Whittling My Waist With Weight Watchers : Battling My Inner Fat Girl
Whittling My Waist With Weight Watchers :
Battling My Inner Fat Girl
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| Photo by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash |
There are numerous things that my inner fat girl finds impossible to resist from obscure candies that I ate during my childhood to what we consider staples like pizza and pasta. I don't know how these foods became addictions but now, three decades later it's hard for me to just say no to her and the foods she craves.
I joined Weight Watchers the day before Thanksgiving in 2016. I know, I know, crazy. My thought process was that if I joined and started on Thanksgiving day and had a successful day, I would be able to get through the much harder days. It worked. I started the plan at 216lbs and a very fitted size 16 and six months later I was a much slimmer 196lbs and a loose size 14. Whenever I reach that range of weight, I typically plateau and get discouraged. This time around, I quit in May because I thought I had the hang of things. I was doing Soldier Fit and all of my pants were falling off of me. I felt as if I learned all I could from Weight Watchers and had the tools to do things on my own. So I quit. I wanted to save the cash every month and purchase other things, like my morning coffee each day.
By October of 2017 I was almost back to the size I was when I started. Realizing that I undid all of the hard work I did was a miserable process. I was putting on my clothing and suddenly the waist of my pants were sinking deeply into my ever expanding waist. Refusing to go back to the point of no return, I signed up again and realized that I have to handle my relationship with food like I would handle any other relationship I valued: with commitment.
I can't keep thinking that I'm going to get older and suddenly have a lightening speed metabolism. There are going to be some things I'm just not going to eat and the binge eating from heartbreaks, happiness or bouts of depression will have to be controlled. The older I become the more difficult it is to rebound from the consequences of my poor eating habits.
Speaking of eating habits, it's time to change them. So I'm going to be posting the recipes that I will be creating as well as some of my friends along with my challenges of eating out, PMS, and other things that tend to derail me. I hope you enjoy going through this journey and I welcome you to post and share your own experiences here. Losing weight is no more than a side effect of good dietary and fitness habits. If I want to live a long life, I have to do the latter and I'm not upset about the side effects if it will give me the former as a bonus!
I love how you said you have to handle your relationship with food with commitment the same as you would any other relationship.
ReplyDeleteI do find that for most, not all, people who have weight issues, there is a dysfunctional relationship with food. That implies there is an emotional connection. Whether it be a reward for a job well done, or comfort/consolation for a failure (real or perceived). Food is not meant to be any of those things. Losing weight is never going to be successful until you address the dysfunctional relationship. Unfortunately, unlike human relationships, you can't identify it as toxic, chop em and move on because you need food. What can do is try to make it as positive as it can be. Food, depending upon your relationship with it, can be an addiction. And just like drugs and alcohol, it has to be handled with the mindset that it is a lifelong process and to overcome will require a total change in both perspective and lifestyle.
I too, have a negative relationship with food. It's a different kind of relationship in that I eat so I won't die. I won't go into my weird relationship, but suffice to say I'm working on it.
There's that inspirational saying, it's not about the destination, but about the journey and I think it's applicable here as when you see how far you've come to meet and MAINTAIN your goal your sense of accomplishment will be immeasurable.
I can't do a cartwheel or a split (now or ever!), but know that you have a cheerleader in me...
Thank you, Tyra! I agree with many of your points. Eating is a necessity so learning how to do it in a way that isn't to the detriment to my health is my ultimate goal. I can't eat a cheeseburger because I need comforting. Also, my reckless eating habits only contribute to weight gain which exacerbates my issues with depression. It's a cycle not worth repeating. I'm glad that I got back on the wagon sooner this time around. It lets me know that in many ways, I have matured.
ReplyDeleteMany people have negative relationships with food and weight be it extreme gains or rapid losses aren't always clear indicators. There are people who maintain their weight but still ingest things that they shouldn't and those are the ones that pass away from a heart attack and everyone is baffled that it happened because they ran a mile every day. Being heart healthy starts with what you eat, and should be supplemented with exercise.
I could never do a cartwheel or split either, but trust and believe I plan to try. I have some odd goals in addition to achieving optimal health! LOL