I haven’t weighted myself in many many months, but I know I’ve been gaining weight, slowly but surely. I can tell this because I keep outgrowing my clothes. Remember my closet clearing exercise? Even some of those items are becoming too snug to bear and my newly acquired pants I fear will have the same fate if I don’t stop this madness.
I believe it was Geneen Roth (love her!!) that said: “It’s not about the weight, but it’s also not not about the weight.” The message was basically that you can be happy at any weight once you deal with what’s really bothering you instead of focusing on the weight. But at some point weight can make things physically uncomfortable, like when you can’t walk a block without being winded or when you can’t comfortably sit in a chair, and in that case, it’s important to deal with the physical weight. I am not that overweight. I know this. But the weight gain is causing me discomfort when I continuously grow out of my clothes. It makes getting dressed a painful exercise daily (we’ve heard this before, huh?). I can’t continue buying larger and larger clothes. I need to do something!
Here is the deal… I want to be very clear about this: I am not gaining weight because intuitive eating doesn’t work. I’m gaining weight because I haven’t been listening to my body. I’ve been ignoring its signals – eating things my mind wants vs. what my body needs. Eating things in amounts that at times cause me physical discomfort.
I know better. It’s time to get serious because I’m done sounding like a broken record. Here are the things I will focus on:
1. I will eat what I want but I will ask myself if I am physically hungry before anything goes into my mouth (tuning in to your body is very important here!). A little bite here and there may seem innocent but it’s habit forming and little things add up. “It’s so good, I can’t stop even though I’m stuffed.” Sounds familiar? You and I CAN stop. We need to choose to stop. Here is why it’s better to stop. You can definitely have something very delicious again, possibly the exact thing you “can’t stop” eating right now. You can make it again. You can go to that restaurant again. If it’s a one-time thing, you can make something similar… or you can make something different that can bring you the exact same level of pleasure (maybe more!!). You can stop. You should stop. This is important. It’s the difference between guilt, discomfort, crying over not fitting into your clothes and not worrying about your weight. This is how you lose weight without dieting!
2. Declutter. I’m not just talking about physical clutter (although I really should fold that load of laundry I did a few days ago!). As Steven Pressfield said in the The War of Art
).
3. Work out. I’ve been feeling very sluggish lately which leads to general sense of “blah.” <—yes, that’s a technical term 
Working out, for me, should be a top priority – not because it burns calories but because it makes me feel strong, energized and balanced. It’s like taking my medicine. Sometimes I’m too lazy to get up and get a glass of water, etc. but it’s important (here is that word again) in order to feel better. Don’t underestimate it when you feel overwhelmed by other little things you feel like you “need to” to do (as per (2) above.).
I wrote this list in my journal yesterday morning and had one of my the best days in recent memory. My list of “important items” for the day actually changed. For example, getting a manicure seemed important in the morning but coming home and making a healthy dinner for Adam (who is trying to lose weight) was more important. Today a manicure is getting back on the important list. (I have chipped nail polish that is just driving me insane. I don’t care if some people think it’s silly and non-important. This is my list and I put whatever I want on it!)
So here we go. Sorry for writing a novel. I hope it’s helpful to some of you. It’s time to end this cycle for good!!
Any thoughts on the subject from my dear readers?
Guests always ask what to bring – give them specific instructions (beer, dessert, etc.) or go a step further and make it a potluck gathering. Last night the feast below (and more! we had to use a side table) was all put out by my guests!! A few items from the grocery store completed the table. 
). Nope – not a good plan. Have a plan and execute on it – this is how you keep your reputation as the hostest with the mostest!
with a hook attachment, this dough came together in about 5 minutes. 50 minutes later it doubled in size and was very easy to work with. As I said before, I divided it into 10 balls for large sandwich buns.
I will no doubt will be making mini ones for sliders or any time a pretzel craving or an amazing-bun craving hits!
