The Last Worthless Evening

For ten years, I have struggled to lose weight. Well, that is not entirely accurate. I have lost weight easily several times, but failed miserably at keeping it off. Since the turn of the millennium, I have lost over 100 pounds at different times, and put it all. back. on. every. single. time.

I’ve “attempted” umpteen diets and detailed them here.

I’ve learned to love my body, extra pounds and all, and detailed that here and here.

I’ve made peace with exercise and have come to actually enjoy it. I detailed that here, here, here and here.

I ran a marathon. (This was before I was blogging...)

I cooked healthy meals. (Glorious One Pot Meals)

But when push comes to “shovel,” I shovel it right on in. Put me in front of a bowl full of noodles and suddenly my arms are not long enough to reach my pause button on my fork. My mother calls this the “Hand to Mouth Disease.”

If you go to a Weight Watchers meeting, you will learn that this behavior is not uncommon… I should know. I’ve been around the block with WW more than once… some might call me a Weight Watchers floozie… I know all the tricks and tips and hot buttons. It is such a great program and easy to follow… until it’s not.

That is where I always get tripped up. I fizzle out and the “energy storage” (as I’ve taken to calling my excess body weight) creeps back on. I simply fail to make the necessary changes to my lifestyle.

When I say necessary changes, I don’t mean giving up carbs or becoming vegan or subsisting only on the chaff of wheat grown in Kansas… I mean simply journaling my food intake and exercise. When I journal, my angel of goodness who sits on my right shoulder will almost always beat the devil of temptation on my. But if I’m not keeping track, there is no angel…. and there is no devil either, because I probably already ate what he was tempting me with!

“Well, what’s new?” you say. This: I’m going public. I’ve always approached my weight loss journey in silence, sharing my successes and failures with few so that I didn’t have to endure the pain of failing in front of many… so that I didn’t have to be fully committed. But I’m thinking I need some support. I need for someone to reply to this post in October and ask me if I am still journaling my food… to see if I’m still letting the angel win. I need someone to share my daily triumphs with. THAT IS YOU!

I am not going to make this about the pounds. My goal is follow the WW plan and to make this about successes – both small and large. My ultimate goal is that this is the last time the yo-yo goes down.

What can you expect from me? Moment-by-moment success reports on my Twiitter feed. (Need to get on Twitter? Click my link on the top right of the screen.) I’ll also give periodic updates here.

I appreciate your support as I walk this journey, hopefully for the last time. Also, I’d love to hear YOUR success story. You can leave it as a comment, or if you prefer, you can e-mail me at salwonthewest@yahoo.com.