Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I Promise I Will Only Do This Once

I swear, I am on board with this whole weight loss thing. I am. Really. But there are a few things I need to gripe about before I grow up and get with it. So, here goes (and I promise to post at least one or two good things at the end, just so it's not all bitterness).

1. What on god's green earth possessed me to sign up for a 6 am exercise class? Did you know that it's still dark at 5:40 am, when I leave my house? What was I thinking?

2. Despite the insane hour, the gym parking lot is a good 1/2 full by the time I get there. Who the heck are these people? Don't they know that there's perfectly good sleep they could be getting?

3. I finally got my meal plan this morning. No protein at breakfast. Say what? My go-to "healthy" breakfast is a spinach and egg scramble, and you're telling me I have to eat cereal. Boo.

4. My holy heck, I eat a lot. I'm supposed to be eating every three hours, a fact that the PT mentions at least once a class. I think I'm supposed to feel like this is a lot of eating. Instead, I find myself thinking "I have to wait three hours between each meal/snack?" Suddenly, it's becoming clearer why I'm as big as I am.

5. Why does every single weight loss expert I've ever talked to insist that the road to skinny is paved with Splenda? Just once, I'd like them to advise us to eat real sugar in reduced amounts, and to work on readjusting our palates to expect less sweet flavor. Because frankly, artificial sweeteners taste like crap, plus who knows what they're really doing to you?

6. Alcohol = fat. Boo. (ok, it's not like I really expected vodka to be part of my meal plan, but I'm whining here, people. Cut me some slack.)

7. I stepped on the scale yesterday morning to find that I had gained a whopping SEVEN POUNDS since Monday. Now, I know it's just water weight coming back on after I was sick and dehydrated last week, but I still find it frustrating. Because they weighed me Monday morning when I was still nice and dehydrated, so when they weigh me again in two weeks, it's going to look like I've gained or stayed the same, when in reality I'm hoping I'll have lost something. Plus, isn't the one bright side of being sick actually losing weight? It doesn't count if the weight all comes back the second you start eating again.

8. No sooner did I start my food diary than I started craving junk food. I haven't had McDonald's in at least a month, and now? Well, I'd consider selling M for an Egg McMuffin. And some Cheetos. Maybe a donut. Oh, and some chocolate.

The Bright Side:

1. Today was only my second workout, and I can already see progress. For one thing, I made it the whole hour without falling off the treadmill. For another, I was able to go faster than I had on Monday. So that's good, right?

2. Even though it sucks to drag myself out of bed, it's kind of nice to watch the sun come up as I'm working out. And it feels good to get home at 7:30 am and know that I've already crossed one thing off of the day's to-do list.

3. I just happened to read The Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer this weekend. It's a light, funny book about (among other things) weight loss. I think she paints an unrealistic picture of how easy weight loss is, but it's still quite an inspiring story. Plus, her fat protagonist is actually fat (as in, her weight is similar to my own). I hate those books where the "fatty" actually weighs 140 pounds and only really needs to lose 5 or 10. I liked the book so much that I'm actually considering buying it, which is a huge endorsement these days.

4. Aside from the protein issue, the meal plan I got today is about what I expected. I find that I actually do have the knowledge I need to eat healthfully, it's just the motivation I lack. Here's hoping this is the go-round that fixes that once and for all.

5. 2 workouts down, only 34 to go!

1 comment:

judy said...

yeah good for you. You are going to rock this diet.