by Claire on July 19, 2010
In the continuing saga of my weight loss journey, I feel compelled to ‘fess up.
I have been basking in the glow of compliments and skinny clothing for about a year now while hovering about 9 pounds from goal. I love the compliments – they really help with encouragement and staying on my path. I’ve also been steadily and consistently going to my Weight Watchers meetings every week unless I’ve been sick or out of town or the location was closed for the holiday. I have been doing a lot of things right.
But I’ve also been doing some things wrong.
I’ve been slipping.
BLTs they call them. Bites, licks, and tastes. And portion distortion. And plain just not counting what should be counted.
And now it’s biting me back in the ass. The sum of the last two weeks has resulted in a 5 pound gain. That is HUGE in the world of weight loss – or in this case, gain.
At my meeting tonight, I talked to my leader. We tried to figure out what caused the weight gain this week as I tracked (mostly) and I did a lot more activity. I know what happened the week prior – that was no tracking and eating bad-for-weight-loss food in San Antonio. I also talked with my fellow members and we tried chalking it up to hormones changing post-age 50, too much sodium in my diet, you name it, we tried to blame it.
The bottom line is it all adds up to what you put in your mouth and putting too much of it in. I immediately came home and weighed out the watermelon I’ve been eating (per serving). What was being not counted – at all – added up to 2 points. Do that a few times and I’ve eaten up 1/3 of my weekly bonus points. Add in the second helping of coleslaw and the ice cream cake that was justified as a meal – and then coming home and eating a late night leftover meal anyway. It all adds up.
So keeping it honest and keeping it real here means I’ll do a better job of staying on program this next week. And I’ll remember that each week when I weigh in, it’s feedback, not failure.
Tagged as:
Health,
healthy eating,
tracking food,
weight gain,
Weight Loss,
Weight Watchers
by Claire on January 8, 2010
I’m declaring this National Hug Your Scale Month. Who’s in with me? If there isn’t already such a thing, then there should be. So many people are starting – or restarting – their weight loss program this month after a month or six weeks of food binging from Thanksgiving to New Year’s. And for many of us – me included – we have, or have had, a love/hate relationship with the scale.
There are the camps of “I won’t be a slave to the scale” and those that say, “There are other indicators of weight loss rather than the scale”. There are those that say all you need to do is lift weights, eat only vegetables, cut out all sugars, fats, and caffeine, or any number of variations on self-limitation and restrictions.
I say that many of these are valid when done in moderation but not exclusivity and will lead to positive results. However, the one main tool of my weight loss and ultimate maintenance of a healthy body and lifestyle – the one that never lies to me and the one that I can’t manipulate – is the scale.
I used to hate the scale. I doubt I’ve ever loved it in the past. In fact, I righteously refused to have a scale in my house citing many of the same reasons as above. Truth was, I really didn’t want to know what I weighed. And when my pants got tighter, it was obviously because my dryer was shrinking them. Didn’t matter that they never stretched out during the day. And I had a million lies I told myself as to why the size of my clothes kept increasing, why my health was getting worse.
One such example was when I saw pictures of my mother, who is now nearly 90, and me. I kept remarking how my mother kept looking smaller and smaller. She was shrinking! It never occurred to me that I was expanding and she was staying the same.
I still don’t have a scale in my house. Instead, I go once a week and weigh in. I may not literally hug my scale, but I embrace stepping on it. As for manipulating the scale – believe me, I try. I wear the lightest clothes possible, even in the dead of winter and freezing temperatures. I eat the same menu on weigh in day and weigh in at the same time every week. I try to be as consistent in everything as possible so when I do step on the scale, the only variable is my weight. Why? Because then I can get honest feedback about how I did the prior week, up or down. And I can get honest with myself.
How my clothes fit, how I feel health-wise, my body measurements, and my esteem are all equally good indicators of my progress but they aren’t as objective as the scale. I can stretch that tape measure to have it say what I want it to say. I can buy clothes that are sized for vanity. I can lie to myself in a number of ways that hides the fact that ultimately what goes in my mouth counts. Cause and effect.
Today, I no longer have hate or animosity toward the scale, nor does it wield any power over my emotions. It’s feedback. Pure and honest.
Tagged as:
Attitude,
Health,
life,
losing weight,
scales,
Weight Loss
