So, losing weight and changing your lifestyle is easy.....right???? Any intellectual, clear-headed, mature adult can handle this....you just know what to do...and DO IT!! Isn't it that easy?? If that is true, then why is there a meter set up on a website called worldmeters keeping a running tab of the number of people that are OVERWEIGHT in the world...NOT STARVING....NOT COLD....NOT HOMELESS...BUT OVERWEIGHT!!!....which at this very second on this very day is 1,659,585,710...um, yes, that's TRILLION.....and the number of dollars spent on weight loss programs in the USA TODAY...JUST THIS VERY DAY, AS OF THIS VERY SECOND is $156,460,000?? How in any world of sound reasoning does that make sense? If it is easy, WHY, after 40 years, billions of dollars and many pounds lost and gained, are we STILL AND AGAIN hearing from people like Oprah about her weight loss journey with her latest endorsement of Weight Watchers?
Think about it....we've ALL heard it and heard it and heard it again...all the facts...the number of calories you must consume/not consume in order to lose, gain, maintain weight; the kinds of foods we should/should not consume in order to lose, gain, maintain......and it's for our HEALTH....that's the most important thing!! HEALTH, first and foremost.....not how you look, but how you feel, how good your doctor's reports are, whether you can fight off disease, how you measure up to the fittest and the healthiest.....because isn't that how the true measure is taken? Well, that's the way it's supposed to be....but, ah, those society standards..... We've come so far, yet we are so far away......Thus those billions of dollars spent everyday on weight loss....always looking for the fastest way to look like the latest cover girl model.
Now, it would be easy for me to try to stand some kind of moral ground here and say that the "GOVERNMENT MADE US FAT". And while there MAY be some small idea there...after all, we have now learned that the very first food pyramid that was put out by the Department of Health telling us about a healthy diet had the model upside down....saying we should be filling up on grains and bread, white rice and potatoes.... However, blaming the government is no more correct than blaming McDonald's.. I will err on the side of caution here and say you MUST be a savvy consumer....just as when it comes to your healthcare, you can not close your eyes, bury your head in the sand and accept anything and everything you are told. If we've learned anything over the last years and months it is that WE MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR OWN ACTIONS.
All that being said, I digress.....let me get to my original subject....my "QUEST FOR HEALTH" journey. I have been on this latest particular journey (I say latest, because this is also not my first rodeo) for 47 days now. In that amount of time, I have managed to loose 17 lbs and gained more energy and stamina. But, EASY is not a word I would use. I am using a tracker (My Fitness Pal) to log my total calories and to break them down by nutrients - tracking protein, fat, sodium, carbohydrate, sugars, etc. When you download the APP and set it up, you enter all your statistics and tell it how much weight you would like to lose per week, and it calculates how many calories you should eat per day in order to achieve your goal, broken down between protein, fat, carbs, sugar, etc. It also has an entry for amount of water you drink per day ( 8 / 8 oz glasses are encouraged a day -- a standard bottle of water would equal two glasses) and the physical activity you engage in that day. I just added physical activity in the form of walking two days ago. I will try to walk 3 times a week at the local track. Let me insert here to say that I was initially excited to find water aerobics close by in Vidalia. But, in my usual knowing myself fashion, I reasoned this "lifetime" change through and knew that if I didn't make it convenient for my less than motivated self I would never stick to it. So, I bypassed the Water Aerobics classes for walking at the track early in the morning. IF I stick to this, I will check into a gym membership after a few months. Right now, that's too big a step for me to try. One change at a time. It's all I can handle.
At first, I was excited about this new lifestyle, new direction. I am still, but in a much more settled in, accepted way. There are several things I have had to face......no matter how many wonderful recipes I find, I still have to plan, prepare, shop and cook. Most of the time, this is an effort for one. Gene doesn't care for a lot of healthy foods....he never has, and try as I may, I don't see myself being able to change him anytime soon. See, the thing is with him, just like with a lot of men, he can just cut back on the AMOUNT of food he eats and lose. He has tremendous will power...if he orders french fries and he eats 10 of them and is full, he stops. However, if there are 15 on the plate, I will eventually get around to eating all 15! He cut way back on his food intake when I started this and he has already had to take up at least two notches in his belt and has come down TWO waist sizes. I know, I'm with you....NOT FAIR!! Yeah, well I got over the fairness thing a long time ago. If we were to only get what was fair in this life...well, you get my point. He is, however, VERY supportive of me! He's always my biggest cheerleader...always willing to help me in any way. He wants me to succeed because he hates to see me sick and miserable. When we both are in better health, we feel more like getting out and being active together, traveling together and doing a lot of things that we miss out on when we are sick most of the time.
After I posted on FB about my journey and my initial weight loss, I was approached about setting up a private group for those who want to support, encourage, share and learn about a healthier lifestyle. That group now exists. It's called "Strong and Healthy Friends". If you would like to join, just send me a message and I will be glad to help you. We would like to have all the members we can get because the more of us on this journey, the more support we will give each other and and will be STRONGER!!
And so, I am happy to report that so far, this journey is going well. Does that mean that I have it all together??? That I don't have any struggles with this?? That I now think I have the corner on these issues.... ABSOLUTELY NOT! I'm learning more each day as I go. I am humbled by your support and your comments. I am prayerful I will succeed. And, above all, I am thankful for each day I am given to try.....
Thursday, May 24, 2018
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
The ugly truth
So, here we go.....this is my journey with trying to get control of my weight. I am leaving these journals under my original head of "And I Still Believe.." because this is all part of my life and that is my mantra for life. I will NEVER stop believing...in God, in life, in truth, in love, in consistency. I would love to have you follow, encourage, comment, whatever....but, please, try to play nice.
In my original post about trying to clean up my eating, I told you about my struggles with my health. While my struggles have not just started, they have escalated in the last two years. My body just doesn't have the strength to fight as it should and I am getting less and less able to bounce back. So, I came to the conclusion that even though it is not what I WANT to do, getting control of my weight is what I HAVE to do. The best thing I can do for self-help is change what I can....and the greatest of these is cleaning up my eating and getting my weight going in a downward direction. According to The Weight Watchers Organization, the oldest and most successful weight loss organization around, AND many doctors and nutritionists, just a 10% weight loss can lower your cholesterol, lower your blood pressure, improve your body's ability to use the insulin it produces on it's on, improves your mental function, your energy and your outlook. It also gives you an opportunity to see how successful you will be at losing even more if this is your need....it's just the beginning. But, if you find it too hard to do 10%, then just think how hard it will be to do 30%, 40% or more...because many times, with someone who has a problem controlling their food intake, they NEED to do more than 10% weight loss. Weight loss must start somewhere...and setting your first goal at 10% is ideal. Manage that hurdle and then go from there, if necessary.
There are a LOT of ways to try to lose weight.....more than this blog will hold. If you chose to do this, only you can decide what will work best for you. Having gone on MANY diets over the years, I can speak from experience when I say that DIETS will not work in the long run. You HAVE to adapt to and embrace a completely new way of thinking about food. Without that, you will not succeed in the long run and even with that, it is an uphill struggle. So, you have to find something that you can think of as a permanent change in lifestyle, not a DIET! Sneaking food, exaggerating a weight loss or purposely going off your plan MUST BE OWNED! As long as any of us stick our heads in the sand and don't accept what is real, we will never achieve permanent goals with this. It will always be something we are "doing" and we will always be constantly looking for the end when we can go back to our "normal" way of eating again. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself....is eating the way I do worth the way I feel and look? If you can answer yes to that question, then you don't need this blog. But, if you know you can do better, then hang around and we will try this thing together.
So, buckle up buttercup, we are in for a ride!! I will do my best to pass on to you any information I receive, but know this up front: I AM NOT A DOCTOR, A NUTRITIONIST, A NURSE or any type of person that has any formal training in weight loss or health issues related. Please check EVERYTHING!! Don't take anything I say as gospel truth....I have access to the same information that you do! I am working with a nutritionist and I will gladly share information that I feel is generally helpful. But, please, please NEVER use my words alone to help you decide if, how or what you will do...about weight loss or food choices for you or health gains or losses. YOU must be your own tracker, dietician and goal seeker. I do hope that one thing you gain from me is ENCOURAGEMENT!
Before I end this, I will tell you this much....over the last months when my health has been so bad I have had little I was able to do except watch TV. One of the programs that significantly impacted me was "My 600 LB Life". No, I do not have that much weight to loss....but there but by the grace of TIME and BAD HABITS go I! Watching these people who are facing certain death if they don't change their lives and break their bad habits was quite an awakening for me. How was I different? Only by a number on the scale. I watched as they talked about an unhealthy relationship with food that existed for me also. They struggled with soft drinks, sweets, fried foods, snacks, fast food.....I struggle with the SAME THINGS! I watched as some of them really took it seriously....and some of them didn't....and the consequences of both. It made me take a long, hard look at my diet...the good, the bad and the ugly. And, I found there was more good than bad and more ugly than not. So, thus my change in thinking..... Just like them, I must succeed....because like it or not, if I don't, I won't be here much longer....
In my original post about trying to clean up my eating, I told you about my struggles with my health. While my struggles have not just started, they have escalated in the last two years. My body just doesn't have the strength to fight as it should and I am getting less and less able to bounce back. So, I came to the conclusion that even though it is not what I WANT to do, getting control of my weight is what I HAVE to do. The best thing I can do for self-help is change what I can....and the greatest of these is cleaning up my eating and getting my weight going in a downward direction. According to The Weight Watchers Organization, the oldest and most successful weight loss organization around, AND many doctors and nutritionists, just a 10% weight loss can lower your cholesterol, lower your blood pressure, improve your body's ability to use the insulin it produces on it's on, improves your mental function, your energy and your outlook. It also gives you an opportunity to see how successful you will be at losing even more if this is your need....it's just the beginning. But, if you find it too hard to do 10%, then just think how hard it will be to do 30%, 40% or more...because many times, with someone who has a problem controlling their food intake, they NEED to do more than 10% weight loss. Weight loss must start somewhere...and setting your first goal at 10% is ideal. Manage that hurdle and then go from there, if necessary.
There are a LOT of ways to try to lose weight.....more than this blog will hold. If you chose to do this, only you can decide what will work best for you. Having gone on MANY diets over the years, I can speak from experience when I say that DIETS will not work in the long run. You HAVE to adapt to and embrace a completely new way of thinking about food. Without that, you will not succeed in the long run and even with that, it is an uphill struggle. So, you have to find something that you can think of as a permanent change in lifestyle, not a DIET! Sneaking food, exaggerating a weight loss or purposely going off your plan MUST BE OWNED! As long as any of us stick our heads in the sand and don't accept what is real, we will never achieve permanent goals with this. It will always be something we are "doing" and we will always be constantly looking for the end when we can go back to our "normal" way of eating again. Look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself....is eating the way I do worth the way I feel and look? If you can answer yes to that question, then you don't need this blog. But, if you know you can do better, then hang around and we will try this thing together.
So, buckle up buttercup, we are in for a ride!! I will do my best to pass on to you any information I receive, but know this up front: I AM NOT A DOCTOR, A NUTRITIONIST, A NURSE or any type of person that has any formal training in weight loss or health issues related. Please check EVERYTHING!! Don't take anything I say as gospel truth....I have access to the same information that you do! I am working with a nutritionist and I will gladly share information that I feel is generally helpful. But, please, please NEVER use my words alone to help you decide if, how or what you will do...about weight loss or food choices for you or health gains or losses. YOU must be your own tracker, dietician and goal seeker. I do hope that one thing you gain from me is ENCOURAGEMENT!
Before I end this, I will tell you this much....over the last months when my health has been so bad I have had little I was able to do except watch TV. One of the programs that significantly impacted me was "My 600 LB Life". No, I do not have that much weight to loss....but there but by the grace of TIME and BAD HABITS go I! Watching these people who are facing certain death if they don't change their lives and break their bad habits was quite an awakening for me. How was I different? Only by a number on the scale. I watched as they talked about an unhealthy relationship with food that existed for me also. They struggled with soft drinks, sweets, fried foods, snacks, fast food.....I struggle with the SAME THINGS! I watched as some of them really took it seriously....and some of them didn't....and the consequences of both. It made me take a long, hard look at my diet...the good, the bad and the ugly. And, I found there was more good than bad and more ugly than not. So, thus my change in thinking..... Just like them, I must succeed....because like it or not, if I don't, I won't be here much longer....
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