Says, Means and Hears at the Dollar Tree

No dancing today. I was 164.0 and no amount of peeing was going to change it. I’m waiting until tomorrow. And I’m totally fine with that.

But yesterday, something happened at the store that I wanted to share with you. And I think it’s best to bring back another installment of Says, Means, Hears to explain it all.

This is how the conversation went down standing at the checkout line at the Dollar Tree. (Cause we shop high class establishments in this house)

Natalie: Mom, can we get some Peeps if we only eat the right serving size?

Mom: Sure, kiddo. You can have a treat.

Natalie: Thanks!!! Want me to get you a box too?

Mom: No, hon, remember that whole diet thing I’ve got going on?

(Natalie begins giggling uncontrollably. It's a running joke that mama's on a diet.)

Cashier SAYS: You don’t need to diet. You look skinny.

Cashier MEANS: You look good.

Charlie HEARS: Yay, here's an opportunity to spread my diet message like Jesus is coming back in 10 minutes and I have to save this woman!

Charlie SAYS: Oh, but I do need to diet. I’ve got 25 more pounds to go. I’ve lost 75 pounds so far.

Charlie MEANS: I’m going to hit that 75 pounds lost in the next 24 hours, and I’m never going to see this woman again, so bumping my number up by one pound isn’t going to hurt. It’s not lying, it’s like appraising a house a little higher for insurance purposes.

The Cashier HEARS: I need to lose weight.

Cashier SAYS: Wow! How did you do it? Got any weight loss secrets for me?

Cashier MEANS: I only want to hear that you ate grapefruit for a week and the weight fell off.

Charlie HEARS: Oh, boy, here we go again.

Charlie SAYS: It’s taken me 3 years to get this far. I eat right, exercise, and never give up.

Charlie MEANS: I have spent the last 3 years of my life busting my butt to get this far. I have been in an emotional fetal position trying to deal with the idea that I had a food addiction, and am just now getting to the point that my life is not dictated by Domino’s Bread Bowl Pasta and pizza. I have had failures, successes, but through it all I stayed true to the fact that I would try my best no matter what the scale says. I have had to step out of my comfort zone DAILY to bust through plateau after plateau, I have driven my family NUTS with the constant observations of calorie contents and how my body is changing and can they see the difference in me… I’ve had to remove the instinctual nature that people will make fun of me because I open up about my feelings and my body, and have put myself in a public forum where people can not only read the nitty gritty about my life, but can also comment on it. If you are willing to go through all of that, you can lose 75 74 pounds like me.

Cashier HEARS (while rolling her eyes at my 3 step solution to dieting): That sounds like too much- eating right, exercising and never giving up. I’ll just go eat a snickers on my break and forget about it.

Cashier SAYS: Well, good for you.

Cashier MEANS: I could never do it.

Charlie SEES another fat chick giving up on herself.

Aren’t we all like that in the beginning? We are so used to wonderful things happening to everybody but ourselves, we never dream we could accomplish something like losing weight.

We think…

IT CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE BUT ME.

We know that isn’t exactly true, but it sure feels true. The truth stands tall- if you are willing to put in the work, the time and the effort, you can do it.

But you have to be willing to accept a few realities:

1. The weight is NOT going to fall off you biggest loser style. Not unless you have 8 hours a day to work out. And most of us don’t.

2. You will not lose every single week. It’s like going on a job interview. Sometimes you get the job, and sometimes you don’t.

3. You have to be willing to deal with the emotional baggage of why you are fat. If you don’t deal with it, the weight will come right back on.

4. You have to have support of some kind. You can’t be a lone ranger dieter. You need a group of people around you to help carry your through.

5. You have to be willing to be uncomfortable. Sometimes, you will feel hungry, hot, sweaty, deprived, frustrated- all of these things are normal.

And finally (and my personal motto):

6. You have to be willing to laugh at yourself. This makes the journey much easier. And fun!

So, what’s holding you back today?