Somewhere in between ordering the pizza and then tacking on cheesy breadsticks AND buffalo wings I thought, "I'm gonna be the only person to GAIN weight this week!!". I gave in to a wave of enthusiasm for what was to be a glorious day of professional football (lets not go there I already have to go to confession for the words that came out of my mouth). As Dana Carvey said in a recent stand-up routiune, I got a case of the "screw-its" (fill in your own choice word as you please...) - "Hey you have to weigh in on tuesday - oh screw it I want melted cheese!!!" or "You're trying to LOSE weight, remember? oh screw it beer is tasty especially washing down buffalo wings with blue cheese dressing!!" "Hey you, yeah the one balancing your beer bottle on your GUT - what the hell are you doing?! oh screw it this team stinks and I need to console myself with food....." Most of us have been there - drowning our sorrows in a wasteland of high fat, high sugar quick and easy deliciousness...and it makes you feel like you "fell of the wagon"
BUT
I still managed to lose 4 pounds this week!!! So there Pizza Hut (and you too you lousy Eagles for MAKING me eat!!!). Maybe this week if I stick to my diet plan I can lose 8 pounds!!!
This is one of the major obstacles to any "diet" - I put it in quotes because a diet by definition is generally a quick fix - a temporary solution to a problem with your eating patterns. If your evening is generally spent in front of the TV scarfing down ice cream and on your diet you try to change to eating small amounts of fat free yogurt, you will probably break and eat a gallon of Breyers (did I mention I did that already too?). The problem isn't so much the ice cream as it is the "trigger" of watching TV. Change your behavior and you are less likely to enage in the eating!!
Obviously this is very difficult. It involves a changing of lifestyle - going against many very well established social norms (American social norms that is). We are basically expected to gorge, to indulge - its not just that it's available, it's practically pushed down our throats! (no pun intended...). Look around on your drive home today and see how many unhealthy options there are around - and I don't mean just fast food joints - I mean chain restaurants, conveniance stores, STARBUCKS (I love it but its basically ice cream in a coffee cup). We live in a culture of consumption and that makes it extremely difficult to stay thin. Its no coincidence that most of us in this competition had problems over the weekend during the Futbol Americano game!! (or other social activities - poker games for example...)
So a challenge to all you in cyber space who so graciously read this - What is your "culture"? (No not like in that elementary school project where you brought in "irish" potatoes...) What activities do you do that revolve around food? Do you have any activities that revolve around being active? Can you start to? How does your culture or your attachment to certain types of food dictate your lifestyle? How attached are you to the American culture of Consumerism (think not only about food but your attachment to "stuff"). One of my favorite quotes from the movie Fight Club is when Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) says, "The things you own end up owning you."
A last minute tip - try not to "outlaw" any foods - its unrealistic. Instead, use a small amount of certain foods as a reward for eating healthier or being active. Unless of course it is the deadly oreo or an entenmanns pop-em....in that case run screaming in the other direction!
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