Friday, January 7, 2011

Keeping track

So far I've lost 2.2 pounds, and we're at January 7. I'm okay with that. I've been weighing myself every morning and keeping track of it in an Excel spreadsheet.

The lowest my adult weight has ever gotten was 146, and I would seriously pay real money to snap my fingers and look like that again. Even now, I want a quick fix. While I was driving home from the gym last night, I was thinking, "Maybe I should try Alli again. Or I could do the Weight Watchers Core program. Or I could get those Hydroxycut pills."

But you know what? I've done all those. They work.

For a while.

Then you stop using them, or you get bored, or you get sick of paying money to do something that other people can do for free.

Then the weight comes back on. It's funny how it creeps up on you slowly. I mean, it makes sense. You don't gain five pounds in two days, so why should we expect to lose it so fast?

I get depressed watching The Biggest Loser. My husband says I'm nuts, but it makes me extremely jealous to watch these people shedding 20 pounds a week, when I have to settle for a measly 1. It seriously makes me want to fire up the popcorn popper. And no, it's not an air popper. It uses oil and butter and everything.

Mmm. Butter.

I'm glad I've started this blog. I hope you guys are trucking along with me. Sometimes when I want to jump off the wagon (Already! A week in!), I remember that I made a commitment to you guys, and to myself, too, and I get my act together and stop looking longingly at the box of Pop-tarts sitting on the counter.

Ooh, that reminds me. I should eat breakfast.

Anyone else feeling a little slump in enthusiasm as we head into the weekend?

7 comments:

  1. Tried to comment earlier, but it looks like it didn't work. Here's the short version:

    In the book "Switch" by Chip and Dan Heath, they talk about a study done a few years ago. They brought people in to complete puzzle tasks. Before the task, though, they had them wait, alone, in a room, sitting at a table. On the table was a bowl of radishes and a plate of hot, fresh, fragrant chocolate chip cookies. They told half of the people to help themselves to any food they wanted and told the other half that they could eat as many radishes as they wanted to, but please not to eat any cookies. Surprisingly, nobody cheated. When they brought them into the room to do the puzzle tasks after a while, the people who were allowed to eat the cookies spent significantly longer working on the puzzles before giving up than did the people who were not allowed to have any cookies. Whether or not they ate a cookie was irrelevant.

    The point of the study? Their claim is that willpower is like a muscle and it gets tired. We all have a finite amount of willpower, and the more we use it, the less we have left (until we recharge with sleep or something). The people who were not allowed cookies used up all their willpower resisting the cookies and then couldn't push themselves to keep working on the puzzles.

    Why bring this up here? My doctor always says that you should pick one day a week as diet amnesty day. Eat correctly for 6 days and then eat what you want (within reason, of course) one day a week. You'll recharge your willpower without undoing too much of the benefit you got from the other 6 days. With that in mind, tonight is pizza and beer night for my wife and I - I can't wait!

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  2. My sister's a vegan and she's been visiting and cooking for me all week, so life is good. Until tomorrow. Then I have to figure out how to cut back on the sausage and cheese and yes, mmmmmm butter. I doubt I've lost any weight this week, but I've definitely exercised more, and for now, that's good enough. Next week will be a different story.

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  3. Have you heard of the Set Point Theory? I'm a firm believer...mostly because it's a good excuse. Here's the quote I got from online:

    "Losing weight isn't easy. Indeed, as many as 95% of dieters gain back unwanted weight and get trapped in endless cycles of yo-yo dieting. These results have led researchers to conclude that the human body may have a genetically determined set-point weight that is controlled by metabolic hormones and fat cell enzymes."

    The point is that although those drugs may work for a time, they aren't really changing anything in your chemsitry. The only way to do that is through a complete life-style change. Until I figure out how to do that, I will just have to be happy with my set-point weight. Bummer.

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  4. Just noticed the irony of your profile picture. Those cheeseburgers you and Mike are eating look awfully tasty! Now I'm going to get hungry every time I read this blog!

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  5. Guys, these are awesome comments. I'm so glad I started this blog if for no other reason than I'm learning so much from everyone!

    And Tom, that picture is from our honeymoon back in 2006. When I started the blog, I thought about changing it, but then I said, what the hell.

    (By the way, they weren't even real cheeseburgers. They were props at the restaurant where we were eating. :-D)

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  7. I think the idea of having 1 day a week which you are allowed to 'cheat' is smart! If you always feel like you're telling yourself "no" it sucks. But once a week, to say "Yes, I would like a hamburger, AND fries, buahahahaha" is an awesome motivational idea. I think I'll make it the end of the week, a goal to work toward!

    Also, I'm down 2.8 lbs! :D

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