine.

“You get a little cocky, sort of like, ‘I can eat anything and I’ll keep losing,’ ” Andras told Niagara This Week on Tuesday.

A few days earlier she had been to the movies and shared a small bucket of popcorn — a favourite snack of hers before embarking on the diet — with her daughter, Brooklin.

Andras was shocked the next day when she weighed herself and saw the scale up one pound. She said she believes the salt contributed to the gain by making her retain a little extra water.

For the next two days she was consumed with the fact her weight loss had temporarily ceased. But she said the reality check helped her and there should have been no surprise when it occurred.

“I should have expected it because I knew that would happen,” Andras said.

She has also vowed she would weigh herself just once a week now so as to not get distracted by the normal daily ups and downs in her progress.

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Linda’s Fast Facts

• BiGGEST CHALLENGE: The setback of gaining a pound. “It consumed my being for two days.”

• FAVOURITE FOOD: Barbecued skinless chicken breasts using 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil with sprig of rosemary and ground black pepper.

• LATEST DISCOVERY: “I’m not invincible. Setbacks will happen.”

* * *

Linda’s Tale of the tape

presented in the following order:start; current; goal

Weight:

200 lbs; 180.8, 145

Body fat %:

38.5; 36.1; 34