I have been weighing myself daily. Sometimes, I have been weighing myself several times a day. Why do I do this when I know it will make me crazy and tear out my hair and run towards the closest Milky Way? Weighing yourself is an example of how we have been intimidated by the weight-loss industry. There is supposed to be a "magic number" for my height and I damn well better be it! All the authorities I respect and all the people I know who have been successful with weight loss are not cowed by this little machine we stand on. But I am.
After an initial weight loss of about 7 lbs, I've gained about 2 lbs back, and then lose again. Now, 7 lbs isn't that much, but I am not going on a crash diet of any sorts, just trying to figure out how to eat better. I have weighed myself naked early in the morning, and fully-clothed late at night. I have weighed myself on weekends when I have eaten fatty fatty two by four dip, when I know I will cry myself to sleep in my metrecal. What's with this obsession with the scale?
And yet, I can't seem to throw the thing away or even stick it in a distant closet somewhere. My cousin, Patti has lost weight lately. She doesn't know how much and she doesn't weigh herself. Amazingly, when I spoke with her, she didn't even know what size she wears! She had to take her pants in because they were hanging on her. That is how she knows she lost weight. The secret to Patti's success is she "stopped eating like a pig, and ate a lot of salads". I am less perplexed by the secret of her dieting success than I am by the fact that she is not obsessed with her weight or her clothing size. Is she an American? In Patti's case, maybe not. She is a world traveler, speaks several languages fluently (French, English, Spanish, Italian)and has dual Italian and American citizenship. Maybe, that's the trick. See the world.
The world I see is from TV and magazines. We think of the world in BIG views, new countries with different cultures etc. Since it is unlikely my world view will be expanded by foreign travel anytime soon, I can expand my view in the city where I live. In a former job I held, we once polled all the languges spoken in the data entry department. Out of about 110 employees, there were 14 languages spoken. Those 14 cultures plus more, are available in my city, or close to it. No reason why I can't make some inroads close to home. Maybe an attitude adjustment is what I need. There is no reason why I can't take some of those gazillion language cd's my husband has and learn a little Spanish, or French for that matter. I can walk 20 feet from my front door and practice my new-found Spanish.
If I want something a little more exotic, I can go 10 miles and visit "Little Saigon" for an Asian flavor. If it's Greektown I want, or Little Armenia, I can visit Los Angeles, an hours drive. There is a whole world out there to see, close to home. How lucky can I get? Today is National Start Walking day, so I'm starting from home, where there is a world out there awaiting me.
Happy hiking and keep your passport current! You never know.
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