1. Is Inertia Preventing Me from Moving Forward?

    This is the second post in a series where I check in on my 2012 goals.  The introductory post is found here

    Yesterday I talked about how I’ve been stalled at about 98 pounds lost, just short of hitting triple digits – a huge milestone.  My trainer has been telling me that it’s normal to plateau every 15 or so pounds now that I’m so close to my goal weight, but I think that, for me, it’s more of a mental game than anything else.

    Per dictionary.com, inertia is defined as “inertness, especially with regards to effort, motion, action, and the like; inactivity; sluggishness”.  This pretty much sums up where I’ve been since mid-February, when I recorded my last drop in weight.  Since then, I’ve been bouncing around between 93 – 98 pounds lost, never quite getting to the major milestone.  And I know what the problem is.  I wasn’t eating like I’m supposed to.  Occasional indulgences became a constant source of snacking by the handful.  I wasn’t sticking to the low-carb diet that I’d agreed to follow with my trainer.  I was being lazy an unfocused, so while I was still working out like a crazy person, I learned the cold, hard truth: you can’t out-exercise a bad diet.

    Food v exercise

    Sad but true. 

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  2. Lent

    I’m not terribly religious and didn’t realize that it was Fat Tuesday until this morning.  However, as soon as I realized that tomorrow was Ash Wednesday, my brain did a weird thing – it immediately started thinking about what I would give up for Lent.  I think this was a Pavlov-style reaction from my Catholic-school upbringing (I went to Catholic school until college) where giving up something for Lent was practically a requirement.

    I haven’t given anything up for Lent in quite awhile but was thinking about it on my morning commute.  I’ve given up so much during the course of my weight loss that I’m not sure there’s much left to give up.  I don’t do dairy, I don’t do carbs, I don’t do junk food…the list goes on and on and on.  My diet is really pretty clean with only the occasional splurge for a slice or two of gourmet pizza (with a big helping of salad) or a skim latte.

    But then a little voice in the back of my head started whispering the words “dark chocolate almonds”.

    I confess, the one chocolate treat that I allow myself of a near-daily basis is dark chocolate almonds.  I love them.  They’re still moderately healthy for a daily treat, and I love them.  But I might love them TOO much.  What started as a fairly controlled daily handful (counted out to ensure portion size) has become reminiscent of previous bingeing habits.  I eat more than I bother to count in a day and I reach for them with increasing frequency, grabbing handfuls at a time.

    So this Lent, I’m giving up the mindless bingeing.  I’ve given up too much in general to completely give the chocolate almonds up entirely, but I am back to counting them out for the day and sticking to it.  I’m taking back control!

    What positive change are you making for Lent? Let me know!

About me

One girl's journey to lose 130 pounds and completely reclaim her life.