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!







Wednesday, January 22, 2014

THREE days!

I can be amazingly short-sighted.  The way this week worked out I have THREE Flavor point days in a row! That's tough.  I did want some flavor point, but not three, and defnitely not in a row! I originally put back one of the FP slips, but when I drew another one right back I decided that it was fate and wouldn't hurt me.  And it won't hurt me, but I keep thinking that I'll be doing this forever--like all the other times I've started a strict-ish diet--like weight watchers or even Flavor Point, and the thought of doing this forever (forever defined as 6 weeks) IS daunting. There's a very real part of me that thinks I'm going to try to stick to this forever. I think it will do wonders for my little psyche to wake up Friday and realize that I'm done.  I was hungry yesterday, and because of the holiday yesterday felt like Monday and I'm doing this till Thursday which seemed a long way away.  Thursday is tomorrow.  You'd think I'd have enough perspective to handle three days, but apparently not! It still seems like a long time just now.

And I'm not entirely starving. Yesterday was pineapple day. I love pineapple, and I liked all the recipes.  Today is a new day for me--Mint day. I've never made it that far in the book. Lunch is a salad with tuna and a hard boiled egg. Meh.  But dinner is going to be exciting.  It's a weird soup with spinach, peas and buttermilk. I'll either love it or hate it--I doubt there's going to be a middle road on this one. But it appeals to my sense of adventure so today will be fine.  Tomorrow will be fine as well--it's the last day and Friday I can relax a little with a vegetarian day. The problem with Thursday is time. I have harp at 6:30 and since we're down a car at the moment I'm going to be stuck on campus. It's going to be a looooong day. I'll have to pack both lunch and dinner and I think I'm making myself tired out in advance.

One very happy mercy.  My co-worker's birthday is on Thursday and we're bringing treats.  Happily, he's taken the day off so the treats will appear on Friday when I can eat them, instead of the last Flavor point day. Phew!

No comments:

Post a Comment