VACATION 15

You've heard of the Freshman 15, right? Well, what about the "been on vacation for 16 days doing nothing" 15 (a.k.a. Vacation 15)? One thing I did not do while on vacation was weigh myself (I was too busy eating!) but since today feels like the first Monday of the year for me, I decided to pull out the scale (isn't that what everyone does in the New Year?). To my surprise (okay, I wasn’t THAT surprised!), I had gained 11 lbs! Okay, so it's not exactly 15 lbs but the Freshman 15 is only colloquially set at fifteen pounds so it’s okay for me to say that I’ve fallen victim to the Vacation 15!!! That’s what happens when you wear pyjamas all day long – you don’t notice that your clothes are getting tighter! Now, I've already refused to set a new year's resolution concerning my weight but would it be okay to set a goal of at least getting back to my (over) weight from December 2010? Geesh...can someone explain to me why I crave chocolate as soon as I start talking about weight loss? Since January 1st, I have felt a mixture of sympathy and schadenfreude for those sad, pathetic people who had set new year’s resolutions knowing that I wasn’t going to be a victim of another new year’s resolution gone bad!

Now I need a plan...and fast! But I can't help but wonder...if I formulate a plan to lose weight, does that mean I will also need a back-up plan (see previous blog post – The Back-up Plan)? I guess my sense of humour won't be helpful in this situation (or is it useful...what is the difference between helpful and useful? Oh, there I go again!). So maybe I could smile and/or laugh off the 11 lbs :)

Well now, that's definitely not a plan so let's think...Is my new juicer enough? Will I have to start working out again? Would sitting on my exercise ball while working on my computer be enough? Should I get back into yoga-ing on a regular basis? Maybe I could drink my juice while doing yoga and reading the books I promised I would read this year? Or maybe I should drive walk to the store and buy books about losing weight? Okay, so I really need to think about what I can do to lose the weight but I can't help but wonder...once I lose those 11 lbs (yes, I’m a positive thinker!), am I then committed to losing the weight I promised I would lose in 2010...and 2009...and 2008....and 2007...and 2006...and 2005...and 2004...and 2003...and 2002...and 2001...and 2000...and 1999...geesh...how far back does this go? Interestingly, I probably gained weight each and every year that I made a resolution to lose weight...go figure (no pun intended)! Am I on to something here? Do New Year’s resolutions actually cause you to do the opposite of what you had initially set out to accomplish? I need to start collecting data! Please send me your new year's resolutions from the last 5 years with the actual outcomes and I will find a way to evaluate the findings. Any excuse to do math :)

Here’s a graphical representation of my new year's resolution weight loss outcomes over the last 5 years (the numbers are fictional but the +/- signs are real!):

As you can see, I’m a complete failure my new year's resolutions have failed me!!! My resolution/goal (red bar) was always to lose weight (i.e. -10 lbs) while the outcome (green bar) was always a weight gain (i.e. +6 lbs). Isn't that dreadful?!? On a positive note, my theory was correct! I believe that New Year’s resolutions actually cause you to do the opposite of what you had initially set out to accomplish! So I refuse to have a new year’s resolution in 2011 but I will endeavour to lose my Vacation 15 :)