Losing It #13: Steady On

I've lost over 80 pounds so far. I started at 323. This morning I weighed 242, and I'm getting closer and closer to my goal of 200 pounds. This is a time that I have to be steady and stick with the plan. In the past, when I've reached this weight, for some reason I've often let it slide and started packing on the pounds again.

The last time I went on a weight loss campaign, I made it down to 235 before I gave it up. I didn't give up right away. It started slowly. I had started running again, and I told myself that I could handle a pint of Ben and Jerry's once a week. I justified the weekly indulgence by figuring that running would magically melt the extra calories. I stopped losing weight, but at least with the running, I wasn't gaining any weight. Then I caught a nasty cold and was too weak to run for about a week. Of course, I wasn't too weak to eat ice cream! After a week of non-exercise, I had lost momentum. Soon I stopped exercising altogether and started eating more junk: ice cream, chips, and fast food. A year later, I was even heavier than before.

I also experienced some frustration with my running a couple years ago. I could feel myself getting faster. I began to think that I could recapture my glory days and maybe even come out of nowhere in local races to place in my age group. One morning, as I was feeling particularly fast, two chatting high school girls blew by me like I was standing still. Talk about a reality check! Instead of dealing with the fact that I wasn't nearly as fast as I use to be, I started to lose the motivation to run.

This time around, I don't plan on making the same mistakes.

• I know that ice cream is my Achilles heel. As much as I love the stuff, not a bit of ice cream has passed my lips for nearly half a year. So I'm running again and sticking to good eating habits.
• I've gotten over the fact that I don't run fast anymore. I'm content to enjoy the exercise, and I'm focused on running lightly and easily. If a flock of gossiping high school girls passes me on the road, good for them.
• If I get sick and can't run for a while, that's okay. I can walk. If it turns out that years of obesity have left my knees in a sorry state, I can walk. I enjoy walking almost as much as running.

The biggest mistake I made the last time I tried to lose weight was trying to do it all by myself. Aside from gigs and rehearsals, I'm a hermit. I live alone, and I prefer to do most of my activities alone. I exercise alone, too. Although I spend a lot of time by myself, that doesn't mean I have to be alone in my weight loss campaign. This time I have a lot of people behind me. I've posted fitness updates regularly on Facebook and in this blog, and in return I've received lots of support. Not only that, but many of my friends have started losing weight, too. Even though we're not dieting and exercising together in person, I feel like we're together in spirit.

This is the point where I typically hit the wall, but I'm determined not to let that happen again. I just need to be aware of my tendencies and to know that, recluse that I am, I get by a little help from my friends.