Showing posts with label losing weight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label losing weight. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
New Blog Updated: Day 2 Son of Double Dog Challenge: Another 1/5th down and woke up thirsty. Huh?
Please update your links/follows or just add the new blog, please. THANKS!
Day 2 Son of Double Dog Challenge: Another 1/5th down and woke up thirsty. Huh?
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
New Blog Updated: Day 10 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Where I blew past my milestone and fear the amount of peeing that the next challenge phase will bring...
Please change/update your links/follows or just add the new blog, thanks:
Day 10 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Where I blew past my milestone and fear the amount of peeing that the next challenge phase will bring...
Monday, November 1, 2010
New Blog Updated: Day 8 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Thoughts on previous week and Today's Calories/Meals/Water
Read the new entry at the new blog. And Please update your linkies/follows:
Day 8 Double Dog Dare You Challenge: Thoughts on previous week and Today's Calories/Meals/Water
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
New Blog Updated: Kirstie Alley Loses 50 Pounds. Big Yawn... What's REALLY Interesting? Regular Janes Who do it!
Read the new entry at the new blog:
Kirstie Alley Loses 50 Pounds. Big Yawn... What's REALLY Interesting? Regular Janes Who do it!
Please update your links and follow. Happy, trimming Tuesday!
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
New Blog Updated: "Just Ten" Challenge: Where Would A "Just Ten" Pound Loss Take You?
Please read the new entry at the new blog:
"Just Ten" Challenge: Where Would A "Just Ten" Pound Loss Take You?
And please update your links/follows. THANKS.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
New Blog Updated: Why Am I Losing Weight In My Feet??!?
Read the new entry at the new blog:
Why Am I Losing Weight In My FEET!???
Please update links/follows.
May Tuesday treat you well....
Saturday, August 7, 2010
A Seeming New Phase In Relationship To Food at Summer Slimmin' Challenge's End...
So, I didn't meet my challenge goal of 250 lbs. I ended up just maintaining since I last checked in, more or less. 258.8 Thursday weigh-in, the final day of the Summer Slimmin' Challenge.
Began challenge: 267.6
Ended challenge: 258.8
Loss: 8.8 lbs
I am at fault, of course, for not meeting my goals. We are each at fault, when it comes down to it, when we don't give something our all. I simply did not consistently hold up to the challenge suggestions.
BUT...I did end up losing weight and getting into a new "decade" and trying some new stuff strategy/foodwise, and I ended up feeling oddly, mostly calm. Not feeling edge or bingey for most of it. In fact, I feel a lot more calm in general about my eating and I've found myself saying no more easily to pizza, even when I want it. I just have said no with more ease.
Ease.
Well, how much that will continue, who can say? I deeply hope it's part of a larger trajectory towards a better, more healthful weight for me, a place below 200 eventually, but I don't feel rushed, like I do occasionally when I feel like joining a challenge (where I have always lapsed). Lord in Heaven knows there have been plenty of "losers" who think they won the battle only to regain and find, oops, no they didn't. So, I don't ever think my battle will be over, but maybe, just maybe, I'm getting used to the warrior mindset. Not "in full battle mode" warrior, but the warrior in the less intense war zone who still has to be vigilant and make progress. I think maybe I should strive to be a more active, right in the midst of it warrior. But I think that's just not me. I'm a meanderer, not a fighter.
a fat-sorta-fighter? hah.
Whatever, I have not made any great strides in changing behavior other than simply feelng less prone to stuff my face, feeling more prone to leave stuff on the plate and for leftovers, feeling more inclined to DECLINLE inviations to danger zones (read fave Italian and Mexican restaurants).
We do have a gift certificate to a highly rated pasta place and that will be an interesting challenge, as pasta IS one of my danger foods (very easy to just go hog wild when the plate is in your face). But I'm going to assess myself before going (or reschedule). I do plan to have a protein shake BEFORE I leave to sort of take the edge off my appetite. Then, let's see how THAT goes.
I like this non-frantic about food place. I do wish I were not merely maintaining and were more diligent about tracking, water, and more consistent with exercising on non-training days. But I just feel more hopeful, like before year's end, I can lose another 10 to 15 pounds, maybe even 20. That pace would be painfully slow for some, but 4 or 5 pounds a month would be significant in the long run and would put my mind more at ease about my skin having a chance to rebound.
I really continue to get freaked if I try to think about the skin hanging issue to come (and some already here). So, I don't overthink it. I just let myself think in terms of slowness--even if it means years--and keep using good oils and creams to keep skin soft, and keep taking my vitamins to nourish the whole of me, hoping I can have some snap back...
In time, I hope I am so much lighter that I will then have to consider the surgical implications. BUT....perhaps the slow turtle can hope that the skin adapts even a bit. I keep talking to my skin at bedtime, after I've used my Parisian huile de soin after my shower, after I've put the MSM cream on my batwings, thighs, and belly: Please, please, just pull yourself together, be elastic for me, will you, and knit yourself into a smaller size.
My skin may not be listening, but then, the human mind and body are strange, strange things. Maybe it is.
So, me and food are being quite polite to each other and I am not feeling antsy. For now, this is a blessing.
I missed my challenge goal, but I am glad I dipped into it. I'm lighter than when I went into it in June, lighter by just under 9 pounds.
Know what that means: I will look into another challenge. I'll likely meander through that one, too, but if I learn something, advance in my relationship with food, and lose some weight, even if not my goal of loss, the challenge is a success for me.
For my fellow challengers---hope you got something good out of it.
Thanks to Z for organizing it, even if her puter went kaput in the last weeks...
Began challenge: 267.6
Ended challenge: 258.8
Loss: 8.8 lbs
I am at fault, of course, for not meeting my goals. We are each at fault, when it comes down to it, when we don't give something our all. I simply did not consistently hold up to the challenge suggestions.
BUT...I did end up losing weight and getting into a new "decade" and trying some new stuff strategy/foodwise, and I ended up feeling oddly, mostly calm. Not feeling edge or bingey for most of it. In fact, I feel a lot more calm in general about my eating and I've found myself saying no more easily to pizza, even when I want it. I just have said no with more ease.
Ease.
Well, how much that will continue, who can say? I deeply hope it's part of a larger trajectory towards a better, more healthful weight for me, a place below 200 eventually, but I don't feel rushed, like I do occasionally when I feel like joining a challenge (where I have always lapsed). Lord in Heaven knows there have been plenty of "losers" who think they won the battle only to regain and find, oops, no they didn't. So, I don't ever think my battle will be over, but maybe, just maybe, I'm getting used to the warrior mindset. Not "in full battle mode" warrior, but the warrior in the less intense war zone who still has to be vigilant and make progress. I think maybe I should strive to be a more active, right in the midst of it warrior. But I think that's just not me. I'm a meanderer, not a fighter.
a fat-sorta-fighter? hah.
Whatever, I have not made any great strides in changing behavior other than simply feelng less prone to stuff my face, feeling more prone to leave stuff on the plate and for leftovers, feeling more inclined to DECLINLE inviations to danger zones (read fave Italian and Mexican restaurants).
We do have a gift certificate to a highly rated pasta place and that will be an interesting challenge, as pasta IS one of my danger foods (very easy to just go hog wild when the plate is in your face). But I'm going to assess myself before going (or reschedule). I do plan to have a protein shake BEFORE I leave to sort of take the edge off my appetite. Then, let's see how THAT goes.
I like this non-frantic about food place. I do wish I were not merely maintaining and were more diligent about tracking, water, and more consistent with exercising on non-training days. But I just feel more hopeful, like before year's end, I can lose another 10 to 15 pounds, maybe even 20. That pace would be painfully slow for some, but 4 or 5 pounds a month would be significant in the long run and would put my mind more at ease about my skin having a chance to rebound.
I really continue to get freaked if I try to think about the skin hanging issue to come (and some already here). So, I don't overthink it. I just let myself think in terms of slowness--even if it means years--and keep using good oils and creams to keep skin soft, and keep taking my vitamins to nourish the whole of me, hoping I can have some snap back...
In time, I hope I am so much lighter that I will then have to consider the surgical implications. BUT....perhaps the slow turtle can hope that the skin adapts even a bit. I keep talking to my skin at bedtime, after I've used my Parisian huile de soin after my shower, after I've put the MSM cream on my batwings, thighs, and belly: Please, please, just pull yourself together, be elastic for me, will you, and knit yourself into a smaller size.
My skin may not be listening, but then, the human mind and body are strange, strange things. Maybe it is.
So, me and food are being quite polite to each other and I am not feeling antsy. For now, this is a blessing.
I missed my challenge goal, but I am glad I dipped into it. I'm lighter than when I went into it in June, lighter by just under 9 pounds.
Know what that means: I will look into another challenge. I'll likely meander through that one, too, but if I learn something, advance in my relationship with food, and lose some weight, even if not my goal of loss, the challenge is a success for me.
For my fellow challengers---hope you got something good out of it.
Thanks to Z for organizing it, even if her puter went kaput in the last weeks...
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Oh, Man...my toes are in the 250's!
I got on the scale right now and shocked myself.
I've dipped into the next "decade" down. Whoa...I'm .6 lbs from having lost 40 lbs.
Yesssssssssssss!
259.6
I've dipped into the next "decade" down. Whoa...I'm .6 lbs from having lost 40 lbs.
Yesssssssssssss!
Sunday, June 13, 2010
A Decluttering Trip down Weigh-In Memory Lane
As part of my summer makeover , I want to slim down NOT just body-wise, but also neuroses-wise, spendthrift-wise, and clutter-wise. This afternoon, with my newfound energy, I continued some of the living room decluttering that began Friday. It's really, really bad at my place. We live a huge space, yes, but we fill it. Both hubby and I are packrats, though mine is definitely a more pathological thing. :P So, at the bottom of one pile, I found calendars from 2007. Yeah. They'd been dumped there January 1 of 2008. Two and a half-years ago.
But it was a nice discovery. The Jan 1 weigh-in for 2007 was 289 lbs. That's 24 more pounds than I am now.
The ending weight for 2007 wasn't logged on 12/31. My last weigh-in logged for that year was on December 22nd, and it was 274.8. So, in 2007, the year I started this blog in May at a weight of 289.0 (the very same weight in which I began the year), I ended 14+ pounds lighter than I started that year. Blogging helped.
I will add that blogging (no matter how inconsistently or how often I took extended weeks-long breaks) has kept me accountable to some degree. I have not gotten to 289 again. This never happened in my pre-blogging days. I always regained what I lost and then some. I'd lost up to 30+ pounds in the past and started regaining sometimes the very same year.
Blogging has given me some strength to hang on (last year during a more maintenance type of phase), and to lose, so that I'm a tick away from having lost 35 pounds from my highest weight in 2004, and am 25 pounds down from my starting-blog weight. Three years and one month after starting this blog, I have not gotten back up or beyond my high weight.
If you ever thought about starting a blog to help you lose weight, I recommend it. I'm not at goal, not after three years, but I am doing better than I have before, because there's always this little presence in my head: the community of fatfighters whom I follow and who follow me. We are a support group. And when I drop out of sight cause life gets weird or I get depressed, I still want to come on and lurk and see how you guys are doing, even if I'm not doing so well. And eventually, wanting to hang with you again BRINGS ME BACK.
It's worth it. It is.
Do it.
And the more accountable you are--probably the better it will be for you. Put your numbers out there. Tell us when you fall. Tell us what helped you get back up. Help someone else back up. Put up a body shot. Be honest. Be angry. Be yourself.
So that even when you have a hard time losing, you can just HANG ON until you can lose (and win) again.
Glad I found those calendars. I feel better about today just seeing a bit of yesterday...
Happy Sunday (again)....
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Starting Weigh-In for SUMMER SLIMMIN' Challenge, Goals, and Preparatory Actions...
Got on the scale to document my starting weight for the Summer Slimmin' Challenge. (You still can join, so click on that badge to the left at the top of my sidebar.)
And here is the kick-off poundage:
And here is the kick-off poundage:
267.6
I can see the crap I had Saturday--chorizo tapas, rolls with cheese butter, fried chicken, fried green plantains--took its toll. It was a lollapalooza of bad choices at a mediocre restaurant. That's 1.6 lbs up from last time I weighed.
My goal for how many pounds I wanna lose by August 6: 17.6
That should take me to 250, a weight I haven't been at since, like 2001--I'd have to check old records, but I know I was 254 after my appendectomy, and I had lost some weight, so I'm assuming I was 250 the year before (as I tended to gain about 10 pounds a year, give or take, and by 2003 I was 266.)
Well okay, so I started off fine this AM with a breakfast nearly half my usual breakfasty caloric level: 437
I'm aiming for 1800 a day the first week, 1700 the second, and then 1600 for the remainer of the challenge.
If I feel too hungry at the lower level of 1600, I'll let myself move up again to 1700 and then 1800, the latter being where I want to set the upper bar. I haven't been able to eat that few calories consistently for two months at a time in years and years, and I could NEVER keep it up, so let's see what the challenge can do to my mindset. If I am to sustain a lower weight--and my goal is to get to 175 one day--then I have to learn to eat less. I am hopeful. Ever hopeful.
One of the things I learned in the last couple weeks is that 2300 calories more or less is maintenance for me. I had weigh-ins that never moved more than a pound up or down on days I tracked my calories at around 2300.
So, if I eat more I will gain (and when I don't restrain myself, I naturally gravitate to eating about 4000 to 4500 calories, and yes, that's how you get to 300 lbs, peops!) So, if I eat 1800, that's 500 less than maintenance. Times 7 days means I will lose at least a pound week--add in the water losses that come with dieting and I might make 2 lbs a week. Add in more exercise and I might make it to 3 lbs a week. Hence, I aim for the middlish ground, 2 lbs per week.
So, if I eat more I will gain (and when I don't restrain myself, I naturally gravitate to eating about 4000 to 4500 calories, and yes, that's how you get to 300 lbs, peops!) So, if I eat 1800, that's 500 less than maintenance. Times 7 days means I will lose at least a pound week--add in the water losses that come with dieting and I might make 2 lbs a week. Add in more exercise and I might make it to 3 lbs a week. Hence, I aim for the middlish ground, 2 lbs per week.
So, here's to getting to a size 22 by August 6 (or at least that's my estimate. I'm a bit snug in 24, and sometimes loose in 26 and sometimes perfect, so it seems to me that 17.6 lbs off should take me down to a 22 with some comfort in the fit, yes? At my highest I wore a 30/32, so this will be a nice change.
Other goals:
~~to blog daily and be accountable to my challenge-mates and readers
~~to post encouragement to other challenge participants (at least two a day)
~~to drink 8+ glasses of water (fruit essenced or plain)
~~to add 20 mins of exercise on non-Pilates days (I normally do an hour of trainer-supervised Pilates 2x a week), meaning pop in a DVD and do it or dance around the living room or march in place or whatever. Just move my butt for 20 mins on 3 other non-Pilates days for a total of 5 days with exercise.
~~to eat at least 6 fruits /veggies a day (the challenge only asks for a minimum of 5, but I want to set a wee bit higher bar for myself)
~~to eat/cook/prepare most of my meals at home (not to be tempted in restaurants, with the exceptions being, certainly, my anniversary on the 11th and my husband's birthday on the 26th)
~~to be more scrupulous with my food tracking/journaling. I am going to do it at Sparkpeople (where I have only been sporadic and non-comprehensive). My aim is to document EVERY SPECK of food or beverage that goes into my mouth and down to my tummy.
~~to blog my weigh-in on Sundays (although I may weigh-in for my own purposes more often.
I already requested delivery of vegetarian meals (I'll receive it sometime next Thursday) in order to simplify the caloric-watch for a few weeks, then I'll begin making my meals myself. I want someone else to portion it for me, as I really tend to just go nuts with portions. 3 to 4 weeks of pre-portioned meals should help get me in the mindset of "this much is the correct amount".
After that, I will weigh/measure at home to keep things calorically tidy.
Since the meal delivery won't start for several days, I will be shopping today to restock on fresh produce, skim milk, lowfat cheese, and whatever I need to make healthful meals for me and hubby until I get my pre-portioned vegetarian lowfat meals. I am going to make my shopping list as soon as I get off blogging this.
Z of Bottomless blog, who is hosting the challenge and created our cool badges, has already done her challenge-friendly shopping. Go see.
After that, I will weigh/measure at home to keep things calorically tidy.
Since the meal delivery won't start for several days, I will be shopping today to restock on fresh produce, skim milk, lowfat cheese, and whatever I need to make healthful meals for me and hubby until I get my pre-portioned vegetarian lowfat meals. I am going to make my shopping list as soon as I get off blogging this.
Z of Bottomless blog, who is hosting the challenge and created our cool badges, has already done her challenge-friendly shopping. Go see.
I will happily accept any encouraging remarks and rah-rahs to keep me on target. And I hope I can encourage you, too. It's a long haul and a tough fight, so let's be pillars for each other.
Let's do it! Onward and DOWNward!
Other measures to track for the challenge:
starting waist: 44.5
starting hips: 54.5
Other measures to track for the challenge:
starting waist: 44.5
starting hips: 54.5
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sweep/Bend/Push/Haul for Three Hours: Lose Almost a Pound
Well, I didn't make it to Pilates.
Our water heater burst during the night. Hubby noticed it, then I woke up to find water up nearly to my ankles in the kitchen and our carpet soaking on both sides of the closet that holds the water heater.
A plumber agreed to come first appt (said 7:30, came about 9).
Before that it was 2.5 hours of almost consistent sweeping of water out the door into the yard, while hubby tried to think of where the main water switch was (this is an apt building, and i had no clue). He found it a round 5 am, and the water mercifully stopped tsunami-ing. We swept out the last pile of it, got oodles of towels to mop out worst of soaking from carpeting, threw out a bunch of stuff that got wet in the pantry closet (boxes with dried goods).
My feet and back hurt some.
I got a few hours of sleep after the plumber arrived, and I woke up to find I was...
267.2
So, it only cost $850 and sore feet/back to lose almost a pound "overnight". :)
We have a shiny new water heater, a smaller checking account, and some damp carpeting I'm worried over (mildew, mold). Any suggestions on how to treat them welcome (they are still drying). Fortunately, the weather during the night was cool and dryish for Miami, so things ARE drying out.
I'm happy with the weigh-in, but I wish I could have lost that 3/4 of a pound in a much easier way.
Our water heater burst during the night. Hubby noticed it, then I woke up to find water up nearly to my ankles in the kitchen and our carpet soaking on both sides of the closet that holds the water heater.
A plumber agreed to come first appt (said 7:30, came about 9).
Before that it was 2.5 hours of almost consistent sweeping of water out the door into the yard, while hubby tried to think of where the main water switch was (this is an apt building, and i had no clue). He found it a round 5 am, and the water mercifully stopped tsunami-ing. We swept out the last pile of it, got oodles of towels to mop out worst of soaking from carpeting, threw out a bunch of stuff that got wet in the pantry closet (boxes with dried goods).
My feet and back hurt some.
I got a few hours of sleep after the plumber arrived, and I woke up to find I was...
267.2
So, it only cost $850 and sore feet/back to lose almost a pound "overnight". :)
We have a shiny new water heater, a smaller checking account, and some damp carpeting I'm worried over (mildew, mold). Any suggestions on how to treat them welcome (they are still drying). Fortunately, the weather during the night was cool and dryish for Miami, so things ARE drying out.
I'm happy with the weigh-in, but I wish I could have lost that 3/4 of a pound in a much easier way.
Oh, and I just realized I'm more than 10 lbs lighter than New Year's Day of this year. I had wanted to end the year lighter. Now, I want to end the year at least 15 pounds lighter than I started.
Okay, time to have something to eat (I haven't eaten since 8:30 pm last night). My Dr. McDougall's ready to serve soup (vegetable) arrived minutes ago via UPS (I bought on the recommendation of various online fatfighting bloggers). I hope it's good. :D
Have a healthful, not appliance-disastrous day, guys, ok?
Okay, time to have something to eat (I haven't eaten since 8:30 pm last night). My Dr. McDougall's ready to serve soup (vegetable) arrived minutes ago via UPS (I bought on the recommendation of various online fatfighting bloggers). I hope it's good. :D
Have a healthful, not appliance-disastrous day, guys, ok?
Friday, October 30, 2009
Breaking Bad Habits: Which Stage of "Behavioral Change" Are You In?
I came across an article just now called "Unhealthy Habits Often Hard to Break," and here's a portion I'd like to quote:
So, the stages:
1. pre-contemplation (resisting change)
2. contemplation (change is on the horizon)
3. preparation (getting ready)
4. action (time to move)
5. maintenance (staying there)
Well, I've gone through all the first four all and creating this blog was part of it, too. Yes, I was fully in "action," then that pretty much stopped. I ended back in contemplation/preparation toggling. From the little bit of preview I read of Dr. Prochaska's book online, the contemplation includes the emotional arousal (ie, the inertia starts to crack, I guess). The preparation continues the self-evaluation of "contemplation" and then moves to commitment. Yeah, makes sense.
Hence, a few days ago, I switched from contemplation--feeling again the need to change with regard to my dieting/health efforts, probably ignited by the bit of regain during the illness and reading some of the fatfighter blogs again-- to preparation. When I felt better from the flu, I printed a shopping list with healthful stuff for my hubby to buy me, and then I scheduled exercise training for next week. And I began actively blogging again. (I also am in preparation mode for another important thing in my life I want to change, but that is not health-related, so I won't go into it here.)
I have been in a half-hearted action mode for three days now, er, semi-action? By semi-action I mean that I've taken action--am conscious of food choice, am making better choices, am preparing meals instead of gobbling fatty take-out, am ordering diet products online--but it's not at the level that I need to be (action-wise) to see strong progress.
But ya know, it is something, and I shouldn't denigrate it. Bad habit that, too. Affirmation, throw me an affirmation! :)
But I am in action. Yes, that's good. Action includes "environmental control", and just buying good food and preparing sane meals (or even planning to buy sane meals, as opposed to crazy-ass meals) is part of that control. Throwing out junk food is environmental control. Setting up a journaling time, bringing out the scale, all that is environmental control. So, yeah, here I am. Action stage.
I've never been in a "goal achieved" maintenance. Ever. I've been in maintenance of sorts to keep 25+ pounds off. That hasn't been as easy as one would think, and maybe part of me has always been in a sort of maintenance (ie, maintaining this 272-276 weight range and not the 296-300 weight range).
Man, must be nice to be at goal and on "automatic" to keep it off. But that's nowhere near where I'm at.
Anyway, I know myself at this point. For me, falling back into contemplation is really, really easy. It's the "mojo gone" stage for me. It's the, "I really am behaving badly, and I need to do something", but I don't do anything stage.
How do I stay in "action" mode and move into "better action" in order to make the future I envision happen, one day, one day far ahead, way ahead, the place where I'm into "maintenance"?
Geez. Wish I knew.
I'm just glad to be past the threshold and into "action" for now. I've been contemplative way too long.
So, which stage are you in? Is it where you need to be now? Are you stuck or toggling?
I do wish to give a shout out to some bloggers whose persistence in weight loss/fitness gain/blogging have helped me move from contemplation to preparation to action this time around:
Katschi of *Fitcetera*, a gorgeous blond who's lost 70 lbs so far and posts pics of her meals (which I just love seeing, weirdo that I may be).
Lyn of Escape from Obesity who is so insightful of her own weaknesses and strengths and refuses to give up, no matter the blips or regain. Her persistence and unflinching introspection about the roots of her overeating/bingeing have, I suspect, helped many of us look deeper at our own internal landscape. Her courage and honesty are beautiful.
Heather at Setting Her Free, who is maintaining and I do not doubt will always maintain due to her gumption and focus. She lets me see that the struggle goes on, but it can be done. Plus her beautiful, smiling face just makes ya feel good. :)
Thanks, ladies.
To ensure good health, some experts say, we need to learn the science of behavior change -- that the body part people most need to contend with is not their beer bellies or love handles, but their brains.
Dr. James Prochaska, director of the cancer prevention research center at University of Rhode Island and co-author of the book "Changing for Good," said most behavioral changes, such as losing weight and stopping smoking, involve six stages.
A person who denies or fails to recognize the problem is in a stage he calls pre-contemplation. After that comes contemplation (acknowledging the problem without being ready to change it), preparation (getting ready to change), action (changing behavior) and maintenance (not falling off the wagon). The final stage is termination, meaning the behavior has been tamed and no longer poses a threat.
When people skip straight to action, they are likely to return to their bad habits before long, Prochaska said. Instead, they should think in terms of advancing from one stage to the next.
"Behavior change equals progress, not immediate action," he said.
So, the stages:
1. pre-contemplation (resisting change)
2. contemplation (change is on the horizon)
3. preparation (getting ready)
4. action (time to move)
5. maintenance (staying there)
Well, I've gone through all the first four all and creating this blog was part of it, too. Yes, I was fully in "action," then that pretty much stopped. I ended back in contemplation/preparation toggling. From the little bit of preview I read of Dr. Prochaska's book online, the contemplation includes the emotional arousal (ie, the inertia starts to crack, I guess). The preparation continues the self-evaluation of "contemplation" and then moves to commitment. Yeah, makes sense.
Hence, a few days ago, I switched from contemplation--feeling again the need to change with regard to my dieting/health efforts, probably ignited by the bit of regain during the illness and reading some of the fatfighter blogs again-- to preparation. When I felt better from the flu, I printed a shopping list with healthful stuff for my hubby to buy me, and then I scheduled exercise training for next week. And I began actively blogging again. (I also am in preparation mode for another important thing in my life I want to change, but that is not health-related, so I won't go into it here.)
I have been in a half-hearted action mode for three days now, er, semi-action? By semi-action I mean that I've taken action--am conscious of food choice, am making better choices, am preparing meals instead of gobbling fatty take-out, am ordering diet products online--but it's not at the level that I need to be (action-wise) to see strong progress.
But ya know, it is something, and I shouldn't denigrate it. Bad habit that, too. Affirmation, throw me an affirmation! :)
But I am in action. Yes, that's good. Action includes "environmental control", and just buying good food and preparing sane meals (or even planning to buy sane meals, as opposed to crazy-ass meals) is part of that control. Throwing out junk food is environmental control. Setting up a journaling time, bringing out the scale, all that is environmental control. So, yeah, here I am. Action stage.
I've never been in a "goal achieved" maintenance. Ever. I've been in maintenance of sorts to keep 25+ pounds off. That hasn't been as easy as one would think, and maybe part of me has always been in a sort of maintenance (ie, maintaining this 272-276 weight range and not the 296-300 weight range).
Man, must be nice to be at goal and on "automatic" to keep it off. But that's nowhere near where I'm at.
Anyway, I know myself at this point. For me, falling back into contemplation is really, really easy. It's the "mojo gone" stage for me. It's the, "I really am behaving badly, and I need to do something", but I don't do anything stage.
How do I stay in "action" mode and move into "better action" in order to make the future I envision happen, one day, one day far ahead, way ahead, the place where I'm into "maintenance"?
Geez. Wish I knew.
I'm just glad to be past the threshold and into "action" for now. I've been contemplative way too long.
So, which stage are you in? Is it where you need to be now? Are you stuck or toggling?
I do wish to give a shout out to some bloggers whose persistence in weight loss/fitness gain/blogging have helped me move from contemplation to preparation to action this time around:
Katschi of *Fitcetera*, a gorgeous blond who's lost 70 lbs so far and posts pics of her meals (which I just love seeing, weirdo that I may be).
Lyn of Escape from Obesity who is so insightful of her own weaknesses and strengths and refuses to give up, no matter the blips or regain. Her persistence and unflinching introspection about the roots of her overeating/bingeing have, I suspect, helped many of us look deeper at our own internal landscape. Her courage and honesty are beautiful.
Heather at Setting Her Free, who is maintaining and I do not doubt will always maintain due to her gumption and focus. She lets me see that the struggle goes on, but it can be done. Plus her beautiful, smiling face just makes ya feel good. :)
Thanks, ladies.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Finally easing out of the nasty flu, and beginning to get mojo back...sorta
I've been sick for 3 weeks and one day. This swine flu is fiendish. But I can sleep nearly normally now and the lung goop and coughing is minimal. My energy level is pretty low--I had trouble reading the paper earlier in the week, cause keeping my arms up was exhausting. Amazing, huh?
Anyway, I may be able to return to my Pilates next Wednesday (have an appt). I've gone without for three weeks, and I can fear reverting to mush. :P I had missed some appts in Sept due to asthma. So, this season has been rough on me, my respiratory system, and my exercise regimen.
Eating a lot of restaurant takeaway crap for almost 3 weeks means I gained weight (yeah, others lose when they're sick, I gain. Comfort food a la Princess is really fatty.) I got up to 276.8 (maybe higher, but that was when I remembered to weigh in). Today I was at 273.6. So, a few days of eating fruits and veggies and lean protein again helped oodles.
I have been in the low seventies for ages, so I feel stuck. But with a glimmer of returning mojo, I hope to make progress.
To that end, I revamped my Diet Blog Royalty list. Blogs that were moribund or just no longer inspirational got removed. New blogs--quite a few--have been added. Scroll down on the left sidebar and see what's new.
I hope y'all do not get this flu. Sucks hard. Granted, I have chronic conditions (respiratory and immune) that means I am at higher risk and recover more slowly, but still, I had the luxury of being prepared (my doc made sure I had my Rx's just in case), a hubby who took days off during the worst of it to make sure I didn't asphyxiate on my own lung goo, and who made sure I had plenty of food and juice and water, and who regularly swapped out my puke/spit bags. I could wholly concentrate on recovering and didn't have to freak too much about several sleepless days in a row cause I simply would not stop coughing/spitting up/struggling to breathe. So, I thank God for provisions, a great hubby with a flexible schedule in these rough times, and for being past the worst.
Be well and lose weight and get fit. I want that for me and for all of you.
Anyway, I may be able to return to my Pilates next Wednesday (have an appt). I've gone without for three weeks, and I can fear reverting to mush. :P I had missed some appts in Sept due to asthma. So, this season has been rough on me, my respiratory system, and my exercise regimen.
Eating a lot of restaurant takeaway crap for almost 3 weeks means I gained weight (yeah, others lose when they're sick, I gain. Comfort food a la Princess is really fatty.) I got up to 276.8 (maybe higher, but that was when I remembered to weigh in). Today I was at 273.6. So, a few days of eating fruits and veggies and lean protein again helped oodles.
I have been in the low seventies for ages, so I feel stuck. But with a glimmer of returning mojo, I hope to make progress.
To that end, I revamped my Diet Blog Royalty list. Blogs that were moribund or just no longer inspirational got removed. New blogs--quite a few--have been added. Scroll down on the left sidebar and see what's new.
I hope y'all do not get this flu. Sucks hard. Granted, I have chronic conditions (respiratory and immune) that means I am at higher risk and recover more slowly, but still, I had the luxury of being prepared (my doc made sure I had my Rx's just in case), a hubby who took days off during the worst of it to make sure I didn't asphyxiate on my own lung goo, and who made sure I had plenty of food and juice and water, and who regularly swapped out my puke/spit bags. I could wholly concentrate on recovering and didn't have to freak too much about several sleepless days in a row cause I simply would not stop coughing/spitting up/struggling to breathe. So, I thank God for provisions, a great hubby with a flexible schedule in these rough times, and for being past the worst.
Be well and lose weight and get fit. I want that for me and for all of you.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Three and a half months later....
and I even managed to lose 7.6 pounds.
I gotta tell you, I super burned-out on blogging. Both my blogs. Just up and got pooped. Got pooped of emails, too, and Facebook and MySpace and sorta just wanted to do "in the real world" stuff. :)
But this past week, I started dropping in to see what fellow bloggers were doing and, yeah, decided to check in. How motivated I am to blog is up for grabs. I don't feel as if I've got the blogging mojo back. But I do apologize for dropping off the internet cliff.
So, on the happy side, I'm still doing my Pilates, only 2x a week instead of 3x (to save some moolah). I continue to progress nicely and feel very strong under all the flab--nice and firm legs, easier to do things during my day. Even hubby mentioned I didn't tire out as fast when we went out on "dates." I even managed to make it through a day at an anime convention on 30 minutes sleep. And was able to enjoy a rock concert last week and fit in the seat and dance around and still feel vim and pizzazzy at midnight. :) So, exercising and eating better (not perfectly) has had some life-enhancing effects. Sex life is rocket-hot, too. Stamina is way up and flexibility is so much better. :D
We celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary this month, and I still feel like a newlywed. So, life is pretty good in various areas.
Eating, well...I joined an organic food-buying coop a few months back, so my produce intake is good. But my caloric intake continues to be my big burly beast. Though I've lost just over 7 pounds since my February, not a lot, mind you, but encouraging since it's progress, I continue to be stuck in the seventies. I think if I lost enough to get to the low sixties this year, I'd consider it a major win. Honestly. I don't know why it's so hard to get out of here, but it is, which is maybe why blogging lost its allure. I seemed to be treading water.
Still, the quality of life is so much better eating more produce and exercising regularly, that I fear losing the ground I have gained. And, as I've posted in the past, like Lyn's recent post on Escape From Obesity blog, I really have a terror of worse sagging skin. I have some from the nearly 30 lb loss, and I don't like it.
Ah, well. Humans are complicated, and fat humans trying to stop being fat humans even more so.
I will say that on June 30 will be my one year anniversary of training one-on-one in Pilates, and I continue to happily recommend this form of exercise for the morbidly obese and those with joint issues. I've had no injuries (though lots of post-workout soreness), and I can feel the change in how I move and my strength and my sense of body control. It's really nice.
I never was able to keep exercising regularly for more than a few months, and that was maybe 3 spurts in my nearly 50 years of life (mostly when I was younger). Now, I'll have been doing this for a whole year, with only one short break in winter when my asthma acted up fiercely. I'm really pleased with that accomplishment. I want to be able to say next June that I was doing it faithfully for two years....and so on.
And that's my update. I'll hope to get back to posting with more regularity, and maybe announce finally leaving the 270's behind....please, please, please God.
Hope you are all progressing. :)
I gotta tell you, I super burned-out on blogging. Both my blogs. Just up and got pooped. Got pooped of emails, too, and Facebook and MySpace and sorta just wanted to do "in the real world" stuff. :)
But this past week, I started dropping in to see what fellow bloggers were doing and, yeah, decided to check in. How motivated I am to blog is up for grabs. I don't feel as if I've got the blogging mojo back. But I do apologize for dropping off the internet cliff.
So, on the happy side, I'm still doing my Pilates, only 2x a week instead of 3x (to save some moolah). I continue to progress nicely and feel very strong under all the flab--nice and firm legs, easier to do things during my day. Even hubby mentioned I didn't tire out as fast when we went out on "dates." I even managed to make it through a day at an anime convention on 30 minutes sleep. And was able to enjoy a rock concert last week and fit in the seat and dance around and still feel vim and pizzazzy at midnight. :) So, exercising and eating better (not perfectly) has had some life-enhancing effects. Sex life is rocket-hot, too. Stamina is way up and flexibility is so much better. :D
We celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary this month, and I still feel like a newlywed. So, life is pretty good in various areas.
Eating, well...I joined an organic food-buying coop a few months back, so my produce intake is good. But my caloric intake continues to be my big burly beast. Though I've lost just over 7 pounds since my February, not a lot, mind you, but encouraging since it's progress, I continue to be stuck in the seventies. I think if I lost enough to get to the low sixties this year, I'd consider it a major win. Honestly. I don't know why it's so hard to get out of here, but it is, which is maybe why blogging lost its allure. I seemed to be treading water.
Still, the quality of life is so much better eating more produce and exercising regularly, that I fear losing the ground I have gained. And, as I've posted in the past, like Lyn's recent post on Escape From Obesity blog, I really have a terror of worse sagging skin. I have some from the nearly 30 lb loss, and I don't like it.
Ah, well. Humans are complicated, and fat humans trying to stop being fat humans even more so.
I will say that on June 30 will be my one year anniversary of training one-on-one in Pilates, and I continue to happily recommend this form of exercise for the morbidly obese and those with joint issues. I've had no injuries (though lots of post-workout soreness), and I can feel the change in how I move and my strength and my sense of body control. It's really nice.
I never was able to keep exercising regularly for more than a few months, and that was maybe 3 spurts in my nearly 50 years of life (mostly when I was younger). Now, I'll have been doing this for a whole year, with only one short break in winter when my asthma acted up fiercely. I'm really pleased with that accomplishment. I want to be able to say next June that I was doing it faithfully for two years....and so on.
And that's my update. I'll hope to get back to posting with more regularity, and maybe announce finally leaving the 270's behind....please, please, please God.
Hope you are all progressing. :)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Small Bit of Progress
Yesterday, I was 282.8.
Today, I'm 279.8. So, I was happy to change the sidebar weight back out of the 280's I'd been in all the week.
Man, I must have been holding some water, huh.
Today, I'm 279.8. So, I was happy to change the sidebar weight back out of the 280's I'd been in all the week.
Man, I must have been holding some water, huh.
Friday, January 30, 2009
What Successful Maintainers Do..and a Shout-Out To Rosy of Canada
I want to thank Rosy of Canada, author of BREAKIN' FREE for commenting on my previous post. I'm glad you got a chance to clarify things and offer your point of view. I think that your desire to inspire is a beautiful thing. Keep doing it!
And since the subject was about maintaining (or rather, how hard it is to maintain fat loss and how few do), here are some things that successful maintainers of weight loss have in common:
One thing that Rosy has in her favor is that she has focused a lot on exercising--on working out, getting fit, not just getting thin. And her ongoing success will depend on that focus on exercise, as it has for those The Biggest Loser winners/contestants who kept it off. They kept exercising along with watching calories.
The whole metabolic/obesity physiology is complex, as the constant stream of studies show. Once you become obese, you set yourself up for a lifetime of struggle, and that's just how it is. But exercise does seem to be key, and I can admit freely that when I got sick and was stuck in bed most of the time and was totally sedentary for years and years, I piled it on bigtime.
Now, I'm moderately active (nowhere near daily). And I have not lost, because I'm still not moderating the intake as much as I need to. I know for me to win this battle, I have to move MORE and build more muscle, and I need to eat less and better. The equation stands. Calories used have to be more than calories eaten. Way more.
As much as I'm proud of doing my 1 hour of strenuous strength-training and flexibility work 3x a week with my trainer, I'm not proud that on the other days, I'm still my mostly sedentary self. And although I've moderated my intake enough not to have regained all plus more (the general pattern of dieters), I am still undisciplined. I ignore the things I know I should do in favor of what is easy.
I'll let the doctors and researchers figure out ways to help us work around the hormones and systems in the body that favor fat, that wants to keep us roly-poly. I can only work on my own systems and processes that keep me fat, and that's enough work for a half dozen folks.
But yeah, I think exercise cannot be emphasized enough, because of its manifold benefits and the fact that it's another discipline, another "do it for your own good," a better habit. Just like eating less. We may not want to do it, but you can't really leave it out and succeed at being healthier and leaner.
So, Rosy, thanks for showing off your muscles to inspire. Those are some mighty arms you've got!
~
And since the subject was about maintaining (or rather, how hard it is to maintain fat loss and how few do), here are some things that successful maintainers of weight loss have in common:
Based on data from more than 7,000 people, Wing says there are few similarities in how people lose weight. But those who succeed in maintenance sing the same song.--from "Why It's Hard To Maintain Weight Loss"
Instead of trying to eat less for the rest of their lives to bridge the energy gap, these people exercise more. They typically spend an hour or more each day in aerobic exercise and strictly limit time spent watching television.
Physical activity, in ways that researchers don’t really understand, influences some of the biological systems that promote weight regain, encouraging the body to become more sensitive to leptin and insulin, for example.
“Everyone thinks exercise is about burning calories,” Fujioka says. “But you are actually returning the system to more like what it should be. Things start working again.”
The successful maintainers also change what they eat: The registry found that they keep their calories in careful balance with what they expend – religiously referring to calorie charts and writing down everything they consume. They also tend to eat low-fat foods.
One thing that Rosy has in her favor is that she has focused a lot on exercising--on working out, getting fit, not just getting thin. And her ongoing success will depend on that focus on exercise, as it has for those The Biggest Loser winners/contestants who kept it off. They kept exercising along with watching calories.
The whole metabolic/obesity physiology is complex, as the constant stream of studies show. Once you become obese, you set yourself up for a lifetime of struggle, and that's just how it is. But exercise does seem to be key, and I can admit freely that when I got sick and was stuck in bed most of the time and was totally sedentary for years and years, I piled it on bigtime.
Now, I'm moderately active (nowhere near daily). And I have not lost, because I'm still not moderating the intake as much as I need to. I know for me to win this battle, I have to move MORE and build more muscle, and I need to eat less and better. The equation stands. Calories used have to be more than calories eaten. Way more.
As much as I'm proud of doing my 1 hour of strenuous strength-training and flexibility work 3x a week with my trainer, I'm not proud that on the other days, I'm still my mostly sedentary self. And although I've moderated my intake enough not to have regained all plus more (the general pattern of dieters), I am still undisciplined. I ignore the things I know I should do in favor of what is easy.
I'll let the doctors and researchers figure out ways to help us work around the hormones and systems in the body that favor fat, that wants to keep us roly-poly. I can only work on my own systems and processes that keep me fat, and that's enough work for a half dozen folks.
But yeah, I think exercise cannot be emphasized enough, because of its manifold benefits and the fact that it's another discipline, another "do it for your own good," a better habit. Just like eating less. We may not want to do it, but you can't really leave it out and succeed at being healthier and leaner.
So, Rosy, thanks for showing off your muscles to inspire. Those are some mighty arms you've got!
~
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Should Big Losers Wait Before Writing The Diet Memoir or How To Lose Book?
Read an interesting article just now about people who lose weight and are looked at as role models or inspirations, then have a hard time keeping it off. And I'm not just talking about The Biggest Loser contestants. The article includes folks who lost weight and wrote books, WW meeting leaders, etc, who regained after "doing it!"
I can understand how this would be a shame-inducing and stressful thing. Way back when, there was a lady named Neva Coyle who wrote a Christian-message diet book: Free to Be Thin. It was very popular in religious circles. She wrote other books that had to do with this topic, and she started Overeaters Victorious (at least I think that was the name of the diet group she founded). I had three of her books, including FTBT and its workbook, and another that came out years later that she co-authored with a dietitian.
Turns out, Neva regained the weight. Had bariatric surgery, but kept it secret. Had health issues and had to reverse the surgery. Regained. Came clean. And her career as a religious diet leader was kaput. (Heck, even I felt like it was major cheating to have surgery and not own up to it.) I think she went on to write inspirational and fiction type books. I have no idea what she's up to these days. You just don't hear about her.
Regaining is a spotlight problem. We've seen it with Carnie Wilson, Kirstie Alley, Randy Jackson, Oprah, Janet Jackson, even Al Roker is not looking as sleek as his peak loss post-baratric surgery days. Richard Simmons is plumper than his peak slender days. (And this week, Jessica Simpson's being blasted for gaining, what, ten pounds, fifteen, after having gotten Daisy Duke superskinny? Puhlease, people. She's not fat. She's just not a size 2.)
We know about Matt and Suzy regaining chunks of fat post TBL. And the first winner, Ryan, regaining it ALL. The article features one TBL contestant who lost 100 lbs after leaving the show, but wouldn't accept an invitation to the reunion show, cause she was back up to 200 lbs.
Happens. Has to hurt. Has to hurt more if you're a role model.
And this came to mind to me today after reading a blog by a gal named Rosy in Canada who lost an amazing amount of weight in 12 months and totally remade her physique with exercise and dieting. She looks fabulous, and her slideshow of month-to-month changes is astounding. And she now is promoting her book (self-published) about her transformation from a flabby 275 to a muscular 125, called Breakin' Free.
I wish Rosy the best. I really do. But note on her blog that there is an entry when you scroll down where she related gaining back some weight. (She may have lost it since, but I didn't see any mention of it on the blog.)The book may be obsolete in a year or more, unless she can maintain her fabulous achievement. When you sell your weight loss story, it becomes uninspiring if you get fat again, right?
Maintenance is all after you've written the inspiring tale: And that's a whole other journey--that doesn't end.
And we've all seen bloggers who struggle, regain, struggle more, maybe lose, maybe don't. I've lost some, then got stuck, then regained, then lost a bit, gained, got stuck. I'm no inspiration to anyone, I can tell you. I'm just trying to keep my head above water until I can unstick again. I just don't want to go back to the big 300.
It just goes to show that while losing weight is supertough, what happens after reaching goal weight: It's not easy either. It stays crazy hard. It may be harder, cause you don't see the number go down as a sort of ongoing encouragement. You're working to keep it THE SAME. Less of a carrot, more of a "stick"--as in stick that scale on a numeral.
So, what about those books?
Well, I can understand wanting to take advantage of The Moment--the achievement, the offers, the opportunity to share and make some moolah. Who wouldn't want a nice cash advance? And the diet industry is always coming out with the new book and new hook. Yesterday's memoir or how-to is forgotten (unless the authors manage to make a real company out of it that stokes the phenomenon of it with products, like the South Beach or Zone or Suzanne Somers or Atkins or workshops and cruises and spa weekends, etc). A following that keeps the diet machine going makes for very wealthy diet creators and spokespersons. Can we blame them for wanting to keep it going?
But, generally, a lot of those less-than-ginormous diet books become remainders and end up being out-of-printers sold for a buck on ebay or amazon.com.
Remember Neva Coyle? Bet you don't. Yeah. All those diet books of hers are out of print and irrelevant to the ongoing diet book industry. She could not maintain the weight loss mojo. She could not...maintain.
I do wonder who among the current crop of fatfighting bloggers will get the weight off and will keep it off, maybe even become the Diet Divas of the future. Interesting to consider. Frankly, I'd love it to be ME. :) Not the diva part. Just the lose it all and keep it all off part. Honestly, we could have a breakthrough star in the making, destined to be seen on TV and have their imprimatur on diet products and exercise gear, with a huge site on the internet a la TBL or Dr. Oz. (Let's hope not a neo-Kimkins.)
I hope we all manage to lose and get healthy. Even if we never make it to Divahood or the ideal weight. If we can keep 50 lbs off, or 30, or 70, even if not ALL the weight, we'll do ourselves a favor and be winners.
As the article says, it's a greater achievement to lose 30 and keep it off for ten years, than lose 80 and only keep it off for seven month.
But it's still so exciting to see a transformation like Rosy's. See those pounds go and muscles come in month-to-month installments.
A life has a lot of months (well, if we're fortunate). If you lose 2 pounds this month, and you keep it off, you've won something a lot of folks don't. So, if you get discouraged about only losing 1 or 2 or 4 pounds in a month, concentrate on them not coming back (and Lordy, is that hard). Cause that's the sort of training that you'll need for life. Not losing 10 in a month to get it back in six months. No, just keep those 4 pounds off and you're making huge progress.
It's what I have to learn. I keep my eye on that "by and by" number I long for, and then I lose ground by regaining the five or six or more pounds I worked so hard to lose. That's how we end up failing, all 98% of us regainers. We just think about the far off ideal, and forget that today, it's all about NOT gaining at minimum and losing at maximum. That holding still is a type of victory, and it takes work, doesn't it? Yes, it's not nothing, it's something, even if it doesn't look or feel like it.
Dang, I'm rambling. Sorry.
But do read the article.
~~
I can understand how this would be a shame-inducing and stressful thing. Way back when, there was a lady named Neva Coyle who wrote a Christian-message diet book: Free to Be Thin. It was very popular in religious circles. She wrote other books that had to do with this topic, and she started Overeaters Victorious (at least I think that was the name of the diet group she founded). I had three of her books, including FTBT and its workbook, and another that came out years later that she co-authored with a dietitian.
Turns out, Neva regained the weight. Had bariatric surgery, but kept it secret. Had health issues and had to reverse the surgery. Regained. Came clean. And her career as a religious diet leader was kaput. (Heck, even I felt like it was major cheating to have surgery and not own up to it.) I think she went on to write inspirational and fiction type books. I have no idea what she's up to these days. You just don't hear about her.
Regaining is a spotlight problem. We've seen it with Carnie Wilson, Kirstie Alley, Randy Jackson, Oprah, Janet Jackson, even Al Roker is not looking as sleek as his peak loss post-baratric surgery days. Richard Simmons is plumper than his peak slender days. (And this week, Jessica Simpson's being blasted for gaining, what, ten pounds, fifteen, after having gotten Daisy Duke superskinny? Puhlease, people. She's not fat. She's just not a size 2.)
We know about Matt and Suzy regaining chunks of fat post TBL. And the first winner, Ryan, regaining it ALL. The article features one TBL contestant who lost 100 lbs after leaving the show, but wouldn't accept an invitation to the reunion show, cause she was back up to 200 lbs.
Happens. Has to hurt. Has to hurt more if you're a role model.
And this came to mind to me today after reading a blog by a gal named Rosy in Canada who lost an amazing amount of weight in 12 months and totally remade her physique with exercise and dieting. She looks fabulous, and her slideshow of month-to-month changes is astounding. And she now is promoting her book (self-published) about her transformation from a flabby 275 to a muscular 125, called Breakin' Free.
I wish Rosy the best. I really do. But note on her blog that there is an entry when you scroll down where she related gaining back some weight. (She may have lost it since, but I didn't see any mention of it on the blog.)The book may be obsolete in a year or more, unless she can maintain her fabulous achievement. When you sell your weight loss story, it becomes uninspiring if you get fat again, right?
Maintenance is all after you've written the inspiring tale: And that's a whole other journey--that doesn't end.
And we've all seen bloggers who struggle, regain, struggle more, maybe lose, maybe don't. I've lost some, then got stuck, then regained, then lost a bit, gained, got stuck. I'm no inspiration to anyone, I can tell you. I'm just trying to keep my head above water until I can unstick again. I just don't want to go back to the big 300.
It just goes to show that while losing weight is supertough, what happens after reaching goal weight: It's not easy either. It stays crazy hard. It may be harder, cause you don't see the number go down as a sort of ongoing encouragement. You're working to keep it THE SAME. Less of a carrot, more of a "stick"--as in stick that scale on a numeral.
So, what about those books?
Well, I can understand wanting to take advantage of The Moment--the achievement, the offers, the opportunity to share and make some moolah. Who wouldn't want a nice cash advance? And the diet industry is always coming out with the new book and new hook. Yesterday's memoir or how-to is forgotten (unless the authors manage to make a real company out of it that stokes the phenomenon of it with products, like the South Beach or Zone or Suzanne Somers or Atkins or workshops and cruises and spa weekends, etc). A following that keeps the diet machine going makes for very wealthy diet creators and spokespersons. Can we blame them for wanting to keep it going?
But, generally, a lot of those less-than-ginormous diet books become remainders and end up being out-of-printers sold for a buck on ebay or amazon.com.
Remember Neva Coyle? Bet you don't. Yeah. All those diet books of hers are out of print and irrelevant to the ongoing diet book industry. She could not maintain the weight loss mojo. She could not...maintain.
I do wonder who among the current crop of fatfighting bloggers will get the weight off and will keep it off, maybe even become the Diet Divas of the future. Interesting to consider. Frankly, I'd love it to be ME. :) Not the diva part. Just the lose it all and keep it all off part. Honestly, we could have a breakthrough star in the making, destined to be seen on TV and have their imprimatur on diet products and exercise gear, with a huge site on the internet a la TBL or Dr. Oz. (Let's hope not a neo-Kimkins.)
I hope we all manage to lose and get healthy. Even if we never make it to Divahood or the ideal weight. If we can keep 50 lbs off, or 30, or 70, even if not ALL the weight, we'll do ourselves a favor and be winners.
As the article says, it's a greater achievement to lose 30 and keep it off for ten years, than lose 80 and only keep it off for seven month.
But it's still so exciting to see a transformation like Rosy's. See those pounds go and muscles come in month-to-month installments.
A life has a lot of months (well, if we're fortunate). If you lose 2 pounds this month, and you keep it off, you've won something a lot of folks don't. So, if you get discouraged about only losing 1 or 2 or 4 pounds in a month, concentrate on them not coming back (and Lordy, is that hard). Cause that's the sort of training that you'll need for life. Not losing 10 in a month to get it back in six months. No, just keep those 4 pounds off and you're making huge progress.
It's what I have to learn. I keep my eye on that "by and by" number I long for, and then I lose ground by regaining the five or six or more pounds I worked so hard to lose. That's how we end up failing, all 98% of us regainers. We just think about the far off ideal, and forget that today, it's all about NOT gaining at minimum and losing at maximum. That holding still is a type of victory, and it takes work, doesn't it? Yes, it's not nothing, it's something, even if it doesn't look or feel like it.
Dang, I'm rambling. Sorry.
But do read the article.
~~
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Changes that Become Habits that Add Up
I very much like Lyn's post today. She clearly shows by her own life's examples how she made changes that added up to weight loss. It's a post I needed to read because I have been so down on myself for losing focus and will.
I stopped to consider that I HAVE made changes and I DO feel better and I am wearing a smaller size and my sugar is in control and I'm exercising regularly and vigorously 3x a week for months and months (after years of total inactivity).
I have made some changes and those have kept me from regaining all the poundage I lost. I need to make more changes to lose MORE, yes. But if I made some changes, I can make others. I can gain groud.
Anyway, I recommend Lyn's practical and inspiring post, which includes this short list of tips:
~
I stopped to consider that I HAVE made changes and I DO feel better and I am wearing a smaller size and my sugar is in control and I'm exercising regularly and vigorously 3x a week for months and months (after years of total inactivity).
I have made some changes and those have kept me from regaining all the poundage I lost. I need to make more changes to lose MORE, yes. But if I made some changes, I can make others. I can gain groud.
Anyway, I recommend Lyn's practical and inspiring post, which includes this short list of tips:
Instead of seconds at dinner, you just take seconds of vegetables.
Instead of wasting ten minutes circling the parking lot for the closest space, you park far from the store and just WALK there.
Instead of asking your kids/husband/friend to bring the laundry upstairs for you, YOU do it.
Instead of putting whole milk on your cereal, you use skim.
Instead of watching TV all evening, you do some exercise and go to bed early.
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