Took control & making my dream come true

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-25-2007
Took control & making my dream come true
14
Thu, 04-05-2007 - 9:31am
Wow, what a fantastic 11 weeks. I can hardly believe I've shed 47.5 pounds. My once tight clothes now are loose. Who would have thunk it?! I am so close to first my big goal of losing 50 pounds. (Granted I have 2 more big goals of 50 pounds each, but at Monday weigh-in, I'll have finished the first of three.) What's the secret to my success you ask (well, maybe you don't)? I stay on my eating plan and exercise plan one-day-at-a-time. I can do anything for one day, so that's how I look at it. Have I slipped along the way? Yes. Did I give up on myself and my ultimate goal to get healthy? NO! My secret is I BELIEVE IN MYSELF. I believe that I can do anything I set my mind to do (yes, even relearn algebra and geometry for the GRE to apply to graduate school). I like me. I may not like some of my behaviors, but I like me. Because I like me I have faith in my abilities to accomplish my goal of getting healthy. I don't have to be the best weight loss person in the world; I just have to be best I can be. On the day I stumbled and ate a teaspoon full (overflowing and was really probably a tablespoon) of peanut butter, I was the best I could be on that day. That's all I ask of myself. I didn't hate me. If a friend had done the same thing, would I have hated them? NO! I still don't know why I ate the peanut butter except I really really wanted some peanut butter, and gave me permission to eat one teaspoonful (yes, I am honest with myself, I really piled on as much peanut butter as that one teaspoon would hold). Did I continue throughout the day to go off my program? NO. Did I try to compensate the next day with a little more exercise? Yes. I am learning to eat correctly which means I recognise poor choices and their consequences. I control my actions, not through harsh words or actions, but through reminding myself that I believe in me. I believe I can follow my eating plan perfectly one-day-at-a-time and thus, I do. I believe I can exercise 30 minutes a day and I do. I don't really fixate on how much I need to lose because that is overwhelming. I was actually surprised when my doctor said, by next week you will have lost 50 pounds. I am always thrilled to have lost a few pounds each week and now look at how those few pounds a week add up! I guess I practice one-week-at-a-time, too (ha) when it comes to weigh-ins and pounds lost. Getting healthy (my dream) is about following a plan that reduced my caloric intake and increased my caloric output. It takes commitment to lose weight. I have friends who are just going to watch what they eat and exercise a little more. Well, for 10 pounds that may work, but not for a 150 pounds. My belief in myself allows me to commit completely to getting healthy and what it takes to do it which in turn is making my dream come true.
Happy Easter/Passover or whatever Spring event you celebrate.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-25-2007
Sat, 04-07-2007 - 12:36pm
I started out having to get rid of 180 pounds of fat. I went to my doctor who for several years has been encouraging me to get healthy which meant going on a diet to start me on my life style change. So, I would not recommend my plan to anyone else. It was set up by my doctor for me. However, I do believe she got it from some health institute who specialize in severe obesity (100 pounds or more to lose). I assumed everyone in the "100 pounds or more to go" support group had a 100+ pounds to lose at some point. I can't imagine anyone having that much fat to lose not being followed by a physician, but evidently many people go it alone. I'm just not one of those people. My doctor's main focus now is getting the fat off in the quickest, but safest way which means that my heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc.. remain healthy while the fat comes off. The other focus is changing my attitude about food and exercise. However, you really have to know what your attitude is about food and exercise to change it. I guess as far as fatties go, I am lucky, I only eat when I am hungry and I was hungry because of poor food choices (like sweets). My doctor has known me for quite some time and understood my enormous appetite. I could literally eat 2 pork chops, a big salad with dressing, several servings of mashed potatoes, etc.. and without stopping top it all off with a huge slice of cake. I was stuffed. I had continued to eat because I didn't allow myself to recognise that I was full until I was about ready to pop. So, now I eat for 10 minutes and take my time doing that, and set my fork aside for 5 minutes, and if I am hungry, I continue and if I am not, I don't. I have learned in 3 months to finally recognise when I am full and more importantly STOP. I repeat this process which can be annoying to my husband, but he'd rather be annoyed and have me around for a lot longer, than finish up at the same time as him which means he has to sit with me. I have also learned there is a big difference between being hungry and having a craving. I didn't discriminate between the two before. I have added exercise into my life. I'm almost at that point that you hear about with runners (which I'm certainly not one) who feel the need to run each day, but rather than run, I need to move around more whether it is walking or peddling or whatever, to feel good. I have a very long way to go both in weight loss and behavior change, but I am doing it.
That I am losing weight quickly and healthfully appears to be contradictory to some people. Slow is better doesn't necessarily resonant as a truth to me. Just because I slowly put the weight on over 20 years (i.e. 10 pounds a year) doesn't make me a healthier fatty as opposed to someone who put on a 100 pounds in a year. Successful weight loss is about keeping it off. Whether you can learn to modify you lifestyle and maintain that change determines true weight loss success. Do I need to take 3-4 years to learn this lesson? By most standards I've read lately, even a 2 pound weight loss a week might be viewed as too fast because that would be a 100+ pound weight loss in a year and some people apparently feel that is too fast. Weight loss is about reducing calories. If you aren't doing that to any significant degree you aren't going to lose weight. You know that to lose one pound a week is to get rid of 3500 calories. You have to know how many calories you are taking in to be able to determine how many calories to give up or work off to reach that goal. I can only do this in a structured environment. I am not one of those people who can watch what they eat and regularly lose weight each week. And to be honest, I haven't really noticed many people who do. However, because I am in a structured eating and exercise environment and adhere to it, I do expect to lose 3 pounds a week (my body weight alone requires more calories to maintain that weight, as I get smaller that will probably drop to 2 pounds a week). I call it work. I call it my second job. Instead of earning a paycheck at my second job, I earn health. I am all about putting in the effort to get me where I need to go as quickly and healthfully as possible. So Staci, congratulations for keeping most of the 40 pounds you lost off. And good luck on losing the rest of the 100+ pounds you need to lose. You only have about 60+ more pounds to go. Wow, I can't wait to be that close to my goal.
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-09-2007
Mon, 04-09-2007 - 6:33am

congrats!! after i found out i am tipping the scale on 252 at being only 5'2 i am trying to lose weight but it's hard. i'm slipping, but reading your post made me believe i can do it too. i need to lose 125, and when ever i think about how far away i am from it, it makes me sad and doubt i can ever reach it. i wish i had your self motivation.

keep up the good work!

jenni

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-08-2006
Mon, 04-09-2007 - 8:07pm

Jenni,
This is one of the hardest things I have ever done - and it has taken me almost four years, and I'm not done yet. One thing I think of is an old joke 'A 36 year old woman was thinking about going to college, but she said to her friend - When I get my degree in four years, I'll be 40 - and her friend said -How old will you be in four years if you don't get your degree?'

For me, this is a journey of self-discovery. I'm in the fourth year of my three year plan...but I've learned a lot along the way.

There is no prize for the person who reaches goal weight first. There is no penalty for slipping up and gaining after you lose. I've had to find exercise that I like(OK, I found some I love, but who knew that was going to happen?). I've had to re-arrange my life to make time for exercise a priority (the cr*p that's on tv makes that a little easier for me, but for people with husbands/kids/a million obligations, not so easy). I've had to change the way I eat - several times as I've moved progressively towards eating healthy. I've had to face why I ate the way I did-and it had nothing to do with physical hunger for sure. I had to learn how to cook...I had to learn to speak up and say 'I am leaving the office now, you will have to solve this problem without me, or wait two hours and I'll come back'. I have to go to the grocery store and buy 'real' food. I am a different person in more ways than how I look - and I like myself more.

Your journey will take a long time. But if all you lose is ten pounds a year, wouldn't that be better than gaining ten pounds a year? How about 20? 40?

When this is what you want more than anything else, you will find the motivation. It is inside you. (and I am 51, so it is NEVER too late to start)

Best wishes
SJ
225-169-135

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-06-2006
Wed, 04-11-2007 - 7:16am

Congratulations Sharon on your amazing success. You're showing

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