Help! I’m having a Fat Day! Here is my Fat Day fight-back plan

I lost weight. I’m at goal.

Those two things, by no means, are a guarantee that I won’t wake up feeling fat. I will! I have! I know I will wake up feeling fat again. That’s life. Well, at least, that’s my life!

Fat days usually don’t descend upon me first thing in the morning.

It’s around the time I start to get dressed that I realize the onset of a fat day. I pull on a top and it seems to pull across the boobs more than normal. I stretch my arms forward and notice that it feels restrictive. Ugh! It’s a fat day! I look down at my belly. I think it’s looking fatter than normal too.

I shrug off the shirt that heralded my fat day and consider my options. On fat days I do not want to wear snug clothes! I want large, roomy clothes that don’t touch my body anywhere. It’s both a matter of comfort and camouflage.

I know that if I’m thinking rationally that big clothes do not make a fat day better. Big clothes don’t hide anything. They give the impression of a bigger body than the size of the body that is under those large clothes. Catching glimpses of reflections of myself in plate glass windows or the sides of clean and shiny cars (obviously my own doesn’t qualify here) only reinforce exactly how much of a fat day today really is.

"I am having a fat day and I have to do a live appearance on Good Day Maine in two hours. What to wear? Oh good grief!"

“I am having a fat day and I have to do a live appearance on Good Day Maine in two hours. What to wear? Oh good grief!”

Fat is as fat does.

Feeling fat and looking fat result in weight-gaining behavior. It’s not a conscious choice as in, “I feel fat today so I may as well indulge myself in everything I normally avoid.” It’s more like, “I feel fat today so I’m not going to eat a thing because if my stomach is empty I’ll feel a little less fat.”

It’s rare that I actually don’t eat when I say that I won’t. When I think I won’t eat, I revert to my old “pick trick.” Sitting down to eat a meal is “eating.” Taking a pick of this and a pick of that and a pick of a couple more things (until all of them have been picked until they’re gone) isn’t eating. Plainly put, picking is picking and it’s definitely eating. It’s just eating without owning it. That’s a big mistake!

This is a self-destructive behavior that I still work to avoid. I have “picked” myself into a state of obesity more than once. I need to stop before one fat day turns into several and eventually it’s no longer about fat days, but rather me getting fat again.

I have developed effective strategies to deal with fat days.

Here is my 3-Step Fat Day Fighting Plan:

1. Choose something comfortable and flattering. I have several body-skimming dresses that do this well. I am always searching for a couple more before I wear out the few I have or get sick of them (whichever comes first.)

Yep, this is one of those dresses! This photo was taken August 23, 2015.

Yep, this is one of those dresses! This photo was taken August 23, 2015.

2. I pay extra attention to what I eat, focusing on getting a combined total of 9 servings of fruit and vegetables. It’s a realistic goal that makes me feel powerful.

3. Engage in some of my most fun and entertaining physical forms of entertainment.

Adding these two for a little extra weight to my boat and going for a long row than ends in a swim is one, such form of active entertainment that I fully enjoy!

Adding these two for a little extra weight in my boat and going for a long row than ends in a swim is one, such form of active entertainment that I fully enjoy!

This easy, little strategy works every time. I wake up the next day feeling confident instead of fat!

 

Jackie Conn

About Jackie Conn

Jackie Conn is married and has four grown daughters and four grandchildren. She is a Weight Watchers success story. She's a weight loss expert with 25 years of experience guiding women and men to their weight-related goals. Her articles on weight management have been published in health, family and women's magazines. She has been a regular guest on Channel 5 WABI news, FOX network morning program Good Day Maine and 207 on WCSH.