Increased Surface Area

During the summer, in the middle of all of my crazy doctors' appointments, I had a regular check up with my doctor I have had for over 10 years. She is one of my favorite people and I always look forward to seeing her. Before she left the room, she put her hand on my shoulder, the way she always does when she is about to gently deliver some not so great news. I braced myself as she leaned over and said "Your blood pressure is up a little higher than normal. We need to keep an eye on that. Oh, and your surface area is higher than we would like." She looked at me with raised eyebrows and a little piece of me died.

I disappointed my doctor with my high score on the scale. I don't like to disappoint anyone, ever. I vowed to get rid of those bonus pounds I had added over the year. I decided I would start with that piece of me that died with her statement of the facts. As I left the office, I made plans on how I would lose the extra baggage. However; by the time I got home I was tired so I took one of the many naps of the summer. When I woke up, my motivation did not. Before I knew it, that little piece of me that had died, was wrapped in cookie dough, covered in doughnuts, dipped in chocolate, and drowned in Dr. Pepper. That little piece that had died became a big piece.

Now that my iron count is up I NEEDed to get my scale count down. A few weeks ago I joined Weight Watchers. It is a program I had success with in the past so I wanted to give it a try again. The first fake week I ate like I normally did, but kept track of the points. I needed to do this to show myself how far off track I really was. And, oh my goodness, was I off track! I had several days that I used almost 100 points. (I am only supposed to use 30 a day.) After that week, it was clear I have been doing it all wrong.  No matter what I was telling myself, my daily large Dr Pepper and sausage biscuit from McDonald's was not going to fly any more!

The first real week of Weight Watchers was hard. I had to completely change my eating habits. I had to plan. I had to use my points wisely. I was smart about my food choices and I never felt hungry. Week one; I lost 6lbs. My goal was 2lbs. I beat my goal. BUT that shows just how horrible my diet has been!

My second week was another success. I lost 2 more pounds. My goal for that week was to not gain any of my lost weight back. It was my scheduled week of emotional eating. I avoided that, mostly. It was also a week of being out of town and out of my normal routine. It was a week to fail, but I didn't.

I am going into this week feeling good and ready to fight my food demons. Soon, I will be able to bend over and not feel like I am holding a brick in my lap. I won't have to move my stomach to tie my shoes. I am looking forward to easy shoe tying.