Unfortunately, my Mom is not one of those people in my life I can talk to about my food issues. She thinks that if I'm not losing weight on Weight Watchers, that I must not want to lose weight. She doesn't understand that I don't want to be overweight, but dieting had become an utterly impossible task.
My Mom did not know about the sessions with a cognitive behaviour therapist until almost a year into the process. From time-to-time I pondered how (and if) I was going to tell her about therapy. Luckily, she started the conversation herself:
Mom: I'd like to pay for a Weight Watcher's membership for you.
Me: Mom, I'll never go on Weight Watcher's again.
Mom: So how will you lose weight?
Me: By eating properly; balanced, nutritious meals, with lots of fruits and vegetables. I saw a person last year to help figure out my eating issues and the reason I overeat is because of my history of dieting.
Me: I've changed my eating habits and the good news is that my cravings have decreased significantly. I don't think about chocolate and cookies and ice cream all the time now.
Me: I'm losing weight, but it's going to be slow. It 's important that I don't feel like I'm on a diet.
I didn't go into any more details. She responded to the news well. We haven't talked about it again. Thankfully she knows not to ask how I'm doing. I'm going to show her progress rather than talk about it.
