Losing it one pound at a time

I was in the office last week and one of the gals in my office said, “Lise, you look like you’ve lost some weight! What have you been doing?” I said, “it’s so weird. When I eat less, I lose weight.” I swear, as stupid as it sounds, this is what has worked for me.  I never had a weight problem until I had my 3rd son. I was 38 and convinced that the weight would fall off before my 6 week follow up visit with my OB. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen this time. I had all sorts of excuses….my age, busy with my 2 older boys,  metabolism, thyroid, I even did a sleep study because I thought I might not be getting enough  oxygen when I was sleeping - hence a weakened metabolism. Turns out it was a lack of willpower and too much food. I finally decided I had had enough. I was tired of disappointing myself. I decided to make small changes so I wouldn’t miss my favorite (mexican) foods too much. I did quit drinking beer and pretty much alcohol altogether. I don’t miss it.  I still get to eat mexican food, I just skip the cheese and guacamole and stick to chicken and corn tortillas - and load up on the lettuce and tomotoes. I also bring food to work so I don’t have any excuses to eat poorly. And, I eat a snack at 3 pm so I don’t go home starving and eat like a madwomen. I’ve lost 9 pounds so far and I am so proud. I’ve been able to wear clothes in my closet that haven’t seen the daylight in 3 years. I want to get down to 132, so I have another 16 pounds to go but at this rate I’ll be there by summer. I’m just doing it one pound at a time, but it adds up.

It’s been about 7 weeks now of eating better and it’s getting easier. I have found that I simply don’t need to eat as much as I used to think I needed to eat. I pick my foods more carefully and make sure if I’m going to eat something it’s going to last a while. Now that I’m back on Weight Watchers I’m consuming a LOT of veggies - which is fine, I like them. Dumping an entire can of green beans on my lean cuisine is a little disgusting, but it does fill me up. The best pay off so far has been my jeans. I can zip them and wear them and I’m not in pain. I can bend over. I don’t have a muffin top. My husband has been very complimentary. I still have my weak moments and I definitely can’t have cookies in the house because they just don’t stand a chance. I did very well on Valentine’s Day. My three boys got a bazillion pieces of candy and chocolate at school and I passed on all of it. I haven’t been drinking either and I think that helps.  Beer is so good…especially an icy cold…one but it seems to make belly fat very fast. For the first time in 3 years I feel like I can really do this. I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. It’s not as hard as I thought - it’s just different.

And I loved it! Here’s the deal - if you’re easily offended by four letter words this is not the book for you. I thought it was fantastic. Very funny and a quick read. The authors believe in a vegan, organic lifestyle and although they have a lot of good arguments for it, I don’t know that I can take my diet that far. I did, however, learn a lot about why I really need to think about eating meat due to the treatment and conditions  of the animals. It was very disturbing. I also learned a lot about healthy substitutes for sweetners, ways to increase my fruit and vegetable intake and it confirmed my belief that dairy is not good for us. It’s a quick read - I read the entire book today. It must have made an impact….my husband made steak for dinner and I passed and had whole wheat pasta w/ olive oil, tomato, garlic and turkey bacon with a small salad. I want to try fasting, which is one of the suggestions the authors have. Has anyone out there tried fasting? Does it work? I’d love to hear. Until then, hope you all have a fantastic week. :) 

I’m now about 6 weeks into this and I wanted to share what’s working (and what’s not)

Getting my heart rate monitor - working. I can now gauge how hard I’m working, I can do interval training more effectively and I can make sure I’m getting my heart rate to the range where I know I’m going to lose weight.

Eating every 3 hours - working. By planning ahead and bringing all of the food I’ll need while I’m at work, I don’t overeat. I pace myself and I usually end up bringing food home at the end of the day.

Sharing my successes - working. It helps knowing that my small weight loss accomplishments don’t go unnoticed. It’s hard to lose weight and even if it’s only coming off a pound at a time, it’s still a great feeling when they start adding up.

Getting the rest of the family involved - working. We now go on more family bike rides, play basketball, or tennis and we do it together.

Eating protein at every meal - working. Obviously, all calories are not created equal so I have to make better choices that will fill me up longer.

Doing spin 4 days a week - not working. My legs were getting really, really fatigued so I’ve backed off. I am now doing 2 classes and mixing in interval training on the elipitcal and also doing weights.

Beating myself up for having a bad day - not working. When I add up the calories it’s usually not as bad as I had thought. Plus, hey - I like ice cream…I need to have it every once in a while. Just smaller portions

Reading - working. Staying focused by reading positive books really help. I’m still reading The Secret. I also went on www.tut.com and get a daily email from “The Universe”. It’s a great way to start my day and remind me that thoughts become things. If any of you have some powerful books out there I’d love to hear about them.

Seems like more is working than not - which is a very good thing. Oh, and I joined Weight Watchers this week. I’m very excited to get more ideas on how I can stay on track.

Hope you all are thinking good thoughts and seeing powerful results.