Most of my life, I have struggled with my weight. Last year, I had a wake up call when one of my legs went numb, and my weight ballooned to almost 350 pounds. I was easily winded when walking; I couldn't walk more than maybe half-a-mile before I had to stop. Also, my back was always hurting.
Finally, last summer, I said enough was enough. I started walking on a bike trail around a small lake in a local park. At first, I could only walk about a mile, but after my son started joining me, it would increase to two, then four miles. By the time the summer ended, I was able to go around the entire lake, then walk three-quarters around one way, turn around, and walk the other way all the way back. The total distance was almost five miles. By Thanksgiving, I was down to 300 pounds, and by Christmas I was 285.
Unfortunately, recent trends don't bode well. This summer, circumstances have prevented me from being as diligent with my weight loss routine than before, and my weight has crept up again to around 305. Although this doesn't seem like a huge setback in the grand scheme of things, it is one for me. What I need is some motivation to hit it hard again. I'd like to be around 250 by Christmas. Can anyone give me some inspiration?
Inspiration comes from many sources, and I don't know how much of it I can give you. However, I'm willing to try! If there's one thing I know about you, it's that you are successful in whatever you decide to do. From an outsider's perspective, that's an easy one to spot. You have already accomplished step 1, goal-setting. That is difficult for most people.
ReplyDeleteI struggled with weight when I was in the military because the Air Force has strict weight standards. I endured monthly weigh-ins at the office and people recording weight and body-fat measurements and comparing it to the Air Force's recommended progress. They also sent me to nutrition classes and had a doctor tell me to eat 1,200 calories per day. It was very demeaning and depressing.
After the Air Force, I lost weight with a diabetic cookbook and some tricks that I came up with on my own. The Air Force's recommendations were correct, but the methods made me obsess about food. My favorite "trick" was to switch to smaller plates for my dinners at home.
At work, I brought frozen meals (Lean Cuisine) because they made it easy to measure/limit calories. A frozen meal, fruit, and pretzels kept me from feeling hungry. The diabetic cookbook had a list of "free" foods that did not add any calories, such as cucumbers, sugar-free jello and mushrooms. It was a pretty big list, which I can get if you are interested. My friend has the cookbook now. I also exercised. I invested in some nice workout clothes that made me feel good to wear. Because I spent money on them, it also made me feel obligated to wear them.
I started taking a good multivitamin, prescribed by my doctor. I skipped cheese or mayo if I was eating a burger. It would have been too hard to skip burgers completely. It had to be little things here and there in order for me to make them lasting habits. I would order extra pickles because they were "free" foods. I drink water whenever possible. It's a lot cheaper than sodas. I stopped shopping in the center aisles of the grocery store so I could avoid processed foods. They seem to stick to the ribs for some reason! Plus, the outer aisles have all the natural foods that are healthier anyway. I cook on the weekends and refrigerate portioned meals so I'm not as vulnerable to overeating when tired & hungry. I went to the gym for a while because the scenery is nice. But I have mixed feelings about the gym taking fees out of my checking account. When shopping, I try to use the baskets whenever possible. It keeps my arms a little more toned than they would otherwise be. It also helps keep me from buying too much. I subscribed to Cooking Light. It was only $12 a year and I would make weekly shopping lists based on the yummy recipes I found in there. I would write the name of the recipe and page number on my list so I wouldn't forget what the heck I was going to make with the food I bought. They have some seriously gourmet-tasting fast foods at home in there. At first, it was very difficult to eat so well and not feel deprived. I allowed myself one night a week to "splurge" guilt-free. That was usually Taco Bell Tuesdays. It wasn't long before I splurged less because I acclimated to eating better became eager for the results to become apparent faster.
My favorite thing, still, is to make fruit smoothies in my blender. I put two bananas, a kiwi, frozen strawberries and blueberries in there with a cup of oatmeal, two tablespoons of honey and enough orange juice to blend it. That makes about four or five smoothies and I freeze them in plastic cups. They are so healthy and taste like dessert in the morning. I nuke them at 1/2 power for 2 or 3 minutes and use a spoon to smoothie them again. Yum!
Hopefully this will help, even though you asked for inspiration, not advice. Weight loss is not easy, so don't be too hard on yourself! I know you can do it!
This is great advice. I'm sorry it's been a while before I got to read it. The biggest challenge to watching what I eat right now is that I'm staying at a location where I don't have input on the menu selection (namely, Mom's place). She has a tendency to make stick-to-your-ribs food that converts to stick-to-your-butt fat. But, if you read my post on Sept. 24, that's one of the things I'm going to change. Thank you for the comment!
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