Recovering The SelfA Journal of Hope and Healing

Self-Esteem

My Bathroom Scale

Feet on bathroom scale with word "Help" on dialby Evelyn Horan

It has been over a month or more since I stepped on my bathroom scale. Today, after the holidays recently passed, was a day I’d been trying to ignore, to avoid, to hide from, but I had to accept the numbers now. I gingerly stepped on the scale and closed my eyes, waiting for the digits to appear.

No, not those numbers! Try again. In panic, I stepped off the scale and then back on. To my dismay, the reading was the same. I had reached the unthinkable point. There was no more leeway between numbers. I must face the situation immediately and try to do something about these unwanted pounds that focused on my abdomen and hips. Gratefully, my arms and legs were generally the slim size they’d always been, but the square look of the abdomen, the waist, and hips made me appear like a box with arms and legs attached.

I sighed heavily. Now, I must begin the slow process of “toning” up. I must start with walking on my treadmill five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the later part of the day. Breakfast is okay, as I usually have a bowl of cereal, but I must be more aware of drinking lots of water, a severe failure, and a requirement that I must fulfill. I often forget.

Lunch would be a salad. Today, a chicken salad would fill the menu. Each day, I should have a light salad lunch. Tuna salad will be next.

Dinner should be light. Most of the time, my dinners are light, and I should eat no later than seven o’clock P.M. From past experience, if I eat later, I find I get heartburn and I need a “Tums” to help me overcome the discomfort. So I will be disciplined at dinner, and I’ll try to avoid sweets, carbohydrates, and junk food snacks in the evening when I am watching TV programs.

Fortunately, I love fruit and fresh vegetables, so I’ll allow myself lots of fruit and veggies at snack time. Luckily, there is a variety of delicious fruit and fresh veggies available.

I’m basically physically lazy these days in my senior years, so I will try to approach this new project of losing weight cheerfully, and I shall willingly try to remember, “I am aging with a cheerful attitude.”

If I’m disciplined, I should be able to shed these unwanted pounds in a reasonable length of time. So, I think I’ll get started now by walking on the treadmill for five minutes.

About the Author

Evelyn Horan is a former teacher/counselor. Her articles and stories have been published many times in periodicals for children and adults in both secular and religious publications. She holds General Elementary, General Secondary, Pupil Personnel, and also School Psychologist life credentials in the state of California. Horan is the author of a number of books including Aging Requires a Gentle Attitude. Learn more about her work at http://www.authorsden.com/evelynhoran.

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Recovering The Self is a forum for people to tell their stories. Individual contributors accept complete responsibility for the veracity, accuracy, and non-infringement of their reporting.
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