Diets Take Time

Repeat those words: Diets Take Time. Diets Take Time. Diets Take Time.

I must go slow and steady and I must stay on this new healthy eating plan. I must.

And I must remember, it's not a "diet." This is my new life. My new healthy life.

Thirty days ago, I started my newest "lifestyle change" and all that was really different this time around is that I told myself to think long-term. In the past, I just thought "fast; get this extra weight off me fast!"

Focusing on that long-term (and in my case, that means taking about six months to take off 27 pounds) got me to my Weight Watchers meeting last week. I knew I had gained weight. I went on a trip, attended a birthday party and missed a spin class.

Time to give up, right? No, no, no.

I ate healthier than usual (only a few chips at a fastfood restaurant, only one piece of pizza and I chose a slice without pepperoni, and I only ate half of piece of chocolate cake). "A few bites," "only one slice" and "half of a piece" are great news for me -- and will one day help me maintain my weight -- but they won't take off the weight!

But, I told myself, neither will skipping my Weight Watchers meeting and official weigh-in. 

At the meeting, a woman celebrated losing 10% of her weight and she said she just followed the plan. "Don't do your own thing," she advised. And that hit me: I often think I know better and can do this on my own. Twenty five years of up and down weight prove otherwise. 

So this past week (after learning that I had indeed gained -- but only 1 pound), I followed the plan closely and was even careful to not dip into my "extra points." I get 19 points a day and 35 "flex" points a week. All but one day I ate only 19 "points." I did feel a little hungry. To give you some idea about the points, here's a quick guide: 

An egg: 2 points

Greek salad from a restaurant with dressing: 9 points

Pizza: 6 points

An apple: 1 point

Most veggies (about a cup serving): 0 points

Wine, a decent-sized glass, 3/4 full: 4 points

And my reward at this Wednesday's meeting? I lost four pounds.

Then the rest of Wednesday and Thursday, I seriously dipped into my "flex" points.

And that's OK. Yes, it's OK. Really, it's OK. (I've almost convinced myself it's OK...)

If I'm too, too "good," I won't stick this out to July -- and then even longer to maintain my weight. Plus, I'm telling myself, I haven't ever dipped into my activity points. Since Wednesday, I've earned 10 of those babies, thanks to my spin class yesterday and my kickboxing class today (not sure if I'll be able to walk up the stairs to bed tonight thanks to the killer class this morning, but I have a blankie near the couch just in case.)  

In addition to thinking about the woman who lost 10% of her weight last week, I'm also thinking about Commitment and not Motivation. I was in no way motivated to go to kickboxing this morning but I was -- make that AM -- committed. Thinking about that difference pushes me through my mental blocks. Please forgive me if I've written that in earlier posts (here and here) and if I write it a few more dozen times.