If It's Working, Don't Change Anything!

Anyone who has read my Spark Page recently knows that I have gained more weight than I am comfortable carrying, and that a lot of this came from stress eating. But in doing the self-examination that comes along with the Spark Coach Program (which I highly recommend), I have started to think of something else that helped with my weight creeping up: I let the opinions of others change how I worked my maintenance plan.

This was really pretty stupid of me, since I am acutely aware of my own limitations and have warned others to respect theirs, as well.

I guess the reason I listened to these other folks is because they were people who had accomplished tasks fitness-wise that I really admired. I respected them. But they don't live in my skin.

The key things I stopped doing were tracking my food and weighing myself at least several times a week.

I felt like it displayed weakness if I logged my foods and didn't trust my own appetite. I saw that many of the more advanced fitness people don't need to track- They cam be accountable on their own. Surely I was at least that advanced. Right?

And I was listening to others opinions that weighing regularly was being a slave to the scale, thereby putting the emphasis in the wrong place- That the scale was a liar and didn't tell the truth.

For some people these tactics work. For me, they were borrowing trouble.

And honestly, it's no surprise that in the near-absence of these things, I began to gain weight when extreme stress hit.

The truth is, as I've written in blogs past, that my personality is one that does better with regular food tracking. I do this in a written food log. Writing things down makes me face the facts about what I am eating. This works for me, even in maintenance.

As for weighing, I really do believe that the scale is the least accurate of the gauges that we use. But it also is the most immediate source of input I have. It takes time for my pants to get tight, but the scale tells the tale right away if I overate brownies recently.

Knowing I am going to have to face the numbers on the scale frequently keeps my head in the game when it comes to my eating habits.

And the fact is that if I get much over 155, size six just can't be maintained, no matter HOW much muscle versus fat I am carrying.

So while no one should live and die by the scale, it DOES give me a very useful snapshot of how things are going.

One good thing that this recent weight gain has taught me is that I would rather be considered weak using these accountability tools and looking fit, than considered emotionally strong not using them and viewed as overweight

I don't believe that tracking and weigh frequently is for everyone. What works for you is what you need to do. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

As for me? I'm back to tracking and weighing. It's going to be work getting back to where I was, and even more work to stay there. But I remember how feeling great about my health was so very worth everything I did NOT eat. And this time, my opinion of how I need to stay there is the only one that counts.

Selective Amnesia

Yesterday, or more specifically last night, I went off the rails with my eating. 

The problem started because I was genuinely hungry later in the evening.  All  I could think about was carbs.  One trick I have to keep myself from eating once my daily food has been consumed is that I brush my teeth and put my retainer in. (I had braces a few  years ago and am very interested in keeping my teeth strait!)  I had done this, but the hunger was getting to me.  So I did something I NEVER do and took the retainer out to eat a little something.  Well, a little something turned into a LOT of something.  Ugh.

This morning I was trying to figure out what to do with my Weight Watchers Points.  In case you don't know how Weight Watchers works, you get a certain amount of points for the day based on your weight.  And then you get an additional 49 "flex points" that you can add into the week as needed. 

Yesterday was day 1 of my tracking week, so I had all 49 Flex Points still available to me at the end of the day.  However, I know that if I subtract as many as I approximate I ate last night, that won't leave me enough for the days when I go to the gym and genuinely NEED more food.  (I get ravenously hungry when I lift weights.)

I sat there and looked at my points, and thought of what I ate, and considered what I could do.  I was starting to get pretty stressed. 

It finally occurred to me to take a look at my "Good Health Guidelines" from yesterday.  These ensure that you hit certain dietary goals each day for maximum health.  And I realized that, despite thinking I'd eaten them all, I had only eaten 3 of my required 5 servings of produce.

Hmmmmm.......... Maybe if I'd of filled up on veggies I wouldn't have been so hungry.  Ya think, Nance?

At that point, I realized that to expect myself to be able to try and somehow make up the calorie difference in the following 6 days was setting myself up for failure.  I have a big appetite.   My body needs fuel.  And if it doesn't get enough I am very likely to go off the rails again.  One "blow it" this week was more than enough.

So I have made a decision to have selective amnesia.  The part I am forgetting?  What I overate.  The part I am remembering?  To check my Good Health Guidelines before I allow myself to go into my Flex Points.

As for my Flex Points, I did subtract 7, since that is the average daily amount (49 Flex Points divided by 7 days in the week equals an average of 7 points per day).  I am just going to proceed through the rest of the week like the overeating didn't happen.

In some ways I feel like I am starting over with my weight loss.  I am re-learning things I learned before and assumed I already knew.  This is really discouraging.  I get impatient with myself, because I've been here before- I should have this down, right?

But then I realize that if I continue to berate myself, I am doing nothing to help myself move forward. 

For me, this requires selective amnesia. 

And the fact that the gal in that photo has the type of body I'd like doesn't hurt anything, either.