One of the hardest things about leading a diet group must be time at the scale – the dreaded weigh in. That’s the moment of truth when the dieter finds out how he or she did the previous week.
The weigh-in people always smile sweetly as they listen to the lame excuses as to why the scale is up. Imagine hearing the following comments every week:
- “I had a lot of sodium last night.”
- “This diet is too stringent, I got hungry.”
- “This diet has too much food, I can’t eat it all.”
- “I needed to take a little break this week.”
- “It’s my medication.”
- “It was a birthday party, I had to eat a piece of the cake.”
- “I’ve been exercising so it’s muscle weight.”
- “Your scale needs to be re-calibrated.”
- “I stuck to the diet faithfully this week; I shouldn’t have gained two pounds.”
These excuses are right up there with “The dog ate my homework.”
Overcoming Weight Loss Excuses
Some excuses are certainly valid. It’s true that if you have a meal with high sodium before a weigh in, water retention will bring the scale up. Medication can make a difference.
However, the fact is that with a good, healthy diet plan, you will lose weight.
There may be an occasional backslide, but if you are on a solid food program from a reputable organization and can’t lose weight in a month, it’s time to look in the mirror and fess up the validity (or not) of your excuses.
Debunking the excuses
Do you actually have a medical condition?
Under the weather is a terrific excuse when the scale is up, but if you are being completely honest on your diet and still not losing weight, perhaps there is an underlying medical problem. Check with your doctor.
Are you recording what you’re eating?
One reason to record your food intake is to uncover hidden issues or mistakes. If your food journal reveals that you have a bagel and cream cheese every morning, sugar and cream in your coffee, and high calorie dressing with croutons on your lunch salad – that’s telling information.
Are you a couch potato?
Dieters cannot rely on food choices alone. You may totally stick to your diet, but if you are also stuck to your sofa, you are not burning calories. Diet and exercise go hand in hand.
Are you truly committed to your diet?
If you start a new diet every Monday morning – and it lasts until you meet your friends for drinks Friday night, you’re probably kidding yourself.
When you head to a weigh in after a bad week, do you wrack your brain for a “the reason I gained this week” excuse? Or – worse – do you skip a weigh in because you know you’ve gained?
Clearly there is a need for an attitude adjustment. Time to look in the mirror and decide how important your diet really is.
Diet programs will happily take your money and be supportive when the scale is up three pounds.
Do you want to support the billion-dollar diet industry, or lose weight?
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2 Skinless boneless Chicken Breast
So the Up24 led to walking week. My wife and I love to go for walks and the number of steps that she is supposed to do a day (10,000 total) meant that she would have to add an evening walk to the day to make sure she got those steps in.
One of the meals that we had this week was a Chicken Tortilla Soup.
Finally the week also involved my daughter ending up in the hospital again to get rehydrated.
