OK, in the past week I have heard from two women who have asked to be removed from the diet. “No longer on the bandwagon they say.” Boy, I sure do want to know what that means. What does that look like? Shopping frenzy? Pulling an online shopping all-nighter? Daily meetings with the UPS guy?
Many of you have admitted to falling off the diet wagon which is brave (shit I fell off when I discovered I was pantless at the gym and it took me two weeks to confess). Some of you have come forward spilling your guts and begging forgiveness while others have couched their foibles in a more matter-of-fact way. Regardless—it’s all open kimono around here. The truth is what makes this whole effort interesting and authentic. Right?
That’s why I was surprised and sorry to hear that these two women completely threw in the towel, wiped their hands and said “abstain no more.” I want to know what made them decide to give it all up? Was it a sexy night gown? A kelly green, lulu lemon hoodie? Or was it simply a classic white t-shirt. Whatever the case I need to know… we need to know. This is what makes this diet compelling. The buttons that get pushed in our lives that scream…”buy it?” It’s like the chocolate bar that begins speaking from the pantry in tongues….”eat me, eat me!.” You know the one. I understand the concept of simply pretending this diet idea never happened. It has crossed my mind a few times in the past several months. But after years of talking myself into the perfect t-shirt, pair of jeans, white blouse…you fill in the blank, I want to understand this thing we call “retail therapy.”
Anyway, if any of you have thrown in the towel for good I hope you will tell the rest of us that you have done so and why. What was the tipping point that made you give up, give in or simply hand over your debit card. This is the stuff of sociologists. Come clean if you can! And for the rest of you, keep on keepin’ on.
Sally, your fearless leader.
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I found myself in a (lovely) conversation with Diana, negotiating a barter of jeans for dress slacks and I knew I must be committed. I mean, geez, there is a Nordstrom RIGHT OVER *THERE*!
I do understand the wanting to leave. It makes me think of the yogic concept of Pratyahara–withdrawal of the senses. It is hard to do and takes effort and energy. I guess we’re withdrawing the shopping sense. I actually appreciate that these ladies didn’t want to represent that they were committed when they no longer could commit. Hopefully, they got something meaningful from the experience.
YES… I totally agree. I would really love to hear from our former fellow dieters about the choice they made and why… Did they struggle with the decision to quit for very long? What was their thought process while they were still actively dieting? I think understanding their experiences, thoughts and feelings will be very interesting and helpful to those of us remaining TGAAD’ers.
YUP i cheated last month can’t reveal why but i had too.
Truth: I caved and then came to my senses. Read about some jeans that seemed to belong with me on a NYT blog. Checked out the website, then justified the purchase with the same rationale I use – mostly unsuccessfully – with chocolate: just one won’t hurt. Clicked “buy.” And then was consumed by remorse. What had I just done? However many months of being good down the drain for a pair of jeans? Jeans????? Sheepishly, I called and cancelled my order. Immediately felt better. Although I’m not crazy about the five pairs of jeans in my closet, I am into sticking this thing out for a year.
We want to know why! Please tell – why not just cheat and then re-commit? Why flat out just call it quits? Was it too hard? Too silly?