Weight-Loss Struggles

I think the hardest thing about trying to lose weight, and I think some of you will agree, is having a week when you don't actually lose any weight.  Or worse yet, a week when you gain weight.  It's weird because people who are "maintaining" their weight probably jump around within a 5-10 pound range depending on the time of year, how much water they drank, what their salt intake was, what time of day they work out.  But oddly, even though my overall weight is down, I am losing (slowly!), I panic when I gain a pound back, like I have accomplished nothing thus far. 

It's hard on me, because I have grown to have a sort of love/hate relationship with food.  I eat it to make me happy, and then I hate how it makes me feel.  And unfortunately, when I gain at my WW meeting, I have a strange urge to give up rather than try harder.  And a pound or even half of a pound makes me feel like I've failed.  Even if I did make smarter choices, and work out more, suddenly that number on the scale kills a good week.


Well, I think that's been the biggest struggle, but also the biggest lesson so far with my Weight Watchers journey.  I am learning to be determined to keep pushing through, to celebrate the little goals I reach and remember it's not just about losing weight, it's about being healthy all around.  Whether you're doing Weight Watchers or not, when you are trying to lose weight, or tone up, or eat organically, the best thing you can do is forgive yourself when you "cheat," "mess up," "get off track," or whatever other negative term we've decide to give to our indulgences, and just keep striving for your goal.  In the long run, gaining one or two pounds one week does not make you a failure, it makes you human.  If I have learned anything from my last seven weeks with Weight Watchers, its that there are so many other HUMANS struggling with the same things I have been.  I have learned to laugh off a "bad" week and get right on with my life, because I'm not going to enjoy much if I'm always feeling guilty about my choices, the number on the scale, or the day I watched TV instead of rode my bike.  My "struggles" are feeling less like tall hurdles I have to jump over and more like little hills I have to climb.  I can slowly work towards getting over the hill without falling flat on my face.


I am still always open to any advice or recipes or tips and of course, always willing to share any advice, recipes or tips of my own...just let me know! :)  Happy Tuesday!