Writing and Dieting! Say, What?

That sound you hear is me heaving a long, drawn-out, noisy sigh! Why, you may ask, am I sighing? Well, I’ll tell you. I started Weightwatchers Online two weeks ago. I have discovered dieting is much like writing – it takes discipline.

For some of you, this is not a new discovery. But for me, who has been thin all my life (okay, all you haters, go ahead and hate – I hate that skinny me who could eat anything I wanted and not gain weight. She has deserted me), dieting is a real challenge. I weigh as much now as I did when I gave birth to my babies – only I have no baby inside to blame my protruding belly on. If it wasn't so obvious how old I am, I'm sure people would be asking, "So when is your baby due?"

As a kid, eating was a nuisance. Ugh! Who wanted to take time out to eat when there were so many fun things to do instead? Nor was I a big sweet-eater, not as a kid or even as a young adult. Not sure when that changed, but change it did. Don’t be surprised to find me in the bakery section of the grocery store quietly eating my way through all those donuts and pastries ( my sweet weakness)behind those glass doors. Seriously, shouldn’t those doors have a padlock, and not easy-open access?

I discipline myself to write. Once I start, I’m glad I did. Getting started can be a challenge. So it is with dieting. Getting started wasn’t as hard as sticking to it. We had company over the weekend – well, every Sunday after church family comes over for lunch. But this Sunday I had my family and some of my husband’s family (at a different time).

I cooked and baked. And I ate! Then I ate some more…and more! You get the picture. I lost one pound my first week on Weightwatchers, and gained it back the second week just from the weekend alone. (another heavy sigh)

Today though, I am focused on my diet, and on my writing. It’s all discipline! Unlike yesterday when I arose determined to write several chapters on my WIP, and instead, put a jigsaw puzzle together. Discipline, discipline, discipline. I refuse to give away my skinny clothes, and I refuse to leave poor Betty, one of my main characters, at that rehab when she really wants to go home now. 

Zumba and Writing

Zumba! I’ve been hearing a lot about Zumba, an exercise craze, the past few years. Exercise! Bah humbug!

When I was young I loved to diet and exercise. I loved staying in shape and maintaining my weight. I had five babies, and after each birth, I’d exercise faithfully. Sometimes I felt addicted to exercise.  I pursued exercise and dieting with a drive and passion.  I had discipline.

When I was younger I also dreamed of being a writer.  I yearned to write, but I never disciplined myself to writing. My life always seemed too full, too busy, too hectic to spend time writing.

I heard a speaker or preacher say one time that we make time for what’s important to us.  Looking back, I could’ve found time to write.  Oh, I made half-hearted attempts to write. I loved keeping journals and I did do that for many years, but I never worked on that novel.

Now I’m retired. And I write! I write all the time. In fact, I write when I probably should be doing something else. I am disciplined! I have drive! I have passion!  When I’m not writing, I’m reading or studying about the craft of writing.

Alas, not so with dieting and exercising! I bought a really nice treadmill from my daughter about two months ago and I have been faithful about maintaining a daily time on the treadmill. I’m still working on the healthy eating though.

I started going to a Zumba class recently. It’s fun! It’s invigorating! But it is hard work, at least for this sixty-three-year old. It’s going to take discipline.

It seems ironic to me that when I was young, I had discipline when it came to diet and exercise, but not with writing. Now it’s reversed. I want to write and I am. I want to get in shape, but....

The things that make you go hm!