Coming off the ten pound weight loss from last week, I was on a high. I continued going to the gym, kicked my butt at boot-camp and watched every little tiny piece of food that went into my mouth. I was determined to continue on my weight loss journey and not let anything come between me and my goal weight.
Then I had two events for work and two birthday parties to attend. I almost didn’t even want to go. I didn’t want to be tempted with bad foods, lots of alcohol and fatty desserts. And just as I imagined, when I arrived at the events it was hard to resist temptation.
My friends would casually shrug off my weight loss, saying “well, you already lost 10 pounds, cheat just this once” and “eating one slice of cake isn’t going to make you gain it all back” or even, “you deserve this for how hard you’ve been working out”.
Instead of feeling encouraged by my friends, I felt ashamed of taking my diet so seriously. They didn’t understand how hard I had been working and how much I already felt I was sacrificing. And I’m not sure why they were doing that. They had heard me talk about my diet struggles and body insecurities. Didn’t they understand that I was happier (and healthier) than before? Or that I enjoyed being a smaller size and fitting into clothes in my closet that I had saved for that “one day” that I would be able to wear them again?
I tried to focus on other things and get away from the food platters and buffet lines. I found that if I had a drink in my hand and walked around talking to people away from the food areas, then no one questioned anything. It was like the second I moved away from the food, it was out of sight, and out of (their) minds.
The next event I went to, I dressed up, hoping to emphasize my weight loss and bring focus to that. I thought if people noticed how hard I had worked then they wouldn’t want to screw up my diet. It seemed to work perfectly. They were more concerned with my dress and shoes than with what I was eating. While they didn’t focus on my weight, I was happy that I didn’t feel bad or guilty about sticking to my diet.
The day after, I went to the farmers market as usual to buy organic fruits and vegetables for the rest of the week. I’m not sure what it is but there is something about buying my food from the market that makes me feel better about what I’m eating and happy to find recipes and experiment with cooking. Since I don’t love cooking normally, this has been a pleasant surprise and something that makes my fiance very happy.
At the end of the week I stepped back on the scale. One pound down. Only one pound. While I’m happy that I didn’t gain weight, I hope that it doesn’t go this slowly from now on.
What do you do about friends who seem to encourage bad eating habits or don’t fully support your goals? Do you just stay away from them until you know you’re more confident about your choices and more self assured that you won’t be tempted by food? Let me know in the comments!
