I have been a devoted Weight Watcher since December 2010. And I have been successful – from December 2010 – April-ish 2011, I lost about 15 lbs. From March 2011 until now, I have gained and lost the same 5 lbs time and time again. I have been a slave to the scale, and watching my weight remain mostly the same no matter how much or how little I ate or how many miles I ran was very disheartening.The fact that I (unhealthily) weighed myself 2, 3…5+ times a day is not good for the mindset either.
I am proud to say I am no longer a slave to the scale. Betsy and I made a commitment to put our scales in the closet and only take them out once a week. We are choosing to weigh in every Friday morning. No more, and no less.
I have also decided to take a break from Weight Watchers – I still plan to use e-tools to track my weight, activity, and food (this really helps with portioning out my leftovers, and if I need to put stuff in the freezer) but I am no longer going to obsess over points and ‘actively try to lose weight.’ It is difficult to even maintain your weight over the holidays, and I have a lot going on between now and December. I am going to focus on mindfully eating, and putting healthy things in to my body throughout this holiday season, but also not restricting myself and end up like this…
Story time: I found myself in the kitchen on Friday night eating all 4 of the leftover Pumpkin Softies that I made the night before. All 4. These are large cookies, people… I could not stop myself. I need to reign this in and get it under control. Part of the Weight Watchers mentality that I have is ‘well, if I have the points, I should eat them.’ And I tracked every last 17 points of those cookies… And I felt horrible about myself.
I wasn’t hungry. I could have easily stopped after one… but I didn’t. These are the unhealthy eating habits that I need to get under control. I will have earned over 40 activity points this week, and that is a fact that I am proud of. I ran 5 miles yesterday, which is a new record for me. That I am also proud of. These are the healthy habits that I need to embrace!
I also think I may eat too much of a low-fat diet. Fat free foods are great when you are trying to lose some quick pounds. I don’t think they are necessarily a sustainable way to live. Also, due to some digestive issues (I will leave it at that) that I have struggled with my whole life, I think I need to introduce more healthy fat in to my diet.
I eat an English Muffin with reduced fat peanut butter and jam on it every morning. One example, I just switched to sunflower butter – less sugar and chemicals, but healthy fats and oils! I also think I am going to switch from skim to 1% milk when I introduce dairy back in to my diet next week. I am trying an experiment with one week ‘off’ (not having my nightly glass of milk, not smearing sour cream on everything I eat, and avoiding cheese like the plague is really all this means to me).
A weight loss plateau is frustrating, but going in to the holiday season when food is everywhere, it is very important to embrace exercise and pay attention to every morsel that I eat (and hope I don’t end up in the kitchen at 9 PM on a Friday night shoveling Christmas cookies in to my mouth). I need to remind myself not to get lost in the points and the tracking, and to enjoy food again (but not over-enjoy it).
Pieces of Cake Blog 