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, February 2, 2012

301 running? good? bad?

I'm gearing up for an effort if tomorrow's weigh in doesn't look good.  I do like that WW is now saying that you can mix up the core plan with the points plan on a day to day basis. That sounds good!  One of the things that bugs me most about WW is that they call for childlike faith in their plan and then change their plan every time you turn around.  Granted, they are consistently changing for the better---I remember when you had to have so many proteins, veggies etc.  Good idea, but nobody really eats like that.

Yesterday's trip to SLC went very well and is a huge load off my mind. Finally doing what I should have been doing all along is going a long way toward helping me release some guilt and maybe that will help me release some weight as well. 

The practical question for today is to run or not to run? I do NOT want to further damage my knees, but I also don't want to not try for a 5K! So far, I seem ok--not in actual pain or anything, it's just that my knees feel so rickety and it scared me how hard the weights were for me last Tuesday. I guess I'll keep going until I really can't.  Like the weights---I could tell that continuing that one exercise was going to be harmful. I don't feel that way with running yet--so I think I'll go ahead with 12 minutes today.  I can't wait till it's warm enough that I can run outside and see how far along I can get on our 5K route.

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