So, I have been unhappy with my weight for a while but I have a pretty strong personality (or so I’ve heard, LOL) and have always been a relatively confident person. I have not felt the need to be super skinny and I have accepted that I will always be curvy and “big-boned”. I am realistic when it comes to what looks good on my body and what doesn’t and always wear clothes that accentuate the best of what I have, always buying the correct size and simply accepting it. Heck, I’ve even been proud of the fact that people are typically surprised at how much I really weigh since I mean I must not “look” as big the number.
Unfortunately, I am also inherently lazy, hate exercise and love food. Bad combination as I hit my late 30′s and start to see 40…
Now I *do* feel as big as the number on the scale and I don’t like it. I typically never had an issue with seeing myself in pictures. Now I dread seeing myself tagged in some of those Facebook photos. I have also felt gastrointestinal changes too that I do not like (won’t go into any more detail there).Add to that the fact that we are considering starting a family, I know I need to get healthier. I am still relatively healthy as far as the bloodwork is concerned – good blood pressure, decent cholesterol levels - but I see the numbers slipping. For example, my “good” cholesterol levels are too low this year for the 1st time.
What finally hit the final nail in the coffin though was reaching 200 lbs. With clothes on, I am over 200 lbs (according to my last doctor’s visit). At home with minimal clothes, I am coming in at 195.4… under 200 but way too close for comfort.
So I am taking the 195.4 and using that as my starting point and I am taking baby steps towards a more reasonable number. I won’t state an ultimate goal here but I will state my initial goal: 170 lbs.
That is 25 lbs to start off with. I’ll worry about losing more once I reach that 1st daunting goal.
As for a time line – let’s say July 1st – that is 5 months from now and also the start of our island vacation to Caye Caulker, Belize.
Come along for my dieting adventure and please, send me encouragement along the way since I’ll need it!! Thanks!
As one that is often on that roller coaster, I can relate. Just remember…the first couple of weeks are the hardest. Stay determined and once you get over that hump it becomes a little easier. You can do it Elaine!
Comment by Pamela Ramirez — February 1, 2011 @ 11:45 am |
Good luck elaine! I started this journey a month ago. It is hard work, but paying off. I started using an ap called calorie counter that is my new best friend. Also I signed up to do a mini triathlon in may, so the exercise goal helps me too! I have done one 5k and signed up for the scavenger dash on deb 12 as mini motivators. I would love to sayi can motivate myself, but obviously I cannot!
Comment by Kim — February 1, 2011 @ 11:46 am |
Go Elaine, Go. I’m with you.
Comment by Syd — February 1, 2011 @ 11:46 am |
Sherry and I are back on it again this year. It’s hard, but worthwhile. Check out Calorie Count at about dot com. It’s actually a very good site for tracking your food, weight, and there is lots of good advice that isn’t a fad or the latest and greatest in dieting plans. It’s just good common sense that really works.
Comment by Edge — February 1, 2011 @ 11:47 am |
Good luck with it, Elaine. I’m sort of in the same boat. (See my record of my ongoing saga (which has a lot of links).
A few random thoughts:
1. as people approach 40, their metabolism rate changes pretty significantly, so you have to keep downsizing from that point on.
2. A brilliant book about weight loss psychology is Thin for Life: 10 Keys to Success by Anne M. Fletcher. It’s about the psychology of successful losers. She found that there is a threshold of about 5-10 pounds over your target — which if you surpass it — will cause you to give up or simply stop trying. The key is making sure that you never reach 10+ pounds higher.
3. The good news is that because you have successfully lost weight before, you know how to do it and know it can be done.
My 3 tips: 1)try to hide snack foods in a cabinet. It’s amazing what a psychological difference it makes. 2)Big breakfast, extremely light lunch and moderate dinner. 3)One recent study found that exercise in the morning before breakfast offers the biggest bang for the buck.
Personally although I lost 20 pounds, I wasn’t able to lose 25 pounds — though I momentarily became close. Good luck with it and look forward to running into you in the future.
Comment by Robert Nagle — February 1, 2011 @ 12:02 pm |
Elaine- You can do it! Believe me, I LOVE FOOD, WINE, MARGARITAS…..but my Dad died at 51 from heart disease – he was also a smoker….so then I became OBSESSED with working out. Find something you like – it might be just BIKING and start with small goals. Take that new little puppy for a walk around the block – HE and YOU will LOVE it. It also gives you time to reflect on your day and alleviate your stress.
If there is anything I can do to help, lemme know! Even if it’s walking around Memorial Park – you KNOW how I love anything outside.
Keep me posted. and I TOTALLY agree with the above. Big Breakfast (I never was able to eat breakfast before) and light lunch and even lighter dinner. Don’t eat after 7 or 6 if you can stand it.
You GOT THIS!!!!! Xo, Suz
Comment by Susie — February 1, 2011 @ 1:18 pm |
I’m with you! I started on Jan. 5th and have done quite well thus far which is shocking because I spent the last 3 years stressing about my weight, hating it, doing multiple things to battle it and after ALL THAT watching it rise steadily. Talk about frustrating. Funnily enough when I decided to accept it and changed my goals from “losing weight” to “stop gaining” things clicked (I also think a medication change helped as well).
What’s working (besides the medication tweak):
- the Lose It app (calorie counting at it’s finest…it works!)
- no sugar, no simple carbs or starches (I really think my body developed a resistance even though it wasn’t showing up on blood tests…the fact that I’m losing — after trying everything else including LOW calorie diets & massive amounts of exercise — is all the proof I need)
- regular exercise (which admittedly isn’t that hard for me because I love exercise…have you tried Just Dance on Wii? I LOVE IT and it’s a great workout that doesn’t feel like a workout)
I’ve found out that healthy living is not *that* hard when we commit to it, it’s committing to it that’s the hard part.
So, there you have it. Good luck!
Comment by Ninotchka — February 1, 2011 @ 1:41 pm |
Thanks everyone – I appreciate all the support and advice. I am going to struggle with the “eat more at breakfast, light lunch, lighter dinner and earlier dinner” becasue that is ingrained in my personal culture of how I grew up. Coming from a family with a Spanish culture, we never ate before 8 PM and breakfast was not even really a meal in our house. Granted, I eat too late nowadays so maybe I can shift that by an hour or two… and I can start to eat something other than a glass of chocolate milk for breakfast…
It’s all baby steps, right? Ack!
Comment by emesker — February 1, 2011 @ 4:15 pm |
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