Feeling incredibly wealthy just now. We went to a fireside given by a darling couple in our ward who went to Mali, Africa to build a school. Our stake president, who is a dentist, went with them. They were there for several weeks doing free dental work and finishing the school. Unbelievable poverty. Kids--if they can get an education at all--might have to walk as far as 8 miles to a school. Doing this is a sacrifice for the whole family--the child is not working, therefore not bringing in income. Often there is no food to send with the child for a lunch, so the child takes a hoe kind of thing, and digs for roots and berries or whatever they can find to eat.
If the lack of food didn't do me in, the lack of dental care certainly would. People in real agony were lined up for hours to have teeth pulled.
Anyway, here I sit in my private multi-roomed home with a private computer having just taken a hot shower. Day off from exercise, though I did plan my meals. Was a bit derailed by the meatloaf. Meat, no matter how lean, is just a high fat choice. It brought my percentage to 28. Looked over my menu to see if there were any better choices elsewhere to help compensate. There was. I've been dying for a 7 layer bean dip and made it yesterday. Not a terrible choice, but by choosing salsa instead of dip I could have dropped the percentage to 26%. In the thrall of wanting the dip I decided it didn't make enough of a difference. Actually, it does. I'm reminded of the backpacker's addage, "take care of the ounces and the pounds will take care of themselves." Oh well. I'm vaguely justifying today by reminding myself that Mike, the personal trainer I work with, thinks 20% fat is too low. It would be too, if my overall calorie count was low. But it isn't--even at 20% I"m eating more than enough fat to keep all systems plenty happy. Still, I can rationalize 30%. I shouldn't. But I can.
The other mistake was that after the fireside there were cookies. I had planned two girl scout cookies. The GS cookies are small. Had I eaten ONE of the large fireside cookies it would have worked out about the same. I ate three. On the bright side. I was completely content with three. Usually I like 6 or 7 and am still looking around to munch.
Am going to bed now in my marvelously comfy bed, without bugs, or dirt or 10 other people in the same room.
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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