A familiar pattern emerges

I have been trying to get healthy almost all of my life and it seems each attempt follows a certain pattern:

  1. I need to lose weight. It’s going to be hard. How do I start?
  2. Okay. I’m going to do this. I have a plan!
  3. ALL IN, BABY! Look how much weight I lost in the first month!
  4. Progress is surprisingly steady. I can do this forever!
  5. Feeling good. Looking good. Keep going!
  6. I have to grocery shop again?
  7. Always having to think 3 meals ahead makes me exhausted…
  8. I’ll just have takeout once a week. Try to keep it low carb as possible.
  9. Okay, so a cheat meal snowballed into a cheat weekend. I can bounce back!
  10. It took me three days, but I’m back!
  11. Oh no, it’s the weekend again…
  12. Well, it’s almost the end of the month, so, let’s start fresh on the first!

Yup, I’ve become very familiar with this pattern, yet I haven’t really been able to break it.

I visited a friend for her birthday before the new lockdown started. It was low-key, just 5 of us. Her husband is a great cook and he whipped up some great dishes and bought a delicious cake. It didn’t take me long to push my reservations and inhibitions aside and I took full advantage of all the sugary, carby goodness! I told myself briefly that I would get back on track the next day. But I didn’t. We had a bunch of junk food at home and instead of ignoring them like I had been doing since September, I ate it as if it was the last time I would ever eat junk food. As if.

That brings us to today. Monday. The magical day that I always say will be the fresh start that I need. It is currently 1:30pm and so far, so good. It’s the evenings that are harder for me. My plan is to keep busy, and get through today. Then do it again tomorrow. I feel like if I can get through 3 days, the 3 days after that will be a little easier, and so on. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Take it one day at a time.

Also, get more movement in this week. I’ve been doing walking workout videos on YouTube a couple of times a week and I’d like to make that a daily thing, since I don’t really leave the house these days.

I really want to break this pattern. I need to if I’m going to succeed long term.

Talk to me!