Signing a Weight Loss Contract With Myself

Earlier this week I had a nutrition consultation over the phone with Keri Glassman. She's written a book and has a website, so already she's probably the most famous person I've ever met.

She started out asking me what I typically ate during the day. No problem! I shared with her my typical morning oatmeal with fruit and coffee. I talked about my mid-morning snack of fruit or yogurt. I went through my usual lunch of turkey and cheese sandwich, pretzels, apple and carrot sticks. I was actually a little proud of my healthy eating habits.

What about dinner?

Well, dinner is...um...just whatever. It could be burgers. Or lasagna. Or chicken and rice. Or spaghetti. Vegetables are usually a salad and maybe a can of green beans or corn. We usually go out to eat Mexican food on the weekends. We try to plan our family meals out for the week and cook ahead, but with all the changes in our schedule right now with school and work, it has been difficult.

Do you eat anything after dinner?

Here's where I started to blush a little bit. As I'm telling her about my three or four trips to the kitchen during the evening hours, I realize how stupid I sound. Why am I making a peanut butter sandwich at 10:30 at night? No one is forcing me to! Why can't I just tell myself to stop?

To her credit, Keri is a professional. She never told me how idiotic all this sounds. This is just my internal thought process. Just me vocalizing this to another person makes me realize that maybe I haven't been taking this as seriously as I should. How embarrassing...

"How about exercise?" she asks. Well, I used to exercise, but I just can't find the time right now. As I'm saying the words, I can actually taste how nasty they sound. Yes, my work and home routine has been altered lately. Yes, it's almost impossible for me to get to the gym now. But in reality, I can make the time to walk at home. Or do some sit-ups while watching TV. But the fact is, I don't.

Keri said she'd e-mail me some tips and ideas on how to make better choices and make changes that will stick. Once I get those, I'll be sure to share them with you.

But in the meantime, I had an idea. I wrote myself a contract. I pledged to myself to take this seriously. I promised to log absolutely everything I eat. Not logging it is only lying to myself and cheating myself. I also promised to make myself exercise everyday. I then printed out the contract and signed it.

Sound stupid? Yeah, me too. But I did it, and so far I've held myself accountable to it.

I'm having to work some odd hours, so I've had to miss my usual workout time at the gym. But I've started walking during my lunch break, and doing a few push-ups and sit-ups at home.

The results? Well, I lost another five pounds this week. That brings me to seven pounds toward my goal of 10 pounds by Halloween. I'm cutting it close, but I think I can probably drop at least another three by the deadline. Then it'll be time to start a new short term goal. I like the 10 pounds per month idea. It might be tough in November with the Thanksgiving break. But what part of this hasn't been tough? I have to learn to deal with holidays and changes in routine.

So now we come to the weekend, which is always difficult for me. However, this weekend is the big community health fair. They're also trying to get enough people there to exercise together to break the world record. I hope my family is able to make it out to the event. It sounds like a lot of fun. We also have a blood drive on Sunday, so I should lose a few pounds there. I absolutely have to have a successful weekend if I want to make my goal of 10 pounds.

I feel like the simple act of vocalizing my bad eating habits to someone has really helped me change my attitude. I feel like I'm in a different place now, like I'm really seriously into it. It's hard, because the mirror doesn't show any changes, and that can be discouraging. But I know that if I keep on planning ahead on meals, logging my food, and controlling my portions, the mirror will start being kinder to me.

I've caught myself going to the kitchen a few times during the evening. But instead of eating, I've made myself drink water or chew gum. Or simply told myself to sit back down. So far it's worked! After all, if I truly listen to my stomach, I know that I'm not really hungry. It's just a nasty habit to eat when I'm bored or tired. But I can do it! After all, I don't want to break my contract!

Here is what Keri Glassman had to say about her consultation with Lee:
Lee is struggling with portion sizes, particularly regarding dinner. He is also having a big challenge when it comes to after dinner eating due to cravings. Finally, he eats out with his family two to three times per week and he finds himself not necessarily making "bad" decisions with his own meal choices but he is picking at the kids leftovers.

After checking out a sample day of Lee's it is obvious to me why he may have those out of control portion dinners and night time cravings. He is not eating enough during the day and he is also lacking fat during the day. To help combat the dining out problem I offered up some meal suggestions that would help him satisfy his cravings and shake it up a bit so he is not bored and not as tempted to dive into the kids meals.

Lee is also not exercising! To get him started we are aiming at being consistent with at least 45 minutes on the bike each weekend day. Plus, we are going to incorporate videos into his weekly routine since getting to the gym is out of the question due to his work schedule.


More on Tipping the Scales:
Feeling Like the Fattest Friend
Starting Over on My Halloween Weight Loss Challenge
Running and Random Acts of Kindness

After decades of dieting only to gain it back, two That's Fit readers have decided to finally rethink their relationship with food and exercise over the next year to move toward a lifetime of fulfilling, healthy living. Come by every week as Ashley and Lee share their successes and challenges as they tip the scale.