Crossing the Weight Line

Sigh. I got on the scale this morning and read the result: 196.8. That’s the first time in over a year I’ve been overweight again. It’s 13.8 pounds heavier than my lowest weight, and if I don’t get back under 195 by Sunday morning, then I’ll break my perfect string of being normal weight at the beginning of each month, as well.

I’m not too worried about getting under 195 by Sunday. I just got back from a conference, and then I had pizza last night. I already know from experience that equates to a bump in weight, but any which way you slice it, I have most definitely been cheating on my diet regime more and more since July.

The thing is, when I’m cheating on my diet, I almost always have a “good reason.” Lots of stuff is happening in my life. I’m stressed. I don’t have time to worry about little things like my health, right? Of course, that’s typically when I ought to be paying the most attention to what I’m eating.

The biggest problem is that even after a year of eating healthy, I still fall back on bad eating habits in times of stress. It’s my way of coping with having too much to do, and I have years of experience using it that way. I know that unless I do something about it, I will slip back up to 215 or so, and then I’ll be right back in the same mess I started in. I knew there would come a time when I would go over 195 again. Now’s the time to get serious about things once more.

And I’ve come up with a new plan.

In conjunction with a group of friends, I’ve started a weight loss group on Facebook. It’s small (just 5 of us), and the rules are simple. We each have a goal weight we’d like to get to. One we set on our own. And each month, we’ve promised each other to lose 5 pounds. We’ll keep that up until we reach the goal weight, at which point we’ll shift to maintaining that goal weight. Seems pretty straightforward, right?

But there’s the incentive.

Each of us has agreed to chip in $50 each month we fail to lose the 5 pounds or maintain our goal weight. The ones of us who have managed to lose the weight or keep it off get to split that $50. So in other words, as long as I always keep the weight off or keep losing weight, I don’t have to pay a single cent. And if I stay on track, I might even get some money (though I really hope none of us has to pay out ever.)

My starting weight was 192.6. So at this point, I need to lose 9.2 pounds to avoid paying the penalty. I have until the morning of October 25th. I certainly would have made things easier on myself if I’d watched what I ate while I was away, but water. bridge.

Ultimately, I’d like to get to 175, and then stay around there, with 180 being my new “line in the sand” weight. The good news is that I really don’t feel like I’m dieting anymore. I do believe I have a new approach to eating, and I just have to stick to it instead of cheating on it.

Wish me luck. (I don’t want to have to pay $50!)