Becky looked discouraged.
As she sank into the chair in my office, she said, “I don’t know what to do. I’m trying so hard to lose weight, but I’m not getting anywhere.
I can’t figure out what’s wrong. Based on how hard I’m trying I should be losing a lot more than I am.”
As I looked at my notes on our conversations over the past few weeks, I decided to take a guess at Becky’s problem. “Let’s review a little,” I said. “How have you been doing with your eating plan?”
Becky thought for a second. “Some days are OK, but lots of times I get stressed or frustrated during the day, and by evening, I end up having wine or ice cream, or both.”
“So you’re not following your plan very well?” I asked.
“I guess not,” she replied. “This past week I probably was on my program only three days. But I’m trying so hard to lose weight!”
“How’s your exercise plan going?”
“Not as consistent as I’d like. I only walked two days this week. By the end of the day, I’m usually so tired that I can’t get myself to do it. But I’m trying so hard to lose weight!”
I glanced back at my notes. “You also planned to work on your abdominal exercises, go to a yoga class, and take time each day for some meditation or reading. How are you doing with those goals?”
“None of them happened. I’m just so busy, and everything gets in the way. The days keep getting away from me, and I end up skipping all of my goals and going to bed.”
But then Becky exclaimed again, “But, I’m trying so hard to lose weight!”
Are you seeing yourself in this story? I think we all have times when we WANT to lose weight, and we convince ourselves that we’re TRYING. But like Becky, we don’t follow through with any actions that would move us toward our goals.
It’s like saying you want an “A” in a class at school, but being too busy, too tired or too stressed to open the textbook or work on your research paper. No action equals no outcome.
Tomorrow: Interested or committed?