The Art of Not Lying to Yourself

I am a huge fan of New Year's Resolutions, even if I don't accomplish them.  For years I have been writing down - lose 20 pounds.  I never reach my goal, so I dutifully write it down year after year.  

This book motivated me to buy a digital scale.  I bought the scale in 2018 and didn't buy batteries until 2019.  Baby steps.  

My New-Year's-Resolution-Mindset shifted this year.  I asked myself the following question:  What would happen if I actually achieved my 2019 resolutions?  It blew my mind because I never really expect to achieve most of my resolutions.  I decided to change things up.  This year I only wrote down "action" resolutions, not "result" resolutions.  Losing 20 pounds is the result I want.  The action I am taking to reach my goal is to weigh myself weekly.   According to Gretchen Rubin, habits and happiness expert, monitoring is a powerful way to create change and get results.  

So this January,  I weighed myself once a week and wrote down the amount in my planner.  It sounds so simple, but as someone who is comfortable lying to herself - it look courage.   

For years I have avoided looking at how much I weigh.  I threw the bathroom scale out years ago and am an expert at getting out of being weighed at the doctor's office.  (Usually I tell the nurse I just weighed in at Weight Watchers and give them a somewhat reasonable number.  Let it be noted that I am not a member of Weight Watchers and I haven't weighed myself for over 14 years.  I knew I wasn't fooling the nurses, but they played along.)  

Recently, I was talking to my dad about my weight lose journey. Here is how the conversation went:

Prairie Eydie:  I have changed SO many things with eating and exercise, but I only lost 2.3 pounds so far.  Some people stop eating pretzels and immediately lose 11 pounds.  What is wrong with me?

Prairie Pa:  Well, Edith.  Don't you know what is going on?

I had no idea what was going on, other than everyone losing tons of weight except me.

Prairie Pa:  They are all lying!  One of my friends told me he lost 20 pounds, but he looked exactly the same.  People are always lying about weight.  Don't you know that?

They are?  I thought I was the only one.

My friend, Julia, is a real member of Weight Watchers.  She said people always make sure to "weigh in heavy" the first time on the scale.  They eat lots of junk food, wear layers of wet wool, and don't take off their shoes when getting their initial weight.  This way they can make a lot of progress in a week.  For their second weigh-in they show up barefoot wearing shorts and a jog bra. 

Talking with my dad and Julia made me feel better about my 2.3 pound loss.  It is all good.  I am not a number.   Maybe this year is more about not lying to myself.  At any rate, I am looking forward to writing down fresh resolutions for 2020.  

Prairie Eydie