Monday, April 12, 2021

Desperation Makes for Bad Choices


*Note: this was written during a moderate depressive episode mid-March*

I don't even know where to begin.  How about I just throw this out there and work backward...I am 38 lbs higher than the lowest weight I've ever seen in this "journey."  Let me give a time frame for this.  

February 25, 2017 is when I saw that low and I saw it for a day.  (I saw it once or twice a few years earlier but never for more than a day.)  I was always consistently 5-6 lbs over that but I have to count it as my lowest even if I literally blinked and it was gone.

By September 2019, I was 12 lbs higher.  It wasn't the end of the world but I knew we needed to reign it in, especially when in 4 months, I gained another 9 lbs by years end.  

As I looked back on that time period (the 9 lb gain) on my 'one happy year' journal to see if there were any events that might've triggered anything.  At first glance, nothing seemed like it should've been stuff I stress ate over until you list it all out.  We were still in the midst of finishing the basement, particularly the laundry side which was a huge pain.  The Mr was studying for a test but it was over and he passed by that time.  My friend's mom (and my second mom) was dying of cancer just two months after her dad had passed from it too.  Oh wait, we did vacation during that time.  Crap.  My friend had to cancel her wedding because of her mom's death and we went on the fall trip we originally cancelled to attend her wedding.  I was having a lot of stress with laptop issues, and some family stuff on the Mr's side.    Then went on another long weekend trip.  A Christmas/bday gift that was quite expensive went awry for his mom and I think after weeks of dealing with it, I probably face planted into a few extra Christmas cookies.  Then started a bit of our living room reno stuff like making a shelf for the pass through, and made 2 weeks worth of meals for my pregnant friend.  Mom was being a poop on Christmas Eve before she even got in the door so I probably face planted hard into leftovers when she left since I hadn't begun medicating with wine because the pandemic hadn't happened yet.  Okay.  So when I look at all of that, I basically was a cortisol factory for those four months and then we know what happened in 2020 coupled with eating Vermont for the holidays because we were being forced to have a certain kind of holiday.  I know where this leads.  Well, actually, I'll tell you where it led...to an additional 17 pandemic/vacation pounds.  That would be 38 lbs higher than the lowest I saw in 2017 and 26 higher than when I started 2020.  It is beyond unacceptable and it's not like we even stopped exercising either.  We were still exercising 5-6 days a week but our stamina was horrible compared to pre-pandemic and our self worth was plummeting.

As we approached our 25th anniversary, I was like "I should get a nice dress."  Do you know how IMPOSSIBLE it is for someone who is disproportionate on top and bottom to find something in their size when they're fat?  So just like when I f**ked myself being a fat bride, I f**ked myself out of a 25th anniversary dress that I didn't have to settle for.  25 damn years and I hadn't learned a thing.  To add to that, I was having some issues that were directly related to weight gain that had me in pain for over four months which is another post.  I didn't know how I could have this problem now but not when I was almost 200 lbs heavier.  The Mr was also incredibly frustrated with his weight gain and made the same suggestion he's made in the past when we get to that point.  "We should do cabbage soup."  

You know as well as I do if you've been here for a long time, fad diets are NOT our thing.  We know "the weight will come back and that it's water weight the scale 'rewards' you with."  We know it's not a long term thing.  However, the Mr did it twice back in high school along with the egg diet for a month and lost 50 lbs and kept it off for a year.  (He worked a regular job and didn't exercise but to be fair, he was 18.)  I always turn him down flat or consider it for a few minutes to be nice and throw out alternatives.  Something in the desperation in his voice about how embarrassed he would be when they start calling people back to work and how he was tired of seeing me in such pain with my issue, made me think of it for more than a few minutes.  When he went up to bed, I looked up the recipe.  We eat Brussels sprouts all of the time, this couldn't be much different, could it?  After a few minutes, I was adding items to an Amazon Fresh order and thought "if I sink $100 into this and hit order, then I HAVE to do it."  That's exactly what I did.

I don't think any of you will ever know what it has taken me to admit this especially when I think I know how it's going to end.  You know that our desperation is off the charts for me to agree to it.  I am sobbing as I type.  The constant stress of this pandemic has completely stalled my already slug like metabolism.  Nothing I did worked and I tried all of the calorie ranges.  My water still sucked but even the few times it didn't suck for a few weeks here and there, it's not like it made a difference.  I was starting to consider things I knew I would regret and this stupid one week meal plan was the safest one, believe it or not.  I knew, I would likely regret it but what was ordered was ordered.  Then when it came, it was time to get down to business.  To say the Mr was surprised to be greeted by an email I sent at 1am saying "enjoy today, we start cabbage soup tomorrow" was probably an understatement.  

I blogged my experience daily which I will include in one post tomorrow.  Yes, that means it's done and has been for almost a month so no need to tell me what a bad idea it is or judge us for it...too late!
😝

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9 comments:

  1. I did have success in high school so I always felt it was an option. I know it was a tough decision to give this a try. Stay tuned for the updates!

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  2. My desperation level is pretty ramped up as well. I'm hit my highest point ever in January of this year. I'm down about 5 lbs from there, but it's a far cry from where I was pre-pandemic.

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  3. I feel your pain. I was on WW for all of 2019 and into 2020. I was doing well and had lost 75+ pounds. Then the as I call it "pandamndemic" happened and I started working from home and with all of that stress plus all of the political issues in the world, my WW dedication and my resolve went out the window. I'm trying again and it's so hard. I've just retired from my job and struggling to figure out what to do each day. I just pray everyday that I'll figure it out. I'm sorry you're dealing with this as well and wish you much luck as you and the Mr go thru this as well. Sorry for the long comment - I guess I just needed to vent. Thank you for sharing your journey and your honesty. ��

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  4. I know this feeling i was within 12 pounds of my goal weight when covid hit and I found an additional 18!
    I'm so disappointed in myself it makes me crazy. My procrastination is ridiculous. I look forward to reading tomorrow's post.

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  5. I don't think there is anywhere here who can't relate to desperation. For me, I've felt an almost overwhelming feeling of urgency (aka panic) for change. I don't know if the pandemic brought that to the forefront of my mind because of having the top 3 "high risk" factors that I could no longer conveniently ignore or what. I don't think anyone is going to judge you for trying to do something that works for YOU. Every single one of us has experience with what works for us (either in the past, or currently working toward) and probably almost all of those are completely different as well. So throw off the burden of shame, my friend. The fact is you're DOING something, so stand tall in that.

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  6. I totally relate to this! Thanks for your honesty in posting

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  7. Thanks so much everyone for sharing your own frustrations and experience with pandemic pounds. It means a lot!

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  8. Anele, you've been my comfort reading for years... I so relate to this. I had a daily routine that I loved and was in good shape from walking my city and hitting the work gym for weights. Everything changing overnight plus work stress and and losing family members to the pandemic led me to return to old habits for comfort and I put on 50 lbs. I'm back to tracking calories and exercising and this time I have my Mr. on the wagon with me, but god do I miss my old jeans!

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    1. I'm so sorry to hear you can relate to this. I'm sure many others can as well that instead of commenting, shook their heads in agreement like I do on so many others posts. I'm so happy to hear your Mr is on board which makes it so much easier! (All I can say is there are times where you're both on the same not so great page too and it takes one of you to take a stand. I wish we had that mastered but all this time later, we still don't.) Good luck! You've got this and your old jeans are gonna be there for you like 'woman, I've been waiting for you. Get those luscious hips in here!'

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