Good morning and Happy Memorial Day to those of us in the US! To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure WHO or WHAT we’re supposed to be remembering today? Memorial Day just always seems like the day that kicks off to summer (though with our chilly weather in Pennsylvania this year, it feels more like the kick-off to spring ).
I’m home from my wanderings around the country, which means Back To Reality Time. Despite today being a holiday, I have clients at the gym and enough laundry to keep me busy for a long, long time. We need groceries and fortunately I think everything’s open today, despite the holiday.
I got on the scales and faced the music this morning. I’m up a total of 2.5 pounds from my cross-country jaunt, which is about what I’d expect. But add that onto the five pounds I've gained in the three months since I started working at the gym and I’m in trouble. It is time to get very serious here! As we talked about in Thin For Life, this is the line in the sand that I will not cross and so it’s back to basics. I’m going to post a ten pound ticker under my name and get this fat off ASAP. Unfortunately, I know too well how s-l-o-w-l-y it comes off now (in contrast to how amazingly fast it piles back on!) But regardless of whether it takes me all summer, I WILL lose ten pounds!
The good news is that I know what works. It’s not like I’m clueless about why I’ve gained weight and have no idea what to do about it or anything like that. Nope, I’ve gained weight simply because I ate too many calories (in retrospect, none of it was worth a weight gain, but isn’t that always the truth?). My plan is to do what I know works: plan my meals in advance, count calories, take food to the gym so I’m not starving (and make bad choices), cook in advance, write down everything that I eat, and not cheat. Exercise was kind of sporadic while I was away from home but I think it’s generally where it should be. Though I may need to step up the cardio to an hour/day – we’ll see …
I was thinking about weight and maintenance when I was flying home yesterday and came to the conclusion that maintenance is probably always going to be this way – a dynamic process of gaining a few, losing a few, then perhaps gaining ten pounds and losing them, over and over again … I don’t think – for me at least – that my weight is ever going to be static. When I let go a bit – like on vacation – the weight gain is inevitable and very predictable. So I’m convinced that my weight is going to bounce around in a ten pound range for the rest of my life (I just absolutely refuse to let it become more than a ten pound range).
But weight fluctuations go along with the idea that goal is not a destination; it’s only another point on the journey. Losing weight and keeping it off is a battle that we’re going to fight every day for the rest of our lives. It doesn’t matter how well I did yesterday – I’ve got to get up this morning and do it all over again if I want to keep the weight off for life. No resting on our laurels, as they say.
As I learned once again on my trip, my body doesn’t take vacation days from weight management. It’s 24/7, 365 days a year. But hey! I’m OK with that. What I need to do to keep the weight off is a very small price to pay for all the incredible benefits of weight loss. So you aren’t going to hear any complaining from me.
So here’s to the beginning of a wonderful summer for all of us. If there’s anyone else who finds themselves up a few pounds and wants to join me, I’d love the company. Let’s make Summer 2005 the best summer of our lives!