Last 30 Pounds

One of the toughest things for me to do while losing weight, has been letting go of my perfectionism.  If I allowed it to I could become completely obsessed with weight loss, and let my progress or lack of for that matter consume my life.  This post from back in December helps to remind me that having balance and perspective are so important.  I have learned that one “slip-up” does not have to become a complete downward spiral in terms of my eating….

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

My weight stayed the same this week.  I wasn’t really expecting a loss this week, after a very successful week last week.  That kind of seems to be my pattern as of late: lose a lot, maintain for awhile, lose a lot, maintain for awhile.  That’s fine–learning to maintain is important too!!

Here is something I have been thinking about: I used to wait for the “perfect time” to lose weight.  After the birthday party, the holidays, when summer break starts, etc.  But I think it is important to realize that there really is no perfect time.  Life happens! And so, it is wiser, I think to do the best we can on a week by week, or day by day basis….Here’s to a great week!!

KT

Here is a link to a great article on a fabulous website called Spark People.  There are motivational tips, recipes, discussion boards, fitness tips, etc.  It is completely free to join too.

On Fridays I am going to post a “flashback” post from my old blog that I started close to a year ago.  This will help give some insight into what things were like for me when I was first starting my weight loss program.  The following is a post that I originally wrote on May 30^th of last year.  I was a little more than a month into the program and was having all kinds of new insights…

May 30, 2008—Loving the Before Picture

I am learning that in order to make a real, lasting, positive difference it is so important to learn to love the “before picture”. In the past when I have lost weight, the more I lose the more I start to hate the person that I was when I was bigger. I get disgusted when I see old pictures or videos and think–that isn’t even me anymore. But, I think the real key is accepting and loving the girl in the before picture and knowing that she is me, just a less healthy version who needs a lot of love and support. And that is what I am giving myself right now!! It is an enlightening journey…

Re-reading this reminds me that loving the before, after and everything in between is key to making this last.  I do not feel one bit ashamed or disgusted now when I look at older pictures of myself when I weighed close to 300 pounds.  I feel proud that I finally cared enough about myself to spend some time helping myself. 

“You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”
-George Bernard Shaw

I am excited to share with you the first “guest post” of what I hope will be many on my blog!! I am so grateful to Dr. Bell, Medical Director of Great Lakes Weight and Wellness, Melissa Thomas, Program Coordinator and all other staff at GLWW for their help.  I do not believe I would have gotten to this point without their program, and am so appreciative of their on-going support!   The following are some helpful tips from Dr. Bell:

Hello Katie:
 
I’m happy to send along some information which I hope will be of use to you and your audience.

Weight loss is tough to do, as you know, and in order to do it and get permanent results -you need to change the lifestyle. That’s really hard to do, as a lot of our eating is based on psychological and emotional reasons. However, calorie counting is a very effective way to keep track of what and how much one is eating. It is helpful to “audit” your calorie intake using just the same skills as you would apply to your checkbook- something that is not difficult to do, but it does take time and some effort. Below is a list of tips/instructions I commonly give to my patients, some of whom have lost over 110 pounds just by keeping track and being mindful:
 
 
Reduced Calorie Diet:
1. Food journal: Keep an accurate record of everything that goes between your teeth- large or small, solid or liquid. If you do not know how to record the value of something, don’t eat it! This is your body’s energy checkbook. It needs to be as accurate as possible to be of benefit to you.
2. Get a good calorie counter. We recommend the “Calorie King-Calorie, Fat and Carbohydrate Counter.” It can be purchased or ordered from any bookstore, but it also has a sophisticated web site which has a number of other tools as well.
3. Use your calorie counter to calculate the number of calories in everything you eat, both per meal and daily.
4. As a starting point, aim for 1500 calories/day for men, 1200 calories/day for women, as suggested by Dr. Bell.
 
Helpful Tips:
1. Less carbs = less hunger. The less carbohydrates you eat, the less hungry you will be, and your weight loss will be both easier and faster.
2. As you lose weight your body will be more efficient, and your rate of weight loss will slow down. You will need to further reduce your intake of calories and/or increase your exercise to maximize your weight loss.
 

This post is in response to one of the comments posted, requesting more specific information about how I am losing weight:

Can you be a little more specific about how you are losing 5 lbs in a week? My weight loss has flat lined lately and no matter how I’m changing it up, I feel like the scale is not going anywhere. I do feel a little more energetic, I miss the gym when I can’t go, and I am paying attention to what I eat – but the clothes are still fitting the same.

 Let me first say that I really do not consider myself to be an “expert”–I am very much still learning about this process–but bascially, I burn more calories than I consume.  I watch my caloric intake very carefully, and I know how many calories I can eat per day and still lose weight.  There are a few websites that have helped me to do the calculations: http://www.my-weight-loss-advisor.com/calories-for-weight-loss.html & http://www.my-weight-loss-advisor.com/protein-fat-and-carbohydrate.html.  Also, limiting sugar helps me a lot, as does eating lots of lean protein–which keeps me fuller longer.  I eat  something small every few hours–if I am on the go, this may even be a protein bar or shake.  This is just what works for me.  It may not be right for everyone, as I definitely believe everyone needs a very individualized weight loss plan that works with their particular lifestyle, etc.

But I should add, that even when I am doing all of this, sometimes the scales don’t cooperate.  I certainly know how frustrating it is to feel like you’re doing everything “right”, and then to be disappointed by the numbers.  These are the times that I remind myself, that I am not doing this just to watch the numbers fall.  I think about how much healthier I feel, or all of the insight I have gained by doing this.  Those are definite success measures also.  And if I have been hitting the fitness pretty hard–lifting weights, etc., then I will sometimes have a temporary weight gain due to muscle increase and water retention.  Does this help?

BTW–I typically do not lose 5 pounds every week!! This was a larger than average loss for me.  I have stayed the same for the past several weeks, and then was very focused again this week.  A more typical weight loss for me right now is 1-2 pounds a week….

Every Monday I intend to “weigh in” and let readers know how the progress is going.  I should mention that of course there are lots of great ways to measure weight loss–and sometimes the scales can be the least reliable way due to water weight, etc.. Clothing fitting looser, measurements, overall energy increase, etc. are also great ways to track progress.  But for the purposes of this blog I will post pounds lost per week. 

My weightloss ticker needs to be updated–as of this morning I am down 5 pounds from last week! Hooray!! Anyone else want to share their progress? Please post a comment!

Simplify…

When I spend time cleaning out my closet—it usually means very good news for me on the scales.  I noticed this phenomenon when I first started losing weight.  All of the sudden, I wanted my closets, drawers, cupboards, etc. in order.  After awhile, there was a pattern I noticed: clean up the clutter = successful week of weight loss.  It was as if putting things in order in my home was in some ways symbolic for the internal cleansing I was experiencing due to the weight loss.  It makes a lot of sense when one thinks about this concept.  In fact, on my “to read” list is a book on this topic: “Does This Clutter Make My Butt Look Fat”, by Peter Walsh . 

So, this weekend, I cleared out another round of clothes from my closet that are too big.  It feels good to give away to Goodwill what I don’t need anymore.  I have a strict policy about not keeping my big clothes (Size 24, 26, 3X, etc.)—that way I know that I will never need to use them again! What used to be a closet that was full of too much stuff, has become rather simple and sparse these days.  This leaves me feeling hopeful for a great week!

A few other “housekeeping” items:

* If you found your way here via the blurb in the Sunday paper, welcome!! Please check back often for updates.

*I will be “weighing in” on Mondays and will share my weekly progress then.

*If you are interested in reading about when I first began my “journey”—check my old blog: www.ktbourbin.blogspot.com

A very helpful tool for me in losing the weight this time has been reading about others’ experiences.  I’ll be posting links to a few of my favorite weightloss blogs.  Check out DietGirl–where blogger/author Shauna Reid writes about her amazing success.  This was the blog that originally inspired me to start blogging about my experiences.  Her book is amazing too.  Also Jennette Fulda blogs at pastaqueen.com–she has literally lost half of her body weight! And one of the first weightloss memoirs I read when I started losing weight was called Fat Girl (available, by the way, at our Monroe County Library System!) by author, poet and performer, Irene O’ Garden.