Monday, September 25, 2006

Sinking or Swimming?

Every morning the cats and I have a ritual. I stumble over them from the bed to the bathroom, then I stumble over them from the bathroom to the kitchen. In the Kitchen I open them a fresh can of cat food to share.

Our Cats: Sabina (top-left) and Maxima (bottom-right)

The cat food is a diversionary tactic so I can double-back to the scale! You see, without the food to distract them, the cats always climb on the scale with me! (“ACK!! How did I gain 10 pounds overnight!!!! Oh, wait... Hi Sabina. Yes, I'll feed you now.” =^-^= MEOW!!! )

But this morning I chose not to get on the scale. (Don’t worry, the cats still got their food!)

I was very tempted to see what I weighed, but I don’t think daily weighing makes much of a difference anymore. I have been hovering around 145-ish for almost a year now, which is within the “healthy weight range” for someone my height.

Taking my weight data daily was really only good for populating my weight loss spreadsheets, but I can easily convert them to weekly weight monitoring spreadsheets by using a simple sorting algorithm, then copying the sorted data to a new sheets!! Oops, sorry... enough with the geek-speak.

I think weekly weigh-ins will help me win back my self-esteem from the daily emotional roller coaster a quarter pound up or down caused. On "light days" I feel great, but on days when I'm puffy or after a night out… I feel bad. And bad days trigger more bad days if you seek food to comfort yourself. It is an all too familiar trap many people trying to lose weight fall victim to.

You'd think after all these years of healthy living, and such a significant weight loss, I'd be able to conquer that vicious cycle... over-all I have, but in the past month or so it's been winning. I've had so much stress and my recent illness kept me from my usual exercise routine. But I've got right back into it as my health improved this week!

Without the daily weigh-in I feel like a kid who's swimming out to the deep end of the pool for the first time without a "floatie." Will I sink or will I swim?

I think I will swim! But if I do start to flounder, I know I have lots of "lifeguards" out there who will jump in and save me.

Trying to live like a real "Non-Dieting Healthy Person!"

Jess

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Jessica, I wanted to take this opportunity to say how proud I am of your accomplishment in becoming healthy. I was really in quite a weight-loss/gain rut and you patiently answered all my questions and gave me the motivation to take my first step towards being healthy too. I am down about 20 lbs since I first discovered your blog, I have invested in a decent scale, I am looking into ingredients more carefuly and I love reading your blog. So to get to my point, thank you, keep swimming and keep writing!

LC in Sunny So Cal said...

I KNOW you'll do swimmingly. Change your intense focus from the numbers on the scale to the behaviour you so carefully craft for yourself. Once a week weighing is moderate, and healthy, and a good guidepost for you to ensure that your continued health and success are on target!

Congratulations on this new step in your healthy life!

Anonymous said...

HUZZAH!! THREE CHEERS FOR JESSICA!!!! :D

I'm sure you'll do good. And hey, if you ever do start to "sink" I know I'll certainly be more than happy to dive in and save you. ;)

Cheers!!
-Lil Sister Rachel