Option Two

It’s Tuesday Fit-Day.  A weekly meditation on fitness goals, successes and failures.  Thinking about it once a week is a step toward making it a part of everyday.

The weigh-in before the cruise:  Success.  Three pounds down and a stone lighter overall!!

I guess the week before was a fluke.  Who knows.  I ate less points and exercised more than the weeks before and gained ½ a pound.  The next week, I wasn’t really paying attention, was eating a lot of left-over brownies and only exercised my usual three times and lost three pounds.  Whatever.  I guess it comes down to the quality you eat, not necessarily the quantity.  OK, that might be a stretch, but I ate a lot more vegetables and fruit with those brownies.  *Guilt*

The stone (14 pounds) lighter is a pretty big deal.  Weight Watchers likes to reward you for your success.  It’s like training a dog.  Do good, get a treat.  Although here it isn’t food, but stickers and, in this case, a little glass stone.  (Get it? Lose a stone, get a stone.) The woman who weighed me in must have sensed my bewilderment in the hesitation I had at accepting the stone. I just stared at it in my hand.  “It’s to remind you of your progress and success.” (They seriously talk like this.)  Again, I stared.  “Put it in your purse so you always see it and keep motivated.” 

“Great!” and I put it in my pocket.  To be honest, another piece of shrapnel rattling around at the bottom of my purse is not going to motivate me.  Being able to shop without hating myself motivates me.  Wearing slinky dresses motivates me.  Oh yeah, and being healthier motivates me. 

I had to tell them I am going on holiday, so that the dramatic weight gain on my return doesn’t seem like I fell off the wagon.  But let’s be realistic, I’m about to fall off the wagon and I can’t wait.  My leader told me to bring the stone (as a reminder) and to run around the deck a few times. 

That’s one option.  I’m going with option number two: Enjoy two weeks with my husband complete with five star food and cocktails, wander around Caribbean ports, lay in the sun, and *whatever*. 

I think they are equally effective strategies.