Small steps

When I was in North Carolina this weekend, both of my parents told me that I looked like I had lost weight since they last saw me in February. Which I have. But not that much, or at least not that much relative to how quickly I was losing weight before. So it was really nice to hear that the weight that I'm losing is still noticeable. It's easy to start feeling defeated because I'm no longer losing 3 pounds a week, easy to get frustrated because our new scale is at least five pounds higher than our old scale, because sometimes I have very healthy weeks and still don't lose weight, because my endocrinologist is still adjusting my Synthroid dose.

I've been generally feeling a bit un-centered when it comes to Weight Watchers; it works very well and I plan to stay on it for a lot longer, but after awhile it is so innate to your routine that you hardly notice it, it isn't as interesting, and that makes it easier to cut corners and not be super committed. This is especially true because for awhile it felt like I could pretty much do anything and the weight would still melt off, and that's not the case anymore.

I suppose that now would probably be a good time for me to start going to meetings, which I've never gone to, but I don't really want to. The talking and the supportive atmosphere might be nice, but they might also be frustrating, and also I just really don't feel like spending the time. The only reason I think the meetings would be helpful is just because of the accountability, and I am working on doing that for myself, through my weekly weigh-ins as well as the private diet journal that I started recently.

One thing the journal has helped me with is focusing myself and highlighting the things I want to concentrate on. And right now, to help push me off this perceived plateau, there are two things I want to focus on: snacking and exercise.

First, snacking. I'm good about cooking healthy meals and eating reasonable portions. I'm even pretty good about picking healthy options at restaurants. But when I started Weight Watchers, I was super vigilant about points and snacks. I had one snack per day--a granola bar in the mid-afternoon--and a low-calorie dessert at night. That was it. Once I had four M&Ms in a meeting at work and actually recorded them in my points tracker. I was very, very vigilant.

I'm not that vigilant anymore. I find myself thinking that if I just have a sugar-free pudding cup (only 1 point!), there's no need to add it to the tracker. If it's a cookie that someone brought to work, it hardly even counts. I'm not using all of my weekly bonus points anyway, right? So I tell myself it doesn't matter, even though I KNOW the only person I'm cheating is myself.

So! The snacking has to stop. It really is the difference between losing weight and just maintaining.

Second, the exercise. I go to the gym sometimes but not regularly like I used to. I take walks with Torsten but not often enough. I think what I need to do here is set realistic goals. No, I won't go to the gym every day--but I can go a couple times a week. No, I won't spend an hour on the highest setting on the treadmill--but I can do half an hour of medium-intensity elliptical followed by half an hour of weight training. These things are feasible. What's that people always say about setting realistic, attainable goals? That's what I need to do for myself.

So! It's time for me to get back on track for real. Because I am still losing weight and getting healthier, but I want it to go faster. And it's up to me to make that happen.

What about you? When you feel like your healthy lifestyle goals are slipping, what do you do to get yourself back on track?