I know you've heard this before, but I'm feeling good and re-committed to my efforts (even though I haven't exactly gotten off track). Those who know me, know I love numbers. They tell the real story. So I started looking at my weight loss chart this morning. The rate of weight loss has definitely slowed -- from almost 2 pounds a week to an average of 1 pound a week over the past two months. I know that a gradual slowing is normal because the more weight I lose, the harder it gets to keep losing. If I'm being honest with myself, which I clearly have tried to be with this blog, I know it's because I haven't been very diligent about keeping track of what I'm eating and drinking.
It was a fun and interesting summer. Often filled with excess and emotional drama. In terms of my personal growth, it was well worth it. But it's time to be serious about what's important to me right now. For the past couple of weeks, I've been trying to buckle down and re-dedicate myself to my mission. It's not easy, though. This past week alone, for example, I had pizza twice ... numerous slices each time. In the beginning, I clearly understood the "all things in moderation" philosophy and I stuck to it. I kept track of every morsel of food and every sip of wine.
On one hand, I'm happy to realize that, for the most part, I am able to maintain my weight loss without a lot of tracking. That's a good sign when it comes to long-term maintenance. On the other hand, I know that if I really want to keep making progress, it's time to start writing it down again. No exceptions and no excuses. I am the only one responsible for what I eat and drink.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Hey Sherry - you've been at it a lot longer than I have, but I'm still glad to keep up with your progress. I am totally unable to use the method you describe - food logging - to manage my weight-loss efforts. Instead, I opted for the mail-order diet - all I eat is what they send me in a big cooler each week, augmented with some dairy and fruit as directed. I make a few other small changes, but within the calories/protein target.
ReplyDeleteThe one comment I would make about your efforts is that the goal you mentioned recently is arbitrary and overly ambitious. While obviously you want to lose as much as you can by the time you see your family, pegging an exact poundage to an exact date that is greater than you were likely to achieve seems to me to have been setting you back for a number of weeks now. While I have a poundage goal, I don't have a date attached to it. My goal every day is simply to stick with the program and keep on track. It's a lot easier to do that than to have a calendar goal which, once it seems undoable, subconsciously gives you permission to go ahead and have another piece of pizza - you're not going to get there anyway, so who cares? I don't know about you, but that's how I got so fat to start with!
Good luck and keep writing!
SUSAN.
Thanks for the comments, Susan. I know you are absolutely right about my goal. I almost included something about it in this post, but decided I'm not quite ready to accept that I won't reach it by the end of October. I actually had it typed out, but then deleted that part. When I set the goal, it was attainable. As for the reason I put a date on it, that has nothing to do with visiting my family really. It's more about needing incremental goals. So far, I've been unable to set a final goal. That still seems impossible to think about. Having these small goals gives me something to focus on and something to celebrate when I achieve them. And that process has worked well for me so far. I might not achieve this one, but I think I will come close. And my brain is almost ready to accept that that's good enough because, after all, I am still losing weight. Slowly, but surely.
ReplyDelete