It Started With A Dress: Stop. Diet Rut Ahead.

In a new weekly feature, Her.ie newbie Liz is going to share her weight loss journey. She’ll be filling you in on fighting temptation, her willpower struggles with the cocktail menu and taking painfully slow steps towards regular exercise. All in the name of a dress.  _____________________________________ Hanging on the wall at the end of my bed is the constant reminder I plan on shedding nearly two stone this year. I also plan on marking the trials and tribulations of ‘trying to be good’ – the favourite saying we all tout, and quickly replace when a cake is put in front of us.   Week 16: Sitting on plateau scales “You are what you eat, so don’t be fast, cheap, easy or fake.” My leader’s words were echoing in the room. In one way I wanted to applaud her on finding a new way to champion weight loss puns each week. In another way I wanted to tell her sometimes eating the fast, cheap, easy, fake food was horrendously tasty. I went for the keeping my mouth shut and waiting until the end of class to run out the door option. Somehow I don’t think anyone needed the outburst from my self-imposed pity party. This week I went up. I was not impressed. Not one slightest little bit. Two weeks to deadline day and I’m up 3lbs. I wish I could say it came as a total surprise, but I’d been banking on at least a 1lb struggle. The three had hurt, but if you are what you eat, I was definitely along the Z-list celebrity stakes than say a healthy, salad eating Kate Middleton this week. I am struggling. It is the same vicious cycle that I’m trying to break. I will have a conversation with myself in the mornings (usually when I am in the shower and planning out my days) and talk about how good I am going to do that day. (Yes, I lead a thrilling life.) I tell myself how I am going to make good choices and track. Here’s the catch. This week, I just really didn’t want to be good. I was looking for a quick fix in the evenings, and hoping it wouldn’t show on the scales. Along with the quick fix, I think I spent the week looking for “just a taste of something sweet”, and deciding that a chocolate bar would help soothe the cravings. That little admission wasn’t really accounted for in my points tracker either. I’ve learnt that you can’t really lie about what you eat. “What you eat in public, you see in private.” There’s a second little motto from the world of Weight Watchers, and unfortunately it’s very true. I feel like I’m sitting in plateau station and my body doesn’t seem to want to drop any further. For the last couple of weeks, it’s been a pound here, a half pound there. It’s been crippling slow to stand on a scales and hope for a result, and wait for something minor to flash before the screen. I know I’m a visual person by nature. It’s half the reason why I have a dress hanging at the end of my bed. Yet, I can’t really seem to shake the feeling of routine dieting, and when you’re staring at a half a pound loss, or this week a 3lb gain, it can be hard to keep the motivation levels up. Mary warned me about this. Lovely, sweet and brutally honest Mary had tried to hold up the flashing, neon warning sign of getting stuck in a diet rut. “One day you’re all about the points love, and then suddenly you’re wrestling someone in the café for the last scone on the plate,” she warned, with what I could’ve sworn slightly rosier cheeks. I was hoping this was an analogy – mainly for the other person. Mary does not seem like the kind of woman you’d argue with out of choice. It was then I realised I am in a complete diet routine rut. I’m eating the same foods, getting lazy with weighing out the portions, and if I’m honest, fantasizing about sinking my teeth into a cheesy pizza. The worst part is I didn’t take my usual self-motivated kick up the backside to check myself and put my goals back at the forefront. I indulged the pity party and gave myself a big slice of comfort food on the side. Two things I didn’t need, but was insisting on having. It was actually an email from a reader that gave me the reality check I needed this week. A really sweet email that made my week, about how a girl had started out Weight Watchers alongside me and was doing really well. That she was glad she wasn’t doing it alone. I realised I’m not doing it alone, there are loads of us ladies working on sculpting our designer, slinky selves. I just need to get my head back in the game. I’m insanely competitive. For once I’d better put it to good use. I’m now striking off the days on my bedroom calendar to my big (hopefully successful) reveal. It’s scary, and right now, it’s looking a little longer away, but I’m going to try make it. Besides, pizza can’t taste that good, right? Right?! This week’s stats go a little something like this - Height: 5ft 8 Starting Weight: 174 lbs Current Weight: 162 lbs Weight Loss To Date: 13 lb Goal: 148 lbs Feeling: Frustrated The Dress in Question: