Well, it’s been an eventful few weeks on the weight loss journey for me. I was thrilled when I got below 250 pounds last month. That was a big mental barrier for me. I guess I thought getting past that point would make it easier to continue on down the scale. I’m afraid what I actually did was let down my guard, just the tiniest bit – and that was enough to keep my weight hovering around 250 for much longer than I had anticipated. It was getting pretty irritating actually, and guess what happens when I get unhappy about my weight loss progress? That’s right, a snack here, a snack there, daily calorie intake steadily higher each day. It’s such a vicious cycle. Get depressed, eat, feel better, gain weight, get depressed, eat, feel better, gain weight, ad infinitum.
The worst week was the week I spent away from home, outside my comfort zone. I had access to Mom’s Home Cookin’, and many wedding-related feasts on which to gorge myself. That week I gained a spectacular 7.2 pounds. That freaked me about a bit, so as soon as I got home I jumped back into my normal routine, and was quickly rewarded by the weight loss gods – 8 pounds lost that week.
So what the heck were those two weeks about?? It doesn’t seem very possible that I actually gained and lost 8 pounds of fat over two weeks. I’m not going to try to analyze it too much. I’m really glad the gain was only a blip on the radar and not, to put it dramatically, “the beginning of the end.”
During the trip back to my family of origin, I saw some things from a new perspective. For example, the excessive pushing of second servings at big family meals. On some level it is considered rude to decline seconds. If I had any doubt about this, I was reminded after dinner when my mother mentioned to me in private in the kitchen that the fish she had prepared wasn’t very good. I thought it had been very good, and told her so. “But nobody had seconds… I was watching,” she responded. Of course I told her that was ridiculous, but sadly I don’t think she was really convinced. On this diet I’ve had to retrain myself about what a normal amount of food to eat is, and for the first time, I’m seeing my previous training as unusual.
I’m closing in on the next weight loss target – my entry into the Century Club – 100 pounds lost! As of today, I’m 8 pounds away from that goal. That will be very happy day for me. This time though, I won’t let down my guard and ride around on that annoying rollercoaster for a month!
Cross-Published on Sucks to be Fat
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Man I know that cycle. I happen to be there right now. Glad to hear I’m not the only one, and also glad to hear that your fighting through it.
Good job!!
The hardest part for me was breaking through the mind set of “well, this day (or week) is already shot so I might as well gorge for the rest of it.” One little snack would lead to an entire week of overeating. You’re right, it’s a vicious little cycle.
Gal
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