Sometimes, I wish I could hold onto the anger and frustration I’ve felt in recent weeks at my Weight Watchers weigh-in. Had I sat down to write this blog entry at, say, noon today, it would have been vitriolic and self-deprecating and full of fight. Instead, I’ve had nearly nine hours to come to terms with the fact that, yes, I gained two pounds this week, on top of the 1.8 I gained last week, bringing me all the way back up to 198 pounds.
It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even want to publicly (or even semi-publicly) announce what I’m planning to do in regards to my weight-loss plan, because I so rarely follow through anymore. I could tell you that I’ve decided to work out with weights three days a week and take a lunch walk three days a week, but even I won’t believe me until I’ve actually done it.
Weight Watchers likes to stress that it’s a lifestyle, not a diet — this is true of any Way Of Eating. Even so, I think I’m more likely to successfully drop pounds and stay on-program if I have a “diet” mindset: I’m in this to lose weight, and I’m going to lose X number of pounds by X date. I understand that I’m going to have to eat like this indefinitely, for the most part, in order for me to not gain my weight back. (Case in point: the last two weeks, wherein I slacked off.) For now, though, I need to have that diet mentality in order to succeed.
Tomorrow is my weekly lunch out with my co-workers. I’m planning to choose the healthy option wherever we go, but I’m going to try to strongarm my co-workers into going to my favorite downtown Mediterranean joint instead of the sports bar. If I fall face-first into a giant fried fish sandwich for lunch, though, I’ll balance out dinner accordingly.
Next week, the scale will be moving in the right direction.