Weighty Words

by Jeffrey S Savage

I fall for it every year. “This vacation I’m going to get a ton of writing done. All that driving time. All the relaxing evenings with family. Sitting by the pool while the rest of the gang are at some hot sweaty amusement park. I wouldn’t be surprised if I got in ten thousand words or more this week.” I’m sure it’s the same flawed thinking that has people planning on sticking to their diet over the holidays, only to discover they’ve gained twelve pounds.

The last couple of days we’ve been staying with my baby sister and her family. She has lost a lot of weight and, even though she has always been very attractive (must have received the genes I missed out on), she looks even more wonderful than ever. In fact, she has been so successful at her weight loss that she is now a Weight Watcher’s counselor.

Yesterday we were discussing weight and I mentioned that a lot of people say they can’t lose weight no matter what they do. She told me that as long as a person’s doctor approves their going on the program, everyone who follows the plan can and will lose weight.

So what if a person says they are following the plan and yet they come week after week and their weight stays the same or rises? My sister says that she asks to see their food tracker. She checks on the little things. “Did you really measure out a cup of rice or did you estimate it?” “Do you lick the jelly off the knife after you make the kids a sandwich?” “Do you taste the gravy several times as you were making it?” If you stick to the plan, you WILL lose weight. If you are not losing weight, you are not sticking to the plan.

So I have to ask myself, have I been sticking to my writing plan this week? The answer of course is no. Despite the many activities I’ve done this week, there have been plenty of chances to write. Instead I’ve taken a nap or played a couple more games or read a book. As a result, I’ve gotten in less than a thousand words. Now don’t get me wrong, I value family time far above writing time and this is a chance to spend time with family I may not see but once a year. So I don’t begrudge the time I have lost writing. But I do recognize that I’ve fallen behind and if I am really committed to getting this book out by the end of the summer I will have to make some sacrifices.