Not the Best Week

Saturday, July 11, 2009
I had my Weight Watchers meeting this morning, where the Evil Scale of Doom revealed that I had gained .4 pounds this week.

Usually I can schedule things so that I only have to deal with high calorie events once a week. This week, however, I had the Smart Man's birthday, my trip to Phoenix and my monthly family get-together.

So this result, while disappointing, isn't exactly a surprise.

One of the reasons I chose to use Weight Watchers as my weight control mechanism this time is that I understand I need to fundamentally change my relationship with food. In the past, I've never really had trouble losing weight once I made the decision to do so - my trouble has always been maintaining a healthy weight. I understand that yo-yo dieting is not good for my health, and quite frankly, I'm getting tired of thinking about it. I'm tired of wondering if a suit, dress or pair of jeans will fit from week to week. I'm tired of wondering what my weight is doing to my joints and cardiovascular health. It's boring, and I want to spend my time and energy on things that don't make me sick of being around myself, so to speak.

So I chose Weight Watchers, and I chose to actually attend meetings and develop a relationship with my Weight Watchers leader in an effort to change the way I think of and look at food. (Ironically, I met my leader for the first time today, because she's been on vacation since I joined the program.) I'm hoping the accountability of going to meetings, weighing in and providing status reports here on my sidebar will help me make a fundamental shift in my attitude about food.

Part of that attitude change needs to include the fact that food is a crucial aspect of my life. In my family and circle of friends, food has always been a focal point in terms of our social life and celebrations. There's nothing wrong with that, of course, but I need to learn to enjoy the social and celebratory aspects of food without losing my mind and eating a bunch of crap that doesn't lead to a healthy weight.

I also need to accept the idea that I occasionally will have setbacks in my journey towards achieving and maintaining a healthy weight. It doesn't make me a bad person, but it does mean I need to make sure I redouble my efforts to manage my plan in a way that allows me to enjoy a high calorie event without losing any progress.

So I'm trying to look at today's small setback in a healthy way. I'll be back on track for next week's weigh-in, and I'm still ahead of pace to achieve my goal of losing 60 pounds in one year.

Of course, I still have to manage my own birthday next week, as well as a UCF meat-up at the end of the month. Progress not perfection, right?

6 comments:

Random Michelle K said...

A friend once made an interesting point about food and trying to lose weight.

If you're an alcoholic, you can avoid alcohol. If you've had problems with drugs in the past, you can avoid drugs.

But if you have problems with food, you can't stop eating. As you said, you have to change the way you look at food, the way you think about food, and they your relationship with food, which is a very very very difficult thing to do.

It's a long road you have ahead of you, and you will sometimes back slide, but as you said, it's a relationship, and every relationship requires work--especially to change an unhealthy relationship to a healthy one.

Just keep working on that relationship, and remember we're here to support you--and tell you that if an unhealthy food is calling your name, call or txt us and we'll talk you down. :)

Steve Buchheit said...

+/- 3-5 lbs could just be water weight. I've been watching my weight pretty regularly and I slide up and down 5 lbs during the week. At first I was paranoid about it, now that I see it's kind of normal I'm okay with it. Although for me, I've hit a wall at 300. I need to figure out what to do to get under it. I've been toying of eating salad (premade, thrown in a bowl) or cans of fruit for lunch.

Although I have been drinking pop again, which doesn't help.

WendyB_09 said...

Somewhere along the line one of the diet gurus said you shouldn't diet 24/7, if you slipped a bit one day or took a day off from your diet it was ok. What was important was the overall progress towards your goal.
Which seemed sensible, as all of us are human and will veer off course from time to time.

Of course, I liked Victoria Principal's advice as well...stick to your diet every day, but in the evening, instead of dessert, have one piece of very good chocolate. Her theory was that way you wouldn't feel deprived and would be less tempted to cheat.

Never tried that, but as a chocoholic that knows where my downfall would be, it makes sense!

Keep it up. Vent as needed.

WendyB_09

Jeri said...

Janiece, I agree with Steve - weight is a highly variable factor that you don't always have control over.

Plus, as I struggle with horribly myself, it's just a number, a data point, not a personal value judgment. Look at the overall trend over time, not a single week!

I say this as a person who doesn't practice what she preaches - I'm kinda weigh-in phobic and it triggers all sorts of really unpleasant OCD for me. I have no idea what I weigh, haven't for years, and track my progress by behavior, fitness and clothing size.

I agree with you on demoting eating to a more functional place in my life, rather than so central to social occasions. At the same time there's a part of me that's a hedonist and a foodie and enjoy the pleasure of really good food. I guess the key is moderation. :)

I'm all for trying to keep our girls weekend reasonably healthy (but still fun!) and adding in lots of exercise. I may have a hard time keeping up with you more slim, fit ladies with the heat and altitude though!

Anne C. said...

I agree with Jeri, we can definitely make the UCF gathering a bit healthier for everyone.

Janiece said...

I'm not giving up Michelle's homemade Oreos.

I'll take the hit for those...