It got ugly. And hilarious. A woman in the group chose to share that she’d gone grocery shopping before the meeting and there were a dozen powdered sugar covered donuts in her car. Her plan was to eat all of them today and get back on plan tomorrow. My first thought was, “Never go shopping when you’re hungry.”

There were no less than a dozen suggestions as to how she should deal with those donuts, including everyone going to her car and sharing the donuts so we’d all have about 2 points worth of naughtiness and save her from herself.

As she continued to comment (and others jumped in) it was reiterated, as no one in this group will ever say they didn’t know already that this really wasn’t about the food. We all plan for things we can’t live without. Like chocolate. Or wine. Own it, admit it, count it, and move on. This was emotional eating. As someone who lives to eat vs. eats to live I understand when you want something because you want it. You don’t have to be hungry, at least for food. But until we find out what we’re hungry for we still eat what we shouldn’t.

So how, in a Seinfeld episode’s parlance, do we become the masters of our domain? IMHO therapy helps. The buddy system is also good. Which is where WW comes in. There were no less than a dozen suggestions as to how she should deal with those donuts, including everyone going to her car and sharing the donuts so we’d all have about 2 points worth of naughtiness and save her from herself. At the end she brought the donuts in and gave them to a young special needs man who attends the meeting with his mom. Not sure the purchaser ever did get even a bite of one. But I wonder what she did find to eat today that filled that void.

For me it’s about understanding how bad I’d feel after I did it. I’m much better at planning for my splurges, whether they be a couple of bites of dessert, an adult beverage, or a steak by exercising more or eating less the rest of the day. It’s so easy to get back into a negative cycle where I feel bad because I’ve blown it, and then eat more because I’ve already blown it anyway. So I have to learn forgive myself and move on from those unplanned splurges. And accountability helps. Knowing I have to step on a scale every week is sobering. And knowing I’m going to tell all of you how I do certainly keeps me on my toes. By the way, I’m down 2 pound this week, 23 lbs. total. Do you know that is 92 sticks of butter?

So thanks to all of you for reading, commenting and encouraging my journey. I couldn’t do it without you. And the occasional adult beverage.

Deborah