Jerry and I had a good conversation about weigh loss today and he brought up a very wise point about trying to lose weight in general and having weekly weigh-ins. I've thought of it before, but the way he said it just seemed to make better sense with a simpler explanation. So, that's what he wrote about today...
Welcome back.
Every week it seems like I have an epiphany about weight loss. And it always seems to come off as an excuse for my slow weight loss, but I don't think it is. It's more of a realization and I'm learning something new all the time. So let's just rip the band-aid off, 190.6. That's a gain of 0.6 from last week.
I did fairly well, or so I thought. I felt heavier over the last couple days and felt a little uneasy about what I was actually doing as far as my diet was concerned. But something dawned on me last night and I think it might ring true with almost everyone that does a weekly weigh-in.
While I always feel like I might be doing okay through the week, I have a tendency to spend the couple days before my weigh-in trying to eat better because I don't want to see the gain on the scale. So, if I can do that for the couple days before the weigh-in why can't I do it every single day? Why can't I just make it a lifestyle change as opposed to treating it like a temporary thing just to meet some number I want to see?
I stress myself out on Sundays and Mondays because of the weigh-in and it doesn't have to be that way. That said, I will be making another change in how I eat and approach this week and we shall see how well I do.
Also, I'm a firm believer that old habits die hard. Habits are like Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2. He was poisoned, stabbed, shot, hung, stretched, disemboweled, drawn and quartered. Before his head died he said 'Death is but a door, time is but a window. I'll be back.' Those are my habits. LOL. The bad habits die when I work on them and then after some time, they come back.
I talk of bad habits because I have a couple. One glaring one from this week was eating when I'm not hungry. 'There are starving kids in [insert third world country here]'. Every kid heard it growing up. Every kid. As an adult it transformed into not wanting to waste food.
So, I eat everything. Even when I ain't hungry I still eat just because I don't want to waste the food. That's stupid. So, new mindset with that as well--don't eat if I'm not hungry. This will be the absolute hardest thing to do, for sure. More than portion control. More than eating healthy. More than eating slowly. Eating when my body is telling me I should and listening to it will be the hardest thing.
So, I have my work cut out for me. Wish me luck.
I'm learning a lot right along with you two! Thanks always for these posts.
ReplyDeleteMy experience the past year as food prices have risen to ridiculous levels, is that I buy less food. A bag of chips is like $5! My snacking has all but stopped because I don't want to waste my money on snack food. I've lost 30 pounds since July, about a pound a week.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate the introspection of these posts. One thing this post makes me think of is my husband's weight current loss journey- he tends to think of the current day/week and just losing the weight and kind of refuses to think about what life will be like when he loses the weight. I keep telling him- smaller people need smaller amounts of food and he needs to just start eating like he's a smaller person- whatever that means for him that's sustainable. He's just not ready to think about it and can't get out of a "diet" mentality. If you're not losing weight, you're eating the right amount of calories for your current body. Maybe that's okay! It's a journey. Good luck this week!
ReplyDeleteI love reading about both of your journeys! I just got the recommendation to weigh yourself for 3 days and average the numbers...use that as your weight. That made so much sense to me as there are so many things that effect your weight!
ReplyDeleteA great piece of advice. Jerry really gets it. I know I have the habits he wrote about. I especially feel bad tossing food when we are in such a sorry state. I try hard not to cook too much. I need to work on mindless eating. Thanks Jerry.
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