How to Simply Lose Weight: Part 3

These three one pound boxes of sugar represent the amount of weight I lost in May.  I have to admit, I was surprised. I haven't weighed 157 in years. 

Lately, my enthusiasm for dieting has been waning. I cheated on myself...a lot. I caved to that smooth talking carrot cake with the luscious cream cheese frosting I love to run my fingers through. I cheated with that low down, no good ice cream who I don't even like. I even sneaked in a fling with chunky peanut butter. I am disgusting. 

How do you keep motivating yourself? 

I am starting anew. Today, I begin my diet again. This will probably not be the last time I start over. If you fall, get up. The view from the floor is terrible. And believe me, dust bunnies are terrible conversationalists.

To motivate myself, I recently went dress shopping. I bought a couple of dresses which while they fit, will look much better after I lose another five pounds. I hope the sight of them hanging longingly, waiting patiently, will encourage me to be diet faithful. 

In the United States, there are no standard sizes. Unlike Europe, in which clothing is sold strictly by measurement (bust size in inches, waist size in inches), every American clothing manufacturer simply makes up their own sizes. 

About then years ago, Tammy Kinley of the North Texas School of Merchandising took precise measurements of over 1,000 pairs of women's pants from 20 different retail stores in Texas. In size 14, Kinley's study showed a various of up to 8 inches in the waist circumference between brands. This is why you can wear a size 8 in one brand and a size 16 in another. It may also explain why you prefer to  purchase clothes from a store that winkingly states you are a size 8. 

One thing I have found interesting is that expensive clothing runs much smaller than the bargain brands. I expected the opposite but then I remembered Abercrombie and Fitch's strategy of selling only to thin, beautiful and apparently,  incredibly stupid people. 

Why do we allow a clothing label to dictate our self esteem? Is a size 2 a better, nicer person than a size 14? Is a size 0 smarter than a size 16? When was the last time you picked a doctor based on their lab coat size? 

The chart below demonstrates the variances found between clothing stores in size 8 and the futility of labels. 

Part 2: How to Simply Lose Weight

I started dieting on February 2 at 173 pounds. On May 1, I weighed 160 pounds.  "Lose 13 pounds in 3 months!" is not a headline you ever see when scanning the magazine headlines while standing in line at the grocery store holding a box of Twinkies. 

I am always annoyed when I do see headlines such as "Lose Five pounds in Five Minutes Without Exercising! or "I Lost 100 pounds on the Pasta Plan!" Before you get too excited, there is no Pasta Plan. See, you were ready to google it. There really is no easy way to lose weight. It's simple (see previous post) but I never said it was easy. It takes self control and will power. They do not sell these things in a store. If they did, I would trample over old ladies and small children to be first in line with a blank check in hand. 

So, I lost 3.5 pounds in April which is a little less than a sack of sugar. Whenever I get discouraged and feel like saying, "I only lost 3.5 pounds", I go pick up that sack of sugar and carry it around for a while. Three and half pounds has some heft to it. 

Here's my problem. I'm stuck. I lost the 3.5 pounds the first two weeks of April and have lost nothing since. If you charted my weight loss, the resulting graph would look like I was having a heart attack and then flat lined. One day, I weighed 158.75 which was extremely exciting but then the next day, I jumped up to 161 despite behaving myself. It's frustrating.

During World War 2 when London was constantly being blitzed by random bomb attacks, the British had a propaganda poster plastered everywhere which said, "STAY CALM AND CARRY ON". I am trying to adopt this attitude in regard to diet bomb weigh-ins.  

One thing I did wrong in April was not to exercise. I dislike sweating. Plus, it was cold and rainy all month. It's hard to motivate yourself to sweat and be chilly and wet at the same time.

When I do exercise, it's not because I like to run but because I like to eat/drink. My thought process goes something like this:  Run three miles = glass of wine. Perhaps, I need AA more than WW.

This month, I have vowed to get back to the basics and start moving more. I have found an app for my phone which I really like. And since you know I am exceeding cheap, it is of course, free. The app is called "Run Keeper" and uses GPS technology to track your exercise route. The app will track your time, distance, calories burned, pace and elevation climb. You can email your results to yourself or others. It keeps a record of your walks/runs so you can see yourself improve. I find it very motivating. 

You do have to remember to hit "stop" at the end of your run/walk to have accurate statistics. I forgot last time and was highly disappointed. But then I calmed myself with a glass of Merlot.