Where is everybody? Sean has vanished from blogland, and Hollie from 300poundsdown hasn't posted in nearly a week! Sean, I'm worried about. No blogging usually means a person is off the wagon. Which brings me to my thought for the day---a safety net. Nobody would dream of learning to walk a tightrope without a safety net. I'm sure beginners are only a few feet or inches off the ground. In high school gym class, the balance beam was ON the ground and for good reason. I don't think weight loss is so much different--here we addicts are, out of control on the ground, but we hate being down here, so we soar up to the ranks of those in control which is usually a very different lifestyle to the one that we're accustomed to, and start trying to balance our lives in this new way. Like any beginner in anything, of COURSE we are going to lose our balance. Frequently!
A huge problem with the diet industry is that they can't admit this fact. Can you imagine an advertisement that goes--"Here's our great plan, but when you can't stick to it, here's plan B!" No way. Nobody is going to admit that their wonderful plan is anything less that wonderful at all times. No dieter is ever going to have serious difficulty. A "difficulty" is usually thought to be something like having a cookie--and we're told not to worry about that, but to get back on track. Good advice. But hellooooo!!???? I don't think most of us ARE worried about the cookie! We're worried because suddenly the idea of tracking another point or calorie is totally repugnant. We're worried because there's a barbeque coming up and NO!! We don't want to be reasonable!! We're worried because we're spinning out of control and don't know how to stop because we don't WANT to do what you're telling us we must do!!!
This is what I want to scream at Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and all the rest of them. HOW WILL YOU HELP ME WHEN I DON'T WANT TO FOLLOW YOUR PLAN ANYMORE??? I might forgive them for not addressing this issue, if they weren't charging so much money!! So, what do I want from them? After all, it's not their fault I don't want to follow their plan. No. But it IS their fault that they make no effort at the psychology behind addictive behavior. Biggest Loser is the worst about this. I expect them to know how to help people want to come back. Overeater's anonymous is the best--and ironically, it's free.
In the meantime, we need a safety net. What am I going to do when I'm tired to death of my slips and counting calories? I can see right now that 1500 is simply too hard for me to want to sustain--and thankfully, with my plan I don't have to. I love Sean's example which shows me that I can sustain it for an awfully long time--and since my plan is easier, I can sustain it even longer---hopefully some version of it for a lifetime.
But what's my safety net going to be? When I've had it? I could add 300-400 cal per day and go into maintenance for awhile---unless I'm sick of counting calories. I could "take a break" for a certain amount of time---but I'm not at all confident that I could get back on track right away when the time was up.
From this post you might think I was already ready to throw in the towel. Actually, I'm doing great! I used 50 earned calories yesterday so I could have a small cookie and I'm enjoying the sensation that I'm losing weight. I've also got 1000 calories in the bank for my book club group which is going to meet in a buffet. But I'm hungry right now. I'll have a snack in a few minutes, but I'm pretty sure it won't be enough and my lunch seems very small to me just now. I have to be very careful not to think that I have to be hungry all the time. I want to store away another 500 for office birthday treats, and I also want to "earn" my favorite fix of popcorn and cheese. Tuesday is my late night, so I don't know that I'll want to exercise today, but even so--it might we worth using some calories (I'll have time to earn them back before monday), so I can manage today. I'll see how the snack goes (PB2 and rice crackers). I also have my birthday to look forward to this Friday---a real free day!!
Losing weight in spite of myself.
I began this blog in February 2011 as a way to help me not quit trying to lose weight, and to learn a few things. It's been an interesting and powerful experience. It certainly confirms what I've long suspected--that although I am a genuinely happy cheery person in the main, I am NOT a happy cheery dieter. I DETEST losing weight. I resent being overweight in the first place and I am a virtuoso in the art of self-sabotage. And YET--I'm doing it! I'm fighting and kicking and EATING all the way down, but the weight is finally going down. The plan I was following in February was a half-baked one largely based on wishful thinking. I gained a little weight and decided to get real. I knew I couldn't just join weightwatchers or count calories or do any one plan and expect to be successful. I decided if I was going to bother to make the effort to lose weight I was going to throw everything I could think of at the problem. And so I do. My real "Day One" for this blog is April 1, 2011. I joined weight watchers, I joined caloriecount.com (awesome website), I read the blog losingweighteveryday.blogspot.com religiously, I keep this blog faithfully, I joined the health programs sponsored by my insurance, I use the principles from overeater's anonymous, I use my church's 12 step program as well, I subscribe--and use--Healthy Cooking Magazine.
The result of all this? Painfully slow progress (About 20 lbs in 10 months). But it IS progress and like the little engine that could I keep on trying in my rebellious way. I have no intention of quitting. This is by far the longest sustained weight loss effort I've ever made in my life. Successful I think, because for the first in my life I've done this MY way--which I've discovered, involves a lot of pizza and restaraunt food. I'm convinced this is the only way to lose weight. For me it must be MY way. For you it MUST be YOUR way. Not weight watcher's way, not your doctor's way, but YOUR way. Any plan or idea I use is only a tool.
The latest plan to lose weight my way began on Oct 29, 2013. It really is my own crazy plan. As you'll see if you read that post. I've implemented the best ideas of all sorts of eating plans and thrown out the scale. A couple of months in and I'm definitely healthier. I'm actually enjoying myself. I won't weigh until April 1, 2014, so I'll see then if this works the way I hope it will.
There is no magic weight loss bullet. But there IS a great deal of magic in the discovery of what I can happily live with (very different from what weight watchers tells me I can happily live with) and still have the body and health I want.
Good luck to all of us on this journey. It's quite a trip!
The result of all this? Painfully slow progress (About 20 lbs in 10 months). But it IS progress and like the little engine that could I keep on trying in my rebellious way. I have no intention of quitting. This is by far the longest sustained weight loss effort I've ever made in my life. Successful I think, because for the first in my life I've done this MY way--which I've discovered, involves a lot of pizza and restaraunt food. I'm convinced this is the only way to lose weight. For me it must be MY way. For you it MUST be YOUR way. Not weight watcher's way, not your doctor's way, but YOUR way. Any plan or idea I use is only a tool.
The latest plan to lose weight my way began on Oct 29, 2013. It really is my own crazy plan. As you'll see if you read that post. I've implemented the best ideas of all sorts of eating plans and thrown out the scale. A couple of months in and I'm definitely healthier. I'm actually enjoying myself. I won't weigh until April 1, 2014, so I'll see then if this works the way I hope it will.
There is no magic weight loss bullet. But there IS a great deal of magic in the discovery of what I can happily live with (very different from what weight watchers tells me I can happily live with) and still have the body and health I want.
Good luck to all of us on this journey. It's quite a trip!
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