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!







Thursday, April 3, 2014

Brain Games

Wow---an actual original idea about weight loss. Thanks again 300poundsdown!  There's an article from Psychology today http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/choke/201107/training-the-brain-avoid-temptation that talks about how stronger executive function in the brain (like memory) helps with impulse control. OKAY! I need to take luminosity more seriously. My memory is getting weaker by the minute--might be time to actually do something about it.

In the meantime---today is ice-cream diet day. Happily, it's one of those days where it feels as though I have plenty of calories (I don't, only 1200). But I was careful about dinner. Both dinner and breakfast have very few calories so I have a reasonably hefty lunch AND amazingly two snacks.  Good snacks too. Popcorn and then blueberries and brie cheese. One thing that will be helpful about today is the timing of the bowl of butter pecan ice-cream. Normally, I like to have desserts--well, food in general, at the end of the day. It signals that the work of the day is over and that I'm relaxing. But today, I have harp lesson unusually late at 8:30. It would be better if I ate the ice-cream earlier. If I do that then the ice-cream will be just what it is--ice-cream. Yummy, but that's all. That's an emotion that I need to practice.

The other emotion I need to practice is patience. My brain is fine with the fact that my sweater is still too tight. My emotions on the other hand are complaining loud and clear--after all, I've been good for what? FIVE whole days now! I feel great and have lost that bloated feeling. But my clothes are still tight! What's the problem???  Sometimes it would be so nice to be a vulcan.

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