I can’t tell you how long I’ve been complaining about losing these “last 10 pounds” I packed on back when I was 13. And then again at 18. And then again at 30.
In my heart I know if I actually left my house and exercised it would come right off, but I really believe the longer you sit on your couch the harder it is to get off your couch and well…I’ve been sitting for a long time.
Soon your jeans start feeling snug and you opt for yoga pants more often than not. Those yoga pants are the devil because when I wear them I’m all “OMG I’m not that bad! These look great…in fact, my legs are looking downright slim if you ask me!”
I’ll put on my jeans three days later and find myself struggling to button the ‘loose pair’ and then I curse the yoga pants, “LIARS!”
I come up with every plan under the sun to help me lose the last 10 pounds…
What if I stop eating Fruit Loops every morning! I’ll try that.
What if I cut out that evening glass of wine! I’ll try that.
What if I do five lunges everyday from the kitchen to my office chair. I’ll try that.
What if I do 100 sit ups today. I’ll try that.
But what you won’t see is me entertain the idea of running or lifting weights or enrolling myself in a Zumba class of some kind. Sweat? Get uncomfortable? God no.
I want to know how little I need to eat of whatever food I want (without starving) to hit the weight I think I’ll be happy with.
Ten pounds less than I am now…(ish)…okay 20 if I get to be choosy about it.
It’s funny how hard we make this for ourselves. It’s just FOOD and EXERCISE. Don’t eat crap and MOVE your body a little. That’s all. No rocket science here. If you want to be at the pinnacle of ideal health for yourself than take care of your body in the ideal way.
Don’t feed it crap…and move it! The end.
We demand this of our kids don’t we? No Johnny you don’t need another cookie, if you’re hungry have some apples. No Suzie, you may not have a fourth pancake, three is plenty please finish your milk.
We encourage them to take bites of their fruits and vegetables.
We sign them up for soccer and t-ball. We want them to stretch their legs and run so we take them to parks and push them outside to play.
But we can’t follow the same rules we enforce and ultimately our health will pay the price.
I know that eating well and exercising could add years onto my life. Years! At it’s healthiest, my body would be more capable of fighting disease and viruses. My healthiest body would heal faster from any injury I might endure. It would set an example for my kids, that hard work and taking care of ourselves is an important priority. And in addition to all of that? I wouldn’t have that “last 10 pounds” to complain about anymore. Bonus!
And yet here I sit.
Blogging about it.
With a bowl of Cheetos.
I’m ignoring the better lifestyle choices I should make for myself because they’re uncomfortable.
And because Cheetos taste good.
Awesome.
{ 31 comments… read them below or add one }
All I can say….is ditto!
Yes! Yes! Yes! Omg, I could have written that. (I’m pretty sure I did write that). I get so mad at myself for not doing the simplest and most obvious things to lose weight: eat less, move more. Why don’t I respect myself enough to treat myself better?
I would have agreed readily at your age….but add years (i am 40, almost 41),antidepressants, no gall bladder, and too frequent dieting and I find calories in/ caloies out no longer works. So, I threw out the scale and the jeans. I concentrate on eating right and moving. Fat does not equal unhealthy just like skinny does not mean healthy or fit. Fat just means new clothes!
It IS such a simple concept but one that I find next to impossible to actually implement.
…and age doesn’t help. Just wait to see how awesome 40 is when it comes to keeping weight off. I admit I bust my butt to keep slim and it seriously can suck so much. xoxo
Oh this is so very true!!
First of all I have no clue where you see your ‘last 10 pounds’. I would also like to know where you saw your first 10 pounds. I hear this loud and clear and when I was working full time I was going constantly. Now that I am back at home I find myself once again avoiding activity like the plague. I need to get up and get my derriere moving ASAP..
It’s hard. End of story. Kudos to you for being honest about it.
Ah, so true…
Preach it. Currently halfway to my weight loss goal and I’ve never felt so lost.
someday, someone will invent healthy cheetos that actually burn calories. they will be grown from a vegetable seed and harvested directly from organic soil watered exclusively by organic rain.
i live in hope.
Exercising with small children around all day is not as easy as it should be. Talking a walk in the neighborhood means getting two kids to agree, which they never do, so here we sit. I signed up for pilates online, but can never get the 15 minutes I need to do it as they are in and out and seem to desperately “need” me once I get started. Taking a walk when my husband gets home in the evening results in the 3 year old having a tantrum making me feel like leaving for 1/2 hour is akin to skinning her alive.
My 10 lbs is sitting here, front and center waiting for these kids to just grow up a little more.
Well you aren’t alone.
So much awesomeness in this post. Especially the part about exercising being uncomfortable and bargaining with the changes to the way I eat instead of doing it. I’m down to carrots and cherries and the weight is still not coming off. My yoga pants are big fat liars, too!
I can give up everything, but that glass of wine :)
Ah, yes, so hard. My problem is the late night noshing. I can do great all day, then when I am sooo tired and trying to stay up just long enough to get this or that done, I eat. Poorly. I just scolded my son for eating Nutella with his finger instead of with his apple slices when two seconds before he came into the kitchen I was eating it with a spoon. Out of the jar. Now that I’m over 40, just had my fifth baby, and on antidepressants (as someone above said) it just keeps getting harder and harder.
lol! hahaha I couldnt agree more about those Lyin yoga pants! I say it with such conviction as Im reading your post and air high five-ing you while Im eating my stack of fig newtons! I might even have to toast you with a glass of Shiraz,hey dont judge its 5oclock somewhere right?
The title should be the first 10 pounds for me! If Yoga Pants are liars, I like to think the scale is too. Weighed in after an hour of torture weight lifting with a personal trainer this am and weighed 5 pounds more than the last time I got scared off the darn thing.
You know what, I could say that I can totally relate and have been trying to loose those last 10… ok 20lbs too but I am not. I am just going to get the can of whipped cream and chug it down.
Oh and pass the chocolate sauce, please.
I can SO relate!
I knew I liked you…I could have written this! Is it bad that I got excited this morning when I read about two exercises for your butt/thighs that you can do FROM YOUR CHAIR IN A SEATED POSITION??!!?? I did. Doing them right now…while I finish my XL Dunkin Donuts Mocha Almont Iced Coffee. In my yoga pants, thank you very much.
I do think the best and most reasonable answer is eat the best and healthiest way possible most of the time and allow some indulgences within reason. Like life, it’s all about balance. I find the “diet” method torturous and unnatural. You’re completely right – don’t put junk in, move just a little.
And keep the yoga pants handy…just in case. :)
Sing it sister.
Amen! I really think typing should burn more calories because my fingers are always flying across the keyboard.
I hear you!! I’ve been trying to get myself back in shape. Those yoga pants are the DEVIL, I tell you!!
So is chocolate. And ice cream. sigh
I belong to a gym. I should go tomorrow.
Gawd I love my yoga pants. How did people do it before elasticized waist-bands? Just got back from vacation. I’ll be good this week to work off those 14 red meat dinners but not sure it will last much longer than Friday.
I’m trying to eat better & less. Down 10 lbs (out of 40 I want to lose). We just ripped out our kitchen. Now we get to try & eat well with a limited use kitchen. Wheeee!!!
Oh, I know! It’s amazing how simple it is to lose weight but how hard it is to actually lose weight. I lost my final 10, then gained it, then started exercising, then stopped and changed my diet instead. It was changing my diet that has helped me keep it off, but it’s hard, no doubt.
Yes. This is my life, about two years ago. And again, now. It’s a lifestyle change that seems to be in constant need of updating. Good luck and please know that you’re in terrific company. And yes to Cheetos.
Holy shit, I could totally have written this post. I was looking at my weight stats starting about 10 years and wow, I don’t weigh what I weighed 10 years ago at my heaviest. I’m 10 pounds over that. No excuse except I’m too lazy to do anything about it.
I’ll try again when the kids go back to school. Blergh.
Ahhh, the dreaded last 10 pounds suck big time!
Sex burns lots of calories….about 150-200 calories per half hour, and white wine has about 100 calories a glass. So if you drink a glass of wine then have sex, you have to lose weight! Right??
Seriously, though. I lost 44 pounds over the last 2 years. I’m 48 years old, and believe me, as you get older the weight is harder and harder to take off. Especially once menopause kicks in :( Cheetos do taste good!
I have to tell you that as I have gotten older…it isn’t the food that I have an issue with, but exercising hard. I find that at 38 I am not as motivated. I do exercise, but not as hard as I could…I just think, “You only get one life and you don’t have to be a size 0 to be healthy.” Cheetos…to die for!