You are always on my mind: Weight and women

You've seen the commercial. A cover of Willie Nelson's "You are always on my mind" is playing while a woman is shown with a scale attached to her ankle at all different junctures of her day, whether she is at work, on the road, climbing stairs or eating lunch.

The message? Weight or body image is always at the forefront of your thoughts. You can never get past the guilt of what you eat or rather when you are not working out.

People often wonder why small framed people complain about their size however I think overall, women of all shapes, frames and ages have been programmed to pine for a figure they will never achieve.

My personality is somewhat of a perfectionist. If I cannot master something, I instantly frustrate. Then, I usually give up, or put aside what I cannot seem to get until a later date. Isn't that just the norm of life? Think of a school or work project. It's usually the things you're not sure about or require the most thought process or effort that you leave aside until a later date, but that constant nagging reminder never goes away.

The ironic thing about women is that they are never quite happy with what they have. If only in our 20's we realized no matter what size and weight we were, we were beautiful and young. In our 40's we would give anything to have that body back. I'm the type of person that if in my heart, I know I've given my all, I can accept my ultimate destiny. This includes anything from friendships, relationships, my wedding plans, body weight and work ethic. It's when I'm sitting around not doing anything about the very thing I'm whining about, that annoys the shit out of me.

I once picked up a VHS tape that cost $5.97 from Walmart. It was a pilates tape that I thought I'd try. It bored me to tears. I like fast paced, loud music, hard core workouts. This was slow, zen-like and involved ballet steps. I did this tape a couple of times a week for a few months. I was never so happy with my shape in my life. I have always been small, but short-waisted and pilates changed the way my limbs looked. I was long, lean and fit! I'm the type of person who can lose or gain weight quite quickly depending on my life situation. When I dated Michael, I gained 30 pounds. That doesn't sound like a lot but 30 pounds is a few extra dress sizes and none of my clothes fit.

I finally succumbed to the E-bay phenomenon and bought the DVD of this same program. It's called "The Method, Target Specifics" and I'm going to give it a whirl again.

No amount of ab crunches, circuit training, tai-bo or hip hop classes gave me the results pilates did. Wish me luck. It's so damn boring, but it works.

I guess it really is true that slow and steady wins the race. I guess I should throw out the beer and potato chips while I'm at it.