July 5, 2001

• Balancing Act -

  
  

  "Daddy!  Mommy's doing weird stuff that I don't think you know about."  Why on earth do kids think that Dad must be infomred about everything I do?  When they first realized that there was a difference between boys and girls, they tattled to Dad ... "Did you know that Mommy is a GIRL!"

  
  

  I was pretty sure that Tim had it figured out even before they mentioned it, but I guess it never hurts to make certain of these things. 

  
  

  Their latest obsession is with the food I eat.  Now you have to understand where I'm coming from.  After Tucker was born I spent a couple years eating anything that didn't eat me first and I got to be a tad overweight.  Ok, maybe a little more than a tad.  On April 1 of this year my scale said 252 pounds, and it wasn't laughing.

  
  

  So I woke up.  I had a chat with my doctor, which was not really helpful.  He said that there's no quick and easy fix for fat.  If you want to lose weight you have to be prepared to be a little hungry.  And, when I asked for diet - calorie guidelines, he said - just eat whatever you want, but SMALL amounts.  And the kicker?  "No one came out of a concentration camp fat, so ANYBODY can lose weight."

  
  

  Before you decide to be offended on my behalf, I'm friends with my doctor so he felt comfortable laying it all out for me.  I'm sure with the delicate a fragile OTHER patients, he's much more tactful.

  
  

  So I started a "diet."  After a month or so of going it on my own, I read the "Weigh Down Workshop" book.  It's heavy on flaky theology, but has some really good advice for handling food intake adn getting to know your body's hunger signals.

  
  

  So now, on July 5 my weight is officially 219 pounds.  Yep.  Thats a 33 pound drop in three months.  I'm thinking that my husband has probably noticed.  But the kids aren't so sure.  "Mommy didn't finish her lunch today!  Does that mean she can't have dessert?"  (I'm gradually learning to serve myself less to start with, but I sometimes overestimate how hungry I am.  I'm learning that it's better to waste a couple bites of sandwich than store it on my hips.)

  
  

  We all have little mind games that we play with our own heads.  If you don't I can teach you some good ones.    My little mind game has to do with the scale.  I've learned that if I stand on the scale only on my left foot, slightly to the back, and slowly put my weight on the scale by handing on to the bathroom counter, it will stop at a point 12 pounds below my actual weight.

  
  

  So on official weigh day, I do it both "weighs" the first time I do it right and dutifully record my progress (or lack).  Then I step up and do it the one-legged way.  My husband rolls his eyes hard enough to give himself whiplash headaches.  But, it works for me.  I think about how wonderful I'm going to feel when I reach that mark, and I plan out the reward I'm going to get for hitting my next short term goal.  (I reward myself for every five pounds I lose.)

  
  

  Long term?  I want to lose enough weight that I can waterski again.  My long term goal is to spend next Memorial Day weekend on the Lake where my family camped when I was growing up.  I want to be out on the water, skiing into the sunset.

  • 8:13 am
  • 8 Comments