I want to lose weight. I just don't want food to be my full-time job.
- I weighed in at 190.3 after a week of eating out more than I planned, and I wasn't surprised.
- I know exactly what to do. Some weeks I just don't want to think about doing it.
- I'm trying to figure out how wanting to lose weight and wanting to live my life can actually coexist.
190.3.
That's what the scale said on the last Sunday in September. And honestly? I wasn't shocked.
It was not a "look at me crushing it" kind of week. I ate out more than I meant to. I wasn't really focused on making the best choices. And mentally, I was just tired of thinking about food.
That last part is what I want to talk about, because I have a feeling it's not just me.
I know exactly what to do
I know that if I want the scale to keep going down, I have to pay attention to what I eat. I know calories matter. I know portions matter. I know eating out a few times a week makes it a lot harder for me to stay where I want to be.
None of that is new information. I could teach a class on it.
My problem isn't that I don't know what to do. My problem is that some weeks I just don't want to think about doing it.
And there is a huge difference between those two things.
If you've ever felt that, I wrote a whole post about it a few weeks later: you know how to lose weight, you're just tired of thinking about it all day. This weigh-in is kind of where that whole idea started.
What I said out loud this week
In my vlog that week, I finally just said it. I don't want to plan out everything ahead of time. I don't want to measure everything. I don't want to always be thinking about what I'm eating next.
Sometimes I just want to be hungry, look around, and eat something.
That doesn't mean I don't want to lose weight. It doesn't mean I gave up. It doesn't mean I don't care.
It means I'm trying to figure out how to make two things live together. I want to lose weight, and I also want to live my life.
Maybe that's the real work right now. Not learning more. Figuring out how to do what I already know without it taking over everything.
What does balance actually mean?
I've spent the last few years learning a lot. Tracking food. Changing portions. Figuring out what keeps me full, what works with my schedule, and what absolutely does not.
But there's still a part of me that wants the magic version of weight loss. The one where I eat whatever sounds good, whenever I want, never think about it, and the scale keeps going down anyway.
I have not found that version yet. And trust me, if I ever do, I'll be selling it.
But I also don't think the answer is to become obsessed with food again. That's the part I'm really trying to avoid.
- I don't want every meal to be a math problem. I want to make good choices without calculating everything.
- I don't want to spend my whole Sunday meal planning. I have a life, kids, and a job.
- I don't want to feel like I failed for going out to eat with my family. A burger with my people is not a crime.
- I don't want food to be the center of my life. I want it to be one part of a good one.
That's the experiment I'm in. And I'm not going to pretend I've figured it out, because I haven't.
Why "just try harder" doesn't work here
When you're tired of thinking about food, the usual advice is to be more disciplined. Plan more. Track more. Be stricter.
But that's the exact opposite of what a tired brain needs. If the problem is that I'm worn out from thinking, adding more thinking isn't going to fix it.
What actually helps me is making fewer decisions, not more. Having a few go-to meals I like. Deciding dinner earlier in the day, when I have energy. Letting some meals be easy on purpose.
That's a big part of why the week I let dinner be decided ahead of time went so well. I wrote about it here: what if dinner was already decided this week? And for the nights when you're totally done, this one helped me a lot: you don't need more willpower on the hard nights.
Why showing up still counts
This is also exactly why I care so much about how we do challenges inside Girl Code Daily.
When we did our walking challenge, I didn't want it to be another thing where everyone felt like they failed because they didn't hit 10,000 steps. I don't even hit 10,000 steps most days. Some days I'm around 5,000. Some days less. And a lot of women start at 2,000 or 3,000.
So the goal was simple: walk more than you're walking now. That's it.
Because maybe your food isn't perfect that day. Maybe you didn't work out. Maybe you're exhausted and your week is chaos. You can still take a walk. You can still check in. You can still be in it.
I don't think any of us need another place where we're expected to have it all together. I think we need somewhere to keep showing up while we figure it out. That's what Girl Code Daily is for me, and that's what I'm trying to make it for you.
If you're here too
If you're in a week where you know what to do but just don't want to think about it, you're not lazy and you're not failing. You're tired. That's real.
A few things that help me in weeks like that:
- Lower the bar on purpose. Good enough meals still count.
- Decide one meal ahead of time. Just dinner. That's one less decision at 5 pm.
- Keep the foods you love. Cutting them is what makes it feel like a full-time job.
- Do one small thing. A walk, a check-in, water with lunch. It keeps you connected.
And if you want something to do the thinking for you, that's exactly why I built Picky Girl HQ. You tell it what you like, and it plans your week, works out your numbers, and gives you a shopping list, so food stops being something you carry in your head all day. See it right here. It's $57 on its own, or included with a yearly Girl Code Daily membership, along with the GLP-1 Hub. And if you've bought every meal plan out there and none stuck, this post is for you.
The rest of this weigh-in
The full Sunday Weigh In lives inside Girl Code Daily. Here's what's in it:
- What I'm actually doing about it, and why I don't need every meal to be perfect.
- How I'm making "enough" of my choices on purpose, without counting everything.
- The rest of my life I'm paying attention to, and why it's all the same skill.
- How I stay connected to my goal even when I don't feel like thinking about it.
Yearly members also get Picky Girl HQ and the GLP-1 Hub included.
So tell me: is your problem knowing what to do, or wanting to think about it? Come tell me over on Girl Code Daily.
Quick note: I'm not a doctor. This is my personal experience, not medical advice. Talk to your provider about anything related to your medication, your dose, or your health.
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