Two weeks before my friend’s wedding (and a too-tight bridesmaid dress) I decided to go on an all-out diet. I am feeling emotions I didn’t know I had – I didn’t know existed! The roller coaster of emotions has really thrown me through a loop. I’m a week in, and now I’m starting to level out long enough to process emotions.
First, I was all in. ALL IN! LET’S DO THIS!!
Then, I started to get real, and you have to say good bye to the good friends, the great company, you won’t be able to keep for the next few weeks.
Good bye, cheese.
Good bye, chocolate & baked goods.
And the hardest one of all… good bye, alcohol intake.
You turn to television for sweet relief… something to escape. And you realize how much advertisement is about food. All the food you vowed not to eat.
Because that’s all you can do now… watch TV. It’s the only thing you have enough energy to do.
The Food Channel is forbidden! OH MY GOD WHY IS THE TRAVEL CHANNEL AIRING THEIR “FRIED HEAVEN” ROAD TRIP SHOWS? You start convincing yourself the world is out to get you.
Everyone hates you and they have a vendetta against you.
I SWEAR EVERYTHING SMELLS LIKE BACON.
Just as your energy reaches a new low, it’s time to eat a measured cup of cantaloupe melon. SUGAR RUSH!
For 10 minutes straight, you start thinking ” I can totally do this, what was I bitching about, this is AMAZING.” And you believe yourself ,too! This is easy. This is real. You can do this! (You give yourself this pep talk several times a day.)
You also start realizing how many hours there are in the day. How many of them can you sleep? 3 out of the 5 stages of grief passed by, and it’s not even noon.
This is all an internal battle, a solitary struggle. But then there is family. Some of them are supportive, a sort of cheerleading section.
You appreciate this bunch. You also question them. Did you really gain that much weight? (This can also be the lack of sugar in your system talking.)
There is another group of lovely family and friends that love you for who you are and therefore will not be impartial. They tend to say things like “you look great just the way you are,” and “you don’t need to diet!”
They are clearly lying liars! YOU STEPPED ON THE SCALE! YOU KNOW THE TRUTH! YOU PUT THAT DRESS ON!!
Oh no… here it comes… rage. Angers from my feminist side at my need to general society’s thin-obsession. DAMN PATRIARCHY! I DO ME!
It’s already post meridian, and your crazy has reached new levels. You can’t be trusted with anything.
You. Must. Develop. A. Plan. Something to channel all frustrations. Cue “Eye of the Tiger.”
1) Lettuce! Add lettuce to everything!
2) Turn off the television, start making collages, wash your hair, take the dog out for a walk – it’s summer. Walk around, see people outside enjoying the day, ugh, people enjoying things. They are grilling, there’s meat on a grill and it smells soooooooo good. You’d eat the charcoal just to have a taste of that delicious pig on a stick. Pretty soon you’re delirious. IS SOMEONE FRYING SOMETHING? WHY DOES EVERYTHING GO BACK TO FOOD?!
You head back inside. It was too much, you weren’t ready. But just like that another day has passed. Sleep is the most fun. You can dream about food without eating it.
The days pretty much look the same. But then, weirdly, you start developing a rhythm. Yeah, gurl, you got this!
You start using the phrase “natures candy” un-ironically, about fruits. Who are you?! Who cares? You are halfway there, living on a prayer, and this time next week you’ll be eating, drinking, dancing, and all this will be a distant memory!
I WIN, DIET! I WIN!
Daily Musings of a Nobody 