Five Reasons I’m Fat

When you boil it down, weight loss is relatively easy, right? I mean, calories in, calories out. But, the more I think about it, the more weight I gain. I just can’t seem to shed pounds. So, what’s the issue? Below are five of the reasons why I’m still fat. Can you relate?

Inconsistency:

I’ve tried everything from WW, Atkins, South Beach, Flat Belly, Keto, the Military Diet, the 14 Day Diet, the 3-Day Diet and have purchased dozens of diet books. I’m sure all are effective, but I’ve not stuck to any of them for more than a week.

I’ve been tracking, measuring and agonizing forever! There are weeks that I’ll do no carbs on Monday, WW on Tuesday, and calorie counting on Wednesday. I can’t make up my mind about which is easiest for me to do. Because my thoughts are so consumed with dieting, it’s holding me back from everything else.

Self-sabotage:

Self-sabotage is real for me. I weigh myself daily. If I see the scale go down even an ounce, that’s a pass for me to eat a bowl of ice cream or a bag of chips because, hey, I’m down!  If I see the scale has gone up, I’ll start over the next day.

No Will Power

Someone told me that will power is like a muscle that needs to be exercised. The problem is, at the end of the day, that muscle is fatigued, and I give up. For example, I was on a low carb diet, and a co-worker left an over ripe banana on my desk. I love over ripe bananas! Of course, they are high in sugar and not conducive to a low carb diet. I stared at that banana all day thinking I’d secretly throw it out. I didn’t want to tell my thoughtful co-worker that I didn’t want it. But when my will power muscle was overtired, I gobbled up that banana! The banana was not just a banana. The banana was an excuse to eat whatever I wanted for the rest of the day and night. “I screwed up, so I’ll just start over tomorrow.”

Eating at night:

I’d rather scroll through my phone or watch mindless TV than go to sleep at night. After a long day of work, chores, kid’s activities and responsibilities, I need just a small bit of time to do nothing. So, I plant my ass on the couch, flip through the channels and scroll through my phone. There comes a point when I know I should go to bed, but instead I knock off one more DVR’d show and eat my way through it. Any dieting I did that day is thrown out the window and I don’t even care until I’m done and in bed.   

Parties and social events:

I would rather bury myself in a plate of food before sparking up a conversation at a party. I love the idea of socializing, but I’m a bit of a wallflower at times and would rather soak it all in…while eating and drinking.

When hosting a party, I’m busy making sure everyone is happy, putting food out, and cleaning up. But after the guests leave, I talk myself into eating the leftovers that I missed out on. My rationale is ‘when else will I have the opportunity to indulge in buffalo chicken dip or chocolate cake’.  So, while I clean up, food goes either in containers, the garbage, or my mouth!

Looking for Answers:

I find encouragement when others succeed. When appropriate and the opportunity presents itself, I ask how they lost weight. After the conversation, my encouragement turns into discouragement. Below is a summary of recent responses to my question:

• “Weight Watchers in combination with running. I love running!” This person is now a marathon runner and runs 3-4 hours at a clip.
• “I started doing CrossFit for an hour, 3-4 days a week.” And she added that she threw up during the first couple of intense workouts.
• “I get up at 4am, 6 days a week, and go to the gym for 2 hours. Running the first hour, and weight training the second hour.” Then she goes home, gets the kids out and goes to work. Her diet consists of a protein shake, chicken and broccoli.

The ‘runner’, the ‘puker’ and the ‘disciplined, work out goddess’ all found something that worked for them, but none of those things will work for me. I despise running and the idea of throwing up during a workout is not appealing. Working out at 4am while only eating chicken is not for me either.

Taking Ownership of this Issue!

I finally realized that I don’t have to follow a specific diet or do exactly what someone else does. I think I can do it my way incorporating some of what I’ve learned along the way. Here is my plan:

• I will weigh myself once a month
• I will use a calorie tracking app
• l will commit to working out 5 hours per week
• When I screw up, I will get back on track for the next meal, not the next day
• I will avoid eating after eight o’clock PM

I’ll let you know how this works.

Tell me this: Have you struggled with weight loss? What’s your story?