Renewed Perspective

I love Wednesday; it's my favorite day of the week. Why?

• It marks the middle of the workweek
• It's my day off
• It's the day I go to college and learn how to become more like Christ
• Then I go to church that night and learn how to put that knowledge to work
• It's one of the 3 days that I make it to the gym 

Although these are all true and good reasons, they are all secondary to the real reason I love Wednesday. Ready for the answer? I love Wednesday because it is the day that I get a fresh start every week. I go and weigh in every Tuesday night at Weight Watchers so my week officially ends that night. Wednesday morning my weekly point allowance resets to 49, all the mistakes I made the week before are erased and I have a fresh slate to work with. It is so refreshing. I love it. I look forward to it.

This week I really need for my "Wednesday" to get here quickly. I've really had a tough week and I have seen old habits trying their best to creep back into my life. I've been having some health issues (totally not related to my weight loss) which have resulted in my taking some new medication. My body has not accepted this very well and I have not seen a lot of weight loss over the last few weeks. It is very discouraging and I must admit it's been a struggle to keep my focus.

Tonight at Weight Watchers I only lost 1.2 lbs. However, I dropped down into a bracket that I have not seen in at least 28 years. 28 YEARS!!!! I was so surprised when I looked back at my records and realized that. I may not be losing weight as rapidly as I would like, but I am still losing. I have come so far. I am healthier. I have so much more energy. My clothes are so much smaller. Sometimes we tend to focus more attention on what we don't have and overlook what we have been blessed with.

Thank you God for reminding me of how far I've come. I definitely have a renewed perspective of where I am and look forward to where my journey will take me tomorrow.

 
Thank you to everyone who has encouraged me along the way.  You mean more to me than you will ever know!

Exercise - the next step

Must admit that I do not like to exercise.  I especially don't like to sweat.  It's so unladylike!! However, now that I've lost 80 pounds I realize that this is my next step in getting healthy. I've been overweight for so many years, my skin is going to need some help finding it's way back to where it's suppose to be. So, I go buy some workout clothes, shoes, special exercise socks, arm band for my IPod, pack up my workout bag and head out to the gym.

I'm thinking to myself I'm really going to see my weight loss increase now that I'm burning all these extra calories.  I'd already been doing a lot of walking before starting the gym so I'm expecting big results.  Well guess what?  I gained 5 pounds.  Then I was sick for 3 weeks straight.  This was not in my plans and was certainly not motivation for me to continue.  BUT I AM!  I am at a point in my journey that turning back is not an option. I've talked to a few people and understand now that whenever you start exercising and building muscle that muscle weighs more than fat so you will see a slight weight gain.

The lesson here is not to throw in your sweaty towel!  Keep going and going and eventually you'll enjoy working out.  Just being honest, I have not arrived at that point yet, but I know I will.  My flesh fights me all the time.  However, I know that the spirit of God dwells within me and gives me the strength to do what I need to do.  One of the songs that is on my "workout" play list is "All Things are Possible".  I sometimes have to sing out loud in the gym to keep myself going.  Jessica is usually with me and just rolls her eyes at me. It's Ok.  I'm getting results and also getting my second wind so look out!

Biggest accomplishment since my last blog - I can now wear a size 18 jean.  I'm sure to most of you that still seems huge.  However, when you've wore a size 30-32 jean like me it's amazing!!!   

Man! I didn't see that coming.

PLATEAU – what a horrible word - At least in the “diet” world it is.  Definition: - to remain at a stable level for a relatively long period.  In my case, 4 weeks and counting.  Talk about being discouraged!  You’re doing everything right, you’re eating the right foods, tracking, staying within your points, exercising and BOOM!  Your weight loss slows to a screeching halt.  Being warned ahead of time that this would happen really doesn’t prepare you for when it does.  I was OK for the first couple of weeks, but then 3 weeks and now 4 weeks and still no major breakthrough.  YIKES!!!

So, what does one do?  Go back to your old habits of drowning your disappointments with food?  NO

Get off the program for a few days to give your body a rest and time to reset itself?  NO
Throw out your old scales and buy new ones? NO - Actually that might help.  J
Give up and just accept the fact that the weight is never coming off? NO

 Here’s what I decided to do, even though in the past I did do all the above things and put back on more weight than when I had started.

 1.       Stay on the program and keep doing what I know is right.  The Bible even instructs us to not grow weary in well doing because in time you will reap the rewards of your hard work if you don’t give up.

2.       Remind myself of how far I’ve come.  I have plenty of old pictures to support my journey.

3.       I did a graph of my weight loss and it looks pretty impressive! Downward baby all the way!!!
4.       Look through my closet at all the smaller clothes I have now.
5.       I may not be seeing results on the scales right now, but my clothes tell me I’m losing inches.  To prove that point, I went shopping and bought a size smaller shirt and jeans.  Now that made me feel much better than gorging myself with food and then hating myself afterwards.

Just so there’s no question, I am not quitting!  This difficult time is just proving to make me more focused and determined.  I can do this!  I am 116.25 pounds down from my heaviest weight in January 2000.  This time around, I’ve lost 75 pounds and I am very proud of it!  There's no going back for me.  My rear view mirror has been destroyed.  I will take a closer look at the foods I'm eating and plan on increasing my activity level as well.  I'm sure that will help.

In my next blog, I will let you know how long the plateau lasted.

The holidays are over, but the celebration continues.

Ended the year feeling great about my weight loss journey so far.  This year instead of gaining weight between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I actually lost 10.8 lbs.  That was my Christmas miracle. 

Here are a few of the hi-lights of the last 6 months:

• Got off of my high blood pressure medicine that I'd been taking for 8 years.
• Went through my closet for the first time in at least 25 years and got rid of all the clothes that I had outgrown or knew I would never wear again.  I am amazed at how liberating that felt!
• Was able to bless one of my friends with a bunch of clothes.  Whenever you are morbidly obese, it's very unusual to be given clothes because most of your friends are smaller than you are and their clothes wouldn't fit.  To be able to do for someone else what had never been done for me was such a blessing!
• Quit using a seat belt extender.  Totally awesome!
• Was able to ride a bike for the first time in years.  Great exercise!
• Was able to wear all the "skinny" clothes that have been waiting in my closet for ages.  Some of them are already too big now.  HALLELUJAH!!!
• Last week I went into the pool store to have our water tested.  The lady working there looked at me and said "Oh my gosh - I thought that was you - what have you been doing - you look amazing".  Talk about being motivated to keep going.  That kind of reaction is all it takes. 

Here are my goals for the next 6 months:

• Lose another 40 pounds.  Weight Watchers says that a healthy weight loss is 1/2 to 2 pounds a week.  That's about what I'm averaging now.
• Get into the 100's.  Haven't been there in soooooo long!
• Be able to wear the size 14 and 16 jeans that one of my friends gave me. (Thanks Amanda!!)
• Go to Six Flags and be able to fit into the seats - comfortably!!
• Make exercise a priority.
• Help Jessica and Jerry lose weight too.

Within the next year:

• Finish Bible College
• Get to my healthy weight goal and stay there!!
• Pay off my credit card.  

These are not new year's resolutions by no means.  These are goals that I have set for myself and through perseverance, dedication, diligence and determination, I will accomplish them.  God has set before me life or death and I choose LIFE!

I believe in my future that I will be able to help and encourage other people who are taking the same journey that I've taken. (actually I've already started doing that) I know that I listen more closely to people who have actually lived what they preach.  I have a Weight Watcher's friend that has lost over 100 pounds, looks amazing, and has kept it off for several years.  I listen to her.  She knows what I'm going through and knows what works.  Thanks so much Rebecca for all your knowledge.  You are truly an inspiration.

My personal relationship with Jesus Christ has given me hope, strength and endurance.  His Word encourages me and I know He's always on my side.  I certainly couldn't make this journey without Him. 

Until next month.....

Summer vacation and beyond

In my last blog, I had completed several weeks of the HCG diet, lost 40 pounds and was going on vacation to Colorado.

Ok we go to Estes Park Colorado the last week of August and stay for 7 nights in a mountain cabin.  I really didn't stay on a particular diet while I was gone, but I did try to watch what I ate.  Had a great time but the sad part was I gained about 10 pounds during that 10 days of vacation.  I knew I had worked too hard to get that 40 pounds off and was determined it wasn't coming back.  So, I begin another round of the HCG diet the same day I returned from vacation.  That was September 4, 2011.  Five days later, I had lost those 10 pounds and by September 17th I had lost a total of 50 pounds. 

So all in all, the HCG diet worked good for me.  However, if you do not stay on the low-carb, 1,200 calorie a day diet after you get off the drops, the weight comes back almost immediately. Again after being off the diet for a little over a week, I had put back on 10 pounds.  That was it for me!  Even though I loved losing one pound a day on the HCG diet, the weight loss wasn't sustainable for me.  If I wanted to experience long term weight loss, I would have to switch to a program that I could live with, afford, and not gain the weight back.

That program has turned out to be the new Weight Watchers Points Plus. I love it.  I started on September 27, 2011 and have lost a total of 20.8 pounds.  Of course 10 of those pounds are the ones I had already gained back from the 50 I lost on the HCG diet.  Bummer!

I give you all these details so that you can make up your own mind about how you choose to lose any weight you need to.

My total weight loss as of today, Sunday, December 4th is 63 pounds.  I still have a long way to go, but I'm taking it all the way this time.  I've stayed legal so far on two camping trips and during Thanksgiving.  That is such an accomplishment for me!  I know that I still face getting through the Christmas parties, but all I have to do is look at my beginning picture and see how far I've come and it propels me to keep going.  I truly believe I have God's help and know that I have a lot of family and friends cheering me on.  Thanks so much!

Next blog I will share some of my non-scale victories.

Shaky start.

Hopefully you read my last blog that gave a little history of how I became morbidly obese. (when you're at least 100 pounds overweight) It ended with the realization that change was imminent in my life and it was up to me to make that happen.

The first thing I did before starting yet another weight loss diet was to go see a doctor.  You always hear that you should do that, but I had always ignored that warning.  I have a good friend that couldn't say enough about the doctor she was going to so I decided to try hers.  First of all she was a female doctor and secondly she was older so that combination sounded great to me.  I had a complete physical and a lot of blood work done.  When the results came in, my doctor sit down and went over everything that was not balanced in my system.  No wonder I felt horrible!  She recommended several supplements that my body needed and also suggested the HCG diet for me to try.  Honestly I had heard a lot about this particular diet and wasn't interested.  The fact that it was a hormone that tricks your body into thinking it's pregnant was a big turn off for me.  At my age, I really don't need anything messing up my hormones!  I was confident that if my moods got any worse that me or Jerry one was moving to another country. 

After visiting with my doctor, hearing that she herself had lost 50 pounds, and that it was helping a lot of her patients lose weight, I decided to give it a try.  I was desperate!!  She also told me that she had done research on the diet and it in no way affected the hormone levels that I was worried about.  Knowing that she would be monitoring me medically, I started taking the drops this past June along with the accompanying supplements.

Amazingly, it worked for me!  Just as the diet predicts, you really do lose a pound a day.  IT'S NOT EASY and it's expensive!  Hopefully you understand this.  You only eat 500 calories a day for either 21 or 40 days.  (I couldn't make it to 40, so I stopped at 21) The calories also come from a very small list of approved foods.  However, seeing the results on the scales every single morning was motivation to keep me going.

By the end of the first week, I was so weak I could hardly lift my arms.  I would walk to my truck, get in and then have to sit awhile before I could start the engine.  I was extremely weak.  Barely could function.  I thought maybe it was just because my body wasn't use to only getting 500 calories.  I finally talked to a nurse who suggested I take my blood pressure.  It registered 83/56 which is extremely low for me.  I've been taking blood pressure medicine for 8 years.  I called my doctor who suggested that I try just taking half of my normal dosage.  After a couple of days of still feeling lethargic, I cut the whole dosage.  I am so thankful to report that I was able to totally get off of my high pressure medicine! Another side benefit of the diet.  Sometimes after getting off the diet, your blood pressure will return to being high.  Not mine!  So blessed.

After you’ve done the drops for 21 or 40 days, you have to get off the diet for a short period of time but still stay on a low carb, 1200 calories a day diet.  Ok, I’m off the diet, I’m down 23 pounds, doing great, feeling wonderful, and then we went on vacation to Colorado for a week.  I’ll tell you how that went next blog.  (Not so good!)

The Beginning

Totally new to this blogging stuff, but since I have a lot to say I thought this would be a good place to share it.  Even though this blog begins my journey in April of this year (2011), my real journey started much earlier than that.  As a teenager, I really wasn't considered overweight.  However, I always thought I was, so I've always viewed myself as being fat.  I got married at age 18 and that's when my weight begin to climb.  Two years later, I had our first child.  I gained around 60 lbs. during that pregnancy.  I was able to lose all of that weight, but only kept it off for a brief period of time.

By the time our son turned one, I was well on my way to 200 lbs.  I became increasingly unhappy as my weight soared out of control.  I know that I used food for comfort and that habit has stayed with me for over 30 years.  I can honestly say I've tried all the major diets around and really they all worked as long as I followed all the rules.  I'm the one who failed, the diets didn't.

After the birth of our second child in 1985, my weight continued to climb.  In 1988 I was considered morbidly obese and opted to have my stomach stapled in hopes I would lose 150 lbs.  Again, it wasn't that the surgery didn't work. I'm the one who found a way to continue eating "comfort" food even with my stomach the size of a walnut.  Needless to say, this did NOT solve my weight problem.

Now let's jump ahead 20+ years to 2011.  I am extremely over weight, extremely unhappy and headed for some extreme health issues. Both of my kids are grown and now we have two grand kids.  On top of all of that, I am now 52 years of age and not getting any younger.  It's time for a change and I'm the only one who can make that happen.

In my next blog, I will share how my journey started.