Perceptions and Misperceptions

The Nashville Film Festival featured lots of movies, lots of parties, and lots and lots and LOTS of free food and drinks. It's awfully hard for a cheapskate like me to turn down free food and drink, especially very yummy free food and drink. From the daily dishes provided by Whole Foods (one of the festival sponsors) in the VIP tent, to the buffets at receptions and parties that were catered by some of Nashville's best restaurants, I sampled it all.

One dangerous misperception that I have stuck in my head is that food tastes better when it's free. Another, even more dangerous one, is that free food calories -- like out-of-town calories, vacation calories, and party calories -- don't count!

These misperceptions were just as guilty as hunger or the attractiveness of the food in leading me into days of over-eating at the film festival. (And at least one night of over-drinking, but that's another story entirely.)

Another perception that gave me the title of this post is the feeling of being thin or fat which may or may not not be based in reality. I've had a couple of doctor appointments recently (don't worry, I'll live) and with each of them came a dreaded weigh-in. I say 'dreaded' because these weigh-ins came after all that over-eating at the film fest. I went to the first appointment knowing that I had been pigging out and feeling like a big blob of lard. Well, actually that perception was right: I weighed in at 132 pounds. Yipes!

I'd like to say that was a wake up call, but I continued to overeat and under-exercise for a few more days. Finally, I started getting my act together again just before my second doctor appointment. I went to that one feeling thin and pretty good: I weighed in at 131 pounds. (Actually, also yipes!)

Now, I know for a fact that the one pound difference did not make that much difference in the real world outside my own mind. I doubt if anyone but me could even notice it. But in my perception it loomed large.

How is it possible that I felt fat at 132 and thin at 131? All perception. Because I knew that I had been pigging out and not talking care of myself I felt huge and horrible at my first weigh-in. Because I had started taking care of myself again, I felt thinner and fit at my second weigh-in; I could have sworn that even my pants were looser.

The other aspect of this, is that my perception caused the one pound weight loss to make me feel not only thinner, but hopeful, back on track, and confident. That, in turn, has since helped me to really get myself back on track. (Believe it or not, I actually fasted today for only the second time in my life -- more about that in a later post.)

Bottom line is that perception is a mighty, mighty thing. I will have to harness it for good, not evil -- that is, to help me lose weight, not gain.