I Need to Stop Beating Myself Up and Give Myself Some Credit

It was exactly 4 weeks ago today that I declared that I was at my Weight Watchers goal weight.  What that means to all of you non-Weight Watchers is that I need to remain within two pounds of my goal weight for six weeks in order to obtain "lifetime" membership.  The important thing about becoming a lifetime member is that I will no longer have to pay for weekly meetings.  At $10 a pop, this adds up.  If my weight goes out of this 4 pound range, I guess I have to pay up to go to meetings again and earn my status back.

Well, I have to make a confession.  My weight has already gone out of my range.  And not in the right direction.  I have gained somewhere in the nature of 3 pounds, which means that I need to lose 1 pound to be in my range, but I will know for sure when I step on that WW scale today.  And I am not exactly easy on myself about this.  I have a type-A personality and failure is usually not an option.

Do I have excuses? Sure I do.  My life has been unusually hectic lately.  For most people, my life probably seems insane. So when I am saying that my life has been unusually hectic, I am not messing around. How did that affect my weight? Well, mainly, I stopped counting my points and recording what I ate.  Not a recipe for success. I'm pretty disappointed in myself.

Why should you care? Because I bet you beat yourself up too.  It turns out that the vast majority of people with weight problems really talk very negatively to themselves about it.  We say things like, "Uuuugh, I gained 3 pounds. I'm never going to be able to lose weight/stay at my goal weight. I might as well eat that crappy high calorie stuff on the table at work today. I have no self control anyway."

And do you know what else? Thin people, "naturally" thin people, don't talk to themselves like that.  The script in their head goes something like this: "I gained three pounds over the past 4 weeks.  Wow, that's not the weight I am comfortable at. Oh well, it's no big deal. I know exactly what I need to do for the next 4 weeks in order to get back to my normal weight. I'm going to follow my plan and get back to my normal weight."

Where does confidence like that come from? It is gained with experience. Do I have this experience? Heck yeah I do. I know exactly how to lose weight. So I don't need to have those negative thoughts anymore. My goals are better served if I think like a thin person.  Thin people give themselves credit for all of the good choices that they make in a day. More on that tomorrow . . .



If you are interested in radically changing the way that you think about losing weight, I urge you to read The Beck Diet Solution and follow the steps outlined in the book.  It can change your life if you want it to.