One Week.

 It’s an amazing thing when you realize something profound needs to change drastically, but your own nature fights against it so hard you actually harm yourself with your own stubbornness. I hate spending time working out. Period. I have listened to experts over the years telling me how endorphins are addictive, how working out is addictive, how much better it makes you feel, how the gym is the panacea to all things obesity-related, and I should, in fact, live there if at all possible.

None of that positive reinforcement has worked. If anything, it’s made me resent the fact more that I am being corralled into something I hate. So I find myself doing other things through the day, and making valid points about how “I can’t go to the gym today because…”

I can’t go to the gym today because… it is a Down day, and I need my energy. I still feel a bit pooped on low calorie days, and have been taking naps. I am simply getting sleepy in the mid-morning.

I can’t go to the gym today because… my husband is home over the weekend, and I don’t feel like being the center of attention either before or after I walk through the door.

I can’t go to the gym today because… I’m expecting a FedEx package, and need to be here to receive it.

Same old, same old. So now I put it up again, for the world to see, I am going to the gym tomorrow. (I also couldn’t go to the gym because I lost the ID card to get me IN. Passive aggressive tendencies coming into play, or just another brain fart? Dunno.

So, on to the diet. It’s been a full week since starting the JUDDD Diet, and I’ve lost 2 pounds, total. It’s pretty cool, I was down three, but I must have overeaten both calories and carbs on my Up day from the 18th, since it bounced me up 1.5 pounds in a day. I also went from 20-30 carbs to close to 100. That will make me retain water like a sponge.

The author (Dr. Johnson) of the book “The Alternate-Day Diet” says not to weigh yourself after a Down day so us poor dieters don’t get our tender psyches shattered to widdle bitty pieces. Please. You underestimate so many of us, doc. Sure, there are too many women who can’t handle the idea of scale fluctuation, but if you’re a dieter for long enough, you lose that immediate reaction, and only freak out when it doesn’t budge for a week or longer. The longer the wait, the bigger the freak.

I’d rather track it all with a healthy dose of science so I know what my body is doing any given day. I know the Down day is going to be up on the scale after eating over one and a half day’s worth of calories, comparatively. (I did not realize how much of a slowdown this diet gives to one’s bathroom habits. Not that I’m complaining, but it is a factor.)

Regarding the weight also, I am due for that time where women get cranky and bloat like a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade balloon. So that’s another factor.

So in a few days I’ll say I can’t go to the gym today because… I’ll have cramps.

See how that works?

So yes, I need to go to the gym. I have to build my stamina, keep my skin from sagging, blah, blah blah. I’ll go tomorrow. I promise.