The Weekly Weigh In

I used to put just which week I was in on my weekly weigh in entries. However, just how freaking long have I been doing this now? I really have lost track.

I think I'm in the beginning of my third year with Weight Watchers. That's a little scary, but I've also learned the absolute best lesson about dieting that I could have: Don't impose a timeline on your body as you're learning to change your habits. This way it truly becomes a lifestyle change rather than a diet. So much of Weight Watchers just feels truly natural to me now. I automatically count my points as I eat. As I've crossed weight and age thresholds, I've adjusted my daily points downward without having to think about it. Water, fruit and veggies are just what I consume, and if I don't, I miss them. I've accepted that weight fluctuations are just normal, and that plateaus, even lengthy plateaus, are just part of dieting.

I've still got a lot that I need to change. This week, I've been fighting cravings. Cravings are normal and natural. I firmly believe that a craving is sometimes just your body telling you what it needs. Those are good cravings, even if the food you're craving isn't one that's traditionally considered a good-for-you food. That kind of craving is a reinforcement of the mind-body-spirit connection. Then there are the cravings that aren't so good for you. I'm not talking about the craving for potato chips that is satisfied after eating a moderate serving, and you realize that all you're tasting is grease and salt. I'm talking the ones that just won't go away.

For me this week, it was bread and butter. I'm not a big bread person. Oh, I enjoy restaurant bread sticks and rolls, and I have friends who make homemade breads to die for, but bread is normally a food that I can just take or leave. Not this week. The womanchild did the grocery shopping for me this week. Her frugality means that she doesn't necessarily pick out the brands, particularly the diet brands for certain foods that I do. I usually get a one point for two slices diet brand of whole wheat bread. She picked up plain white bread. One afternoon, it felt like I just couldn't stop. One plain piece of white bread slathered with real butter after another. I actually ate more than half my points for the day on bread and butter. Real butter -- that's a food item I don't compromise on. I'll take a real food over processed chemical margarine any day. The extra calories are worth the taste, and normally I use butter with extreme caution.

Now, I believe that a little indulgence every now and then is not only normal but healthy. This was different though. It was a binge. I was not in control. I'd quit really enjoying the food a good while before I quit buttering the bread, and I just had that sick, compulsive feeling in my emotional gut. It was the latter that got me off the butter trail. I wasn't going to do this to myself any longer. I did have to use some extra discipline to stop the binge. I called a friend who is excellent at helping me look at myself and what's really going on in my life. I put both the bread and butter where they weren't immediately visible. I went out and worked in the yard. Eventually the cravings did go away, but they served as a good reminder not to give up on learning more about eating healthy both emotionally and physically.

Despite the binge, I lost 1.6 pounds this week. That makes my current weight 249.4 and my total weight loss 130.6 pounds. This is less than I've weighed in 20 years.

weight loss, diets, Weight Watchers