Holiday weekend was lovely. Didn’t do much of anything until my workout on Monday, but I definitely ate with the fambam quite a bit. Cheesecake, corn, biscuits, ribs, BBQ sauce, beans and more for three-ish days. Everyone always seems to have less than perfect weigh-ins after holidays so I was contemplating skipping mine today. The reaction (via Twitter)??
Roni: Do it. Face it. Move on.
Irene: Yes you do! It keeps you accountable. Hiding says you aren’t taking responsibility.
James: I think you should. Face the up’s as well as the down’s. Then commit to the next step to lose.
Ricci: Who would you deceive by not owning the weight gain? Yourself? Sounds like you already know.
I <3 my wise Twitter friends. They are completely right. But knowing I have gained weight, especially in the middle of a challenge to lose weight where my mom is kicking my butt, is not a happy feeling. (I hate to lose.) Also, I feel like my weigh ins on this blog as a whole have been more gains than losses. This is supposed to be a weight loss blog, right? What is with the lack of weight loss?
I’ve been thinking a lot about the way I allow myself to “cheat” by eating the processed sweet crap that is completely against my general way of eating clean. The whole 80/20 % of the time thing has been my guiding principle, but sometimes I blow the 20% way out of proportion.
On some blog I read about the idea of sticking to healthy eating (whatever your plan may be) ALL THE TIME. Most of us rebel against this idea because we want the yummyBAD things we want. We will claim the principle of moderation as long as it gets us those high calorie foods we crave. But why? Vegetarians aren’t vegetarian 82.4% of the time. They are vegetarian 100% of the time. The end. I’ve been thinking about this for a few days. Why do we only try for part of the time? In anything you do with part-time effort there will be part-time results. And that is what I am seeing here:
Weight: 246.0
Previous Weight: 244.0
Weight Loss This Week: +2.0
Weight Loss Total: 5.8
It takes a week to lose 2 pounds when I am trying my best. It takes a weekend to gain 2 pounds on a weekend where I am not paying attention. Taking time off from the reality of what my body does and how it reacts to food is not going to get me to where I want to go. Half-assed actions will only get me half-assed results.
I know how you feel, Mary! It seems like I can work my ass off to only lose a pound a so, yet a day or two of not completely watching what I eat will undo all my work. I feel like I’ve been losing and gaining the same ten pounds for months, even when I have 50 or so to lose. It’s so frustrating! But I feel like accepting that it isn’t fair might actually help me.
Just like your point about vegetarians, maybe we need to accept that we’ll never be “normal.” We carry the obesity gene. We will never be able to eat white flour and sugar and carbs without gaining. It isn’t fair. But it’s reality, and trying to pretend it isn’t true doesn’t get us very far.
One thing I’ve really taken from Roni is being honest with yourself. Roni said one of the first things she had to do was be honest with herself about what she was really eating. You were honest with yourself today by weighing in even when you knew you’d gained; that takes serious guts. It’s easy to post a lose, but posting a gain is really tough. Congratulations on being honest with yourself! You’re definitely headed in the right direction.
Hey, I know the frustration of posting up more gains than losses. I’ve gotten myself stuck on a weight loss plateau/rebound for the past…oh….four or five months.
The idea of eating healthy 100% of the time is intriguing, what are the guidelines?
Meg’s last blog post..
@McLauren
Thanks. I think being honest starts with the fact of accepting I AM DIFFERENT! I can’t eat like other people and I can’t pretend I can without consequences. I’m big on running away, hiding from my actions, but Roni (and you) are right: it is important to get honest. Not shirk away from the truth about situations, even if that truth is I am losing then gaining then losing the same ten pounds while I still need to lose 60+. It seems frustrating but you are right that even though it isn’t fair I just need to stop pretending and get on with it.
@Meg
Eh, plateaus. I want to post losses! Losses! And I want to read about your losses! Gains are no fun.
And as far as the eating healthy 100% of the time… I don’t know about guidelines. I need to think, read more and consider this. But basically it would just be like being a vegetarian. They just DON’T eat meat. So why do we pretend as “dieters” that we can eat whatever. Maybe we should just NOT eat whatever it is that hurts us (sweets, bread, whatever). I know this wouldn’t work for everyone, it might not even work for me. But it is logical when I think about it.
I’ve tried eating healthy 100% the time and it’s damn hard. I think I know who you are talking about, though and it is truly amazing how he can keep that up.
Tony’s last blog post..Calories Explained
@Tony
When I wrote the post I couldn’t remember where I read that, but now that I’ve thought about it and seen your name I’m pretty sure it was from Anti-Jared. Which fits because he is ridiculously awesome in his healthy eating. Do you think some of us can do that and some can’t? Are we just those people that can’t ALWAYS eat healthy? I’m wondering if that is the case of if I can just suck it up and eat right because I need/want/have to.
Hi Mary!
I subscribed to an online newsletter called Philosophers Notes a while back, and the one I received in my inbox yesterday was totally relevant to what you’re pondering here. It’s a long quote, but it might help, so I’ll post it all—and the credit goes to Brian Johnson:
“What are you committed to in your life? Waking up with the sun? Meditating in the morning? Exercising daily? No longer lashing out at your family? Removing refined sugars/red meat/etc. from your diet?
Whatever it is, check in and see how committed you REALLY are.
And, know this: 99% is a bitch. 100% is a breeze.
Let’s say you decide that meditating EVERY day will be your new ritual. You’ve done the research, see the benefits and decide to go for it. (Good decision, btw.) Now, if you have to think about whether or not you’re going to honor that commitment every day, there’s NO way you’re going to honor it. IM-POSS-UH-BLE.
You’re gonna have that little whiney voice pop in that says something along the lines of: “Oh! You deserve a little more sleep this morning. Plus, it’s just a day. You deserve a day off. And those peeps who are so committed are way too rigid anyway. Relax. Be flexible.”
So, figure out what daily practices define your destiny and then make your commitments to those rituals NON-NEGOTIABLE. Period. (Make that an exclamation point. :)
Seriously. Try it out. It may sound harsh but it’s REALLY liberating. Frees up so much energy when you don’t need to think about whether today’s the day you’ll break. :)”
Sophy’s last blog post..Doing the Same Thing . . . Differently
I gained this week too… i’ve been stuck within the same 5 pounds for 2 years. Normally, maintenance is good, but um… maintaining at 200 lbs is not good. As for healthy eating, I absolutely LOVE healthy food. LOVE It! But when faced with healthy or non-healthy choices, I’ll almost always choose the unhealthy.
Mara @ What’s For Dinner?’s last blog post..A Tasty Memory
@Sophy
That is so what I am am feeling right now. By making it 100%-non-negotiable-can’t skip, there is no question whether today’s lunch is a salad or fast food burger and fries. There is no question whether I will workout somehow. I like the idea that if you are 100% there is no reason to waste time thinking about when in the day you will falter on your “committment.” That does sounds pretty liberating. That is just how it is and how it has to be. Very cool quote btw.
@Mara
Maintaining is good .. at a healthy weight. Maintaining way above what is healthy is no good at all. End of story.
I like healthy food too but still go for the unhealthy crap even though I know it tastes worse. Why? Because I let myself. Because I say it is okay for some times, when I feel sad or feel like my hormones NEED chocolate. I say it is okay to myself that one time, then the next time I forget I did it before.
@Sophy Wow, that quote really resonated with me. I love the idea that by making it non-negotiable you free yourself from the prison of deliberation. That is so refreshing. I don’t have to stress myself out wondering whether or not I’ll keep my promise to myself because it’s not up for debate. I wonder what else I could achieve if I didn’t spend so much time wondering when I’ll let myself down regarding weight loss!
@Mara I’ve also been maintaining at 200 for two years…it really sucks. I wish I could lose even ten more pounds to be out of the 2’s forever!
For me, the goal of 85-90% “clean” eating isn’t a part-time approach, but more of a realistic one. I think it’s the only thing that got me through the 100-lb. loss, to be honest, because the idea of not EVER having a piece of Holiday Deli’s Red Velvet cake again in my life would likely have sent me to the bridge. :) Once-a-month splurge meals and once-a-week “treats” (a cookie, a slice of pizza, a baked potato, etc.) are what got me through.
I’m convinced you’ll find your own way of balancing, and SOON. You’re very close, I think!
Cammy@TippyToeDiet’s last blog post..Makeover Monday: Aerobics for the Brain
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am glad I came here, I was also thinking of weighing in on Saturday instead of Friday just to give myself and extra day. I have decieded to heed the advice of your twitter friends. I can face it and if its a gain, then I will do better next week.
Hang in there.
Everyone loses weight faster than me, but I am going to finish this race no matter what.
Betty
@Cammy
Well, when you say it that way… I really want some red velvet cake. Haha. But honestly I am trying to figure out the food stuff. I’ve got such a weird food/brain relationship, as many of us do. The reason I am leaning toward the 100% healthy food (replace red velvet cake with strawberries, etc) is because when I try to only have a treat once in a while I blow it out of proportion. Once the sugar hits my lips my brain freaks out and goes on a crazed food seeking mission. So I either need to go all out and avoid the bad foods, or figure out how to stop myself from doing that. Where I am right now it seems almost easier to just go “cold turkey” like I did with coke. I just decided soda was bad and stopped drinking it one day. I went from craving it, drinking like 5+ a day to none at all in years. For me it just might be easier to cut out the crap that leads me to overeat. It’s not that I really want all the crap food I eat. But then again, I do like red velvet cake and an occasional slice of pizza. :)
I think “all or nothing” can have it’s place and works really well for some people. Other people find a total ban on junky eating too restrictive and have more rebellion problems if they don’t allow a few little treats. I don’t think either one is right or wrong–it’s just a matter of individual motivation and psychology.
Sounds like you might be curious to check out a more restrictive approach?
Crabby McSlacker’s last blog post..Oh Boy, Another Exciting Vitamin D Lecture!
This discussion reminds me of the topics that Jillian Michaels covers often in her radio show (can get pod casts on iTunes for free – type “kfi am” in the search bar in iTunes, then click on Sunday, must weed out the others to get tp Jillian). She talks a lot about balance and building those things into your daily calorie allowance.
Personally I can’t do that these days. I lost 60 lbs no problem, no poor eating. But my dad had a stroke and the stress sent me over the edge. Now I can’t allow myself to eat even a little of that stuff because I lose control. Not even placing my mother in a nursing home or my son’s wedding had the same effect.
I can tell you how I “force” myself to do undesirable things. Lets say the dishes need to be done but I want to get online. I will not allow myself to get online until the dishes are completed. I know that sounds nuts but I have always done it, even as a child. And for me, it works.
I wonder what else I could achieve if I didn’t spend so much time wondering when I’ll let myself down regarding weight loss!