Still "off" in a way. I'm not convinced that the Lean and Free program works. The book does say that although some women lose weight at 20% fat most need to eat less fat than that. I'll have to look at the book again. It wasn't terribly difficult to keep the fat down to 20%--and about 1/2 the time my plan DID work out to 14 or 17%--but the thing I liked about those days was planning in some treat. I don't want to cut out those treats! However, looking at her actual menus didn't seem terribly restrictive. It could also be that I think I'm much more faithful that I actually am---something this blog shows--how many "exceptions" have there been? Still, I think those exceptions are important. Apparently I'm not willing to live without them--how can I make them less damaging? One thing that really bugs me about a lot of diets is that they don't talk enough about life after the diet. There are a few pages about "maintenence" and that's it. But isn't that where I'm going to spend the rest of my life? I need to know what my food life is going to look like AFTER I lose the weight! Is this a lifestyle that I would even want to embrace? How else can I stay motivated unless I know I'm going somewhere where I WANT to go. My personal trainer friend here at work eats a lot of hard boiled eggs and protein shakes. Ugh. He looks great, but I don't want to live like that.
ANYWAY--some small progress. We had fruit and cookies at work yesterday. I was bored and tired--key elements that trigger overeating for me. I had one cookie as dessert for lunch, but for the rest of the afternoon even though I was bored and wanted to eat, I didn't want to eat--especially not loads of those cookies. Nice. I really think my determination to stay full and undeprived is working to loosen my death grip on food. It's just taking much longer than I would like. I am deeply grateful that I have been granted time to work on this problem. For now I don't have any major physical problems that would cause me to limit my food and I'm very glad I can make mistakes and be rebellious and still be relatively healthy.
Losing weight in spite of myself.
I began this blog in February 2011 as a way to help me not quit trying to lose weight, and to learn a few things. It's been an interesting and powerful experience. It certainly confirms what I've long suspected--that although I am a genuinely happy cheery person in the main, I am NOT a happy cheery dieter. I DETEST losing weight. I resent being overweight in the first place and I am a virtuoso in the art of self-sabotage. And YET--I'm doing it! I'm fighting and kicking and EATING all the way down, but the weight is finally going down. The plan I was following in February was a half-baked one largely based on wishful thinking. I gained a little weight and decided to get real. I knew I couldn't just join weightwatchers or count calories or do any one plan and expect to be successful. I decided if I was going to bother to make the effort to lose weight I was going to throw everything I could think of at the problem. And so I do. My real "Day One" for this blog is April 1, 2011. I joined weight watchers, I joined caloriecount.com (awesome website), I read the blog losingweighteveryday.blogspot.com religiously, I keep this blog faithfully, I joined the health programs sponsored by my insurance, I use the principles from overeater's anonymous, I use my church's 12 step program as well, I subscribe--and use--Healthy Cooking Magazine.
The result of all this? Painfully slow progress (About 20 lbs in 10 months). But it IS progress and like the little engine that could I keep on trying in my rebellious way. I have no intention of quitting. This is by far the longest sustained weight loss effort I've ever made in my life. Successful I think, because for the first in my life I've done this MY way--which I've discovered, involves a lot of pizza and restaraunt food. I'm convinced this is the only way to lose weight. For me it must be MY way. For you it MUST be YOUR way. Not weight watcher's way, not your doctor's way, but YOUR way. Any plan or idea I use is only a tool.
The latest plan to lose weight my way began on Oct 29, 2013. It really is my own crazy plan. As you'll see if you read that post. I've implemented the best ideas of all sorts of eating plans and thrown out the scale. A couple of months in and I'm definitely healthier. I'm actually enjoying myself. I won't weigh until April 1, 2014, so I'll see then if this works the way I hope it will.
There is no magic weight loss bullet. But there IS a great deal of magic in the discovery of what I can happily live with (very different from what weight watchers tells me I can happily live with) and still have the body and health I want.
Good luck to all of us on this journey. It's quite a trip!
The result of all this? Painfully slow progress (About 20 lbs in 10 months). But it IS progress and like the little engine that could I keep on trying in my rebellious way. I have no intention of quitting. This is by far the longest sustained weight loss effort I've ever made in my life. Successful I think, because for the first in my life I've done this MY way--which I've discovered, involves a lot of pizza and restaraunt food. I'm convinced this is the only way to lose weight. For me it must be MY way. For you it MUST be YOUR way. Not weight watcher's way, not your doctor's way, but YOUR way. Any plan or idea I use is only a tool.
The latest plan to lose weight my way began on Oct 29, 2013. It really is my own crazy plan. As you'll see if you read that post. I've implemented the best ideas of all sorts of eating plans and thrown out the scale. A couple of months in and I'm definitely healthier. I'm actually enjoying myself. I won't weigh until April 1, 2014, so I'll see then if this works the way I hope it will.
There is no magic weight loss bullet. But there IS a great deal of magic in the discovery of what I can happily live with (very different from what weight watchers tells me I can happily live with) and still have the body and health I want.
Good luck to all of us on this journey. It's quite a trip!
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