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!







Saturday, May 7, 2011

Lava

Fabulous time in lava hot springs.  I don't think it's changed from what I vaguely remember almost 40 years ago.  Population is 521.  Our hotel was old and delightfully shabby with old world charm. The pools were hot hot hot!  One of them so hot we couldn't even get in.  It felt wonderful on my poor sinuses.  I have definitely caught something.  Not that it's interfering with my appetite at all.  This is the first time in 37 days I've been completely off plan. We left Ogden about 5:30--and let me tell you there isn't much by way of food between here and lava hot springs!! We were almost there when we finally found a restaraunt at 7:30!  I was starving AND on vacation.  I didn't even look at the part of the menu for "lighter appetites."  I had a bacon cheeseburger with tater tots, a side salad with blue cheese dressing (a rip-off at $3.29) and an order of hot wings. Felt fabulous.  We found our hotel, stewed in the hotpots then went out for late night ice-cream.  I had a small sundae--at least I didn't eat the hot-fudge.  It had been cooking all day and wasn't even liquid anymore--it just came off in one thick skin.  For breakfast this morning I had a really good quiche with sundried tomatoes and spinach--I'm sure the piecrust was loaded with fat, and then for lunch I had a gyro platter at the mall (surprisingly great greek food there), the best I can say about that is that at least I didn't eat all the fries.   Mother's Day is tomorrow and I feel totally without energy.  I'm supposed to walk for three hours this weekend and I want to, but the thought of doing a three hour walk, THEN going to church ,THEN going to Salt Lake is completely overwhelming.  I'll see how I feel I guess. I doubt I'll be roaring with energy, but maybe I can do a little wii or walk the 5k if it's a nice day.  I'm not especially inspired to  behave myself with food tomorrow either. But whatever happens I'll be back on the core plan on Monday.  Dave is shopping right now for some core-friendly recipies.  One glitch on the core plan is that it's difficult to track on the ww site. Going on that site everyday and logging in all my food and exercise is a big part of staying accountable.  However, fun as it is to eat off plan, I'm actually excited to get back on track on Monday---I like success!!!  In diets past I've NEVER been very successful, mostly because the diets were so horrible (the old ww plan!) that I couldn't stay on them. I still don't get why going off plan even a little completely killed the weight-loss, but it did.  This time I've already lost 10 pounds!  I felt great at lava---I'm still way too heavy to wear a swimsuit well, but the important thing was that I felt sleek and slim.  I can't wait to see where I'll be when we go to Aruba at the end of June.  Right now I feel like I'll lose 20 pounds in sinus discharge alone.
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