February's Fall

The women in my office had obviously made New Years Weight-Loss Resolutions after the holiday dust had settled. The kitchenette over-flowed with: Cans of Soup, Whole Wheat Toast, Salads, Frozen Lean Cuisines and Everyone: discussed their caloric intake, compared diet tracking apps, shared healthy recipe options, and exercised on their lunchbreak.
The communal Snack Table remained empty during the first week of January. The second week, it made it to Friday’s On The Border Mexican delivery lunch and everyone stuck to the pre-tracked meals they’d calculated from the restaurants website. I giggled as they obsessively scooped their rice and opted out of the sour cream option. Bagels and one plate of chocolate chip cookies found their way to the table on the third week, but they were picked over throughout the day instead of the normal desperate morning munch scramble. The fourth week, a Girls Scout Cookie sign-up sheet accompanied a few boxes of granola bars and Special K chips (both of which I tried&enjoyed).
Then came February – potentially the most defeating month of the year for this obesity-tainted nation of ours. Two dozen donuts appeared on February 1st and were slowly eaten throughout the day – successfully avoided by some who’d not yet fallen off the wagon. February 2nd donned “Promotion Bagels” with lots of cream cheese options. “They’re really soft&fresh…” I heard one failed dieter snear at her deskmate who’d painfully said “no” to the Panera temptations. And today, Friday, February 3, there are two dozen more donuts on the table.
If anyone hadn’t fallen off the wagon yet, they’re clinging on by their fingernails and spitefully avoiding the common area.
Though I do find it funny – the whole New Years weight-loss trend followed by the February fall back into old habits – I mostly feel sorry for my coworkers, because I speak from experience. I’m the queen of the fad diet (my mother had me join her on the Cabbage Soup Diet before I even had a driver’s license) and I know how discouraging the cycle of motivation-lack of results-retreat can be. Hence, why I’m trying so hard to find a balance of health, exercise, and indulgence. I don’t want to end up a middle-aged office woman starving my way through January only to binge February into oblivion.