So it's been a week since I posted about my weight problem and I said i would post each week to keep myself accountable.
So.... The Good:
It has been 11 days since I ate any fast food.
I switched to whole wheat wraps like someone suggested, still haven't found thin sliced bread, but I wasn't the one doing the shopping.
There have been days where I have been really tempted to eat at McDonald's but didn't. Like last night, Felix wasn't up to making dinner and I usually wake up too late to do it myself and get ready for work at the same time. It was the perfect recipe for me to say what the hell and get a big mac or go to checkers. I even contemplated going and getting a chef salad. But, I won out, left 10 minutes early and stopped at Wal-Mart and got a chicken ranch wrap (which I figure is better then the footlong hero).
And the bad...
Odd hours make for odd eating schedule and I have to work on that. I should eat 6 small meals a day, but I notice I will eat breakfast (usually a bowl of cereal) and then not eat until 4 or five that evening (even though I get up around noon or 1) and then I don't eat again until 1 am. I think this is setting me up for failure
I haven't started exercising yet. Walking hurts my back and the exercise bike hurts hip. I have an elliptical, but I am 200 lbs over its weight limit. I am going to look into get one of those hand cycles. I am not the type of person who will lose weight solely on dieting and need to find a solution fast.
This weeks weight
555
I lost a pound. I think that sucks, but I didn't put this all on over night either. Also, I ate before weighing in... ooops. I also got to realize that my scale isn't accurate either. The other day it said I was over 560 (actually it said E, as in your too fat to weigh). So right now it is a guessing game... maybe if I had level floors. Anyway, it is still a pound and that is something. I will try to start working out and sweating some (outside of what's under my flab). I do not want to be a fat bride and I'm becoming a recluse because I don't want people to see me. Fortunately, though I look fat, people don't think I'm over 400 lbs, but it's still embarrassing.
Thanks for your time.
Comments
Keep it up
Slow and gradual wins the race. I congratulate you on your progress.
Portia
Tough
It's hard to look at that damn scale and not see the kind of results like on 'The Biggest Loser' with them losing 10 or better pounds a week, but they have doctors and trainers watching them as well as they only doing that. For the rest of us with lives and having to support ourselves that just is not going to work.
A pound a week or perhaps even less just isn't very rewarding. However, you've got to look at the long term. Since Oct I've lost 15 pounds and because I did it the slow way, I'm more likely at keeping them gone. Sure I would love to have already reached my goal weight, but I AM losing the fat.
You have to keep your focus on the goal.
hugs
Grover
Keep going
Keep up the hard work , I am with you all the way knowing how hard it is to lose weight been there done that . I lost 145 pounds and kept it off for 4 years . I cheated by having surgery I was at 400 and 5'6" I would be dead by now had I not done that surgery.
Hugs Richie2
A little advice
The key to removing all those unnecessary fat is higher metabolism. For this matter, please, do not eat fast food. It's okay if you want to eat fast food, but throw away everything except the salad, beef and chicken. Do not eat the fries, do not eat the mayonnaise, do not eat the cheese. Tomatoes are okay.
Now, people will say that exercising works, but it takes a damned long time and effort, not to mention stamina that it leaves you tired and hungry, especially when you're very far along the 'overweight' side. Watching what you eat is not only boring but also very much of a self-torture. Believe me, I once fought with my parents and decided on a hunger strike, eating and drinking nothing but soybean milk. After two weeks, my body was so much in pain, it felt like my cells were dying. Besides, what would be the point of living if you can't enjoy food? I say, eat anything you want, even fast food if you like, but make sure your body can handle it.
The solution, is to improve your body's metabolism. Higher metabolism increases how much nutrients your body consumes in a given time, allowing you to eat less for higher nutrient absorption. However, this increases your body temperature but that's a good thing, because along with your increase of body temperature, you also burn fat faster and sweat more, which further removes fat and toxin from your body.
My personal average body temperature is 38, which is higher than most people around here. I used to do that to get medical leave. My diet consist of mostly eggs, salad, curry (with a damned lot of pepper, cinnamon and turmeric), rice, coffee and chicken. I don't exercise at all and I indulge in anything I want to eat, even very fatty foods. Despite my indulgence in everything that taste good, I have never in my life ever been considered fat. It's not genetic, my mother and sisters do get fat, though they lose fat fast too.
If you want to increase your body metabolism, I suggest these food, eat lots of them. Note that potato is not in the list. In fact, there was a study that says many Americans are obese because of an overindulgence in potato. Something about a kind of bacteria present in potato.
That's my one and only suggestion, increase your body metabolism. Note that simply eating these stuff for a month will do you no good. You must make it a habit. I don't think it will be much of an ordeal though, these things taste very good.
I hope this helps.
p/s: I don't normally eat fast food either, but to tell the truth, I don't miss it.
Just keep plodding girl!
There is no alternative to some sort of exercise Katie. That is a hard brutal reality. I don't know what your work patterns are but unusual hours are not a good thing. You've got your work cut out and realising that, (as you have) is a very important step.
Just keep going girl, some weeks you're the hammer, some weeks you're the nail.
Bev.
X
You're trending in the right
You're trending in the right direction, Katie, keep it up! You know what you have to do.
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Have patience!
It may take a while before your body realises its nutritional intake has dropped so starts burning fat! The human body's remarkably resilient and adaptable, so will try to conserve energy before raiding its reserves. Rapid weight loss is generally regarded as inadvisable unless someone's fortunate (or wealthy!) enough to have a team of nutritionists and doctors on hand to constantly monitor them and ensure they're not doing any long term damage. There's also been evidence that even when sticking to a constant diet and exercise regime, weight loss isn't linear but plateaus from time to time. Obviously, it's important not to let these plateaus (or even slight weight gains) put you off - only if they start turning into a trend should you re-evaluate your strategies. Once you've been going a month or two, you might be able to start seeing a trend emerge, so could potentially set yourself some simple goals based on maintaining that rate.
On the fast food front, regard it as an occasional treat, then limit yourself to a medium meal (rather than large or supersize). They key is not to avoid eating everything you like, but to eat in moderation. Healthy snacks needn't be bland or tasteless - apples are sweet, tasty and - importantly - require plenty of jaw action - chewing food burns up some energy!
Exercise needn't involve kit like exercise bikes / cross trainers / treadmills, or be as formal as press-ups or sit-ups - if you're living in a two storey house, make some excuse to walk up and down the stairs a few times - dead easy, and can be done at any time of the day or night. If you fancy something a bit more scenic, take a walk around the block or to the nearest convenience store (if there's one somewhere near your neighbourhood).
Above all, ensure that both healthier eating and exercise doesn't feel like chores - finding healthier foods that taste great or exercises that are enjoyable will make it far easier to stick to your plans.
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!
There is an increasingly large
School of thought in the medical and nutritional communities that say the number 1 enemy of healthy weight is wheat and other grains, whole or not. They (and potatos) are easily converted to sugars, which spike blood sugar - and insulin. A secondary effect of high insulin is to switch that carb conversion from simple sugars to short-chain fatty acids. The liver can store some of this as glycogen to meter out between meals, but pnce it has saturated, the glycogen ends up being stored as fatty acids elsewhere (visceral - belly - fat). Absent carbs in the diet, the body switches to being lipogenic, or fat-burning, instead of glycogenic, or sugar-burning.
It's the basis of Atkins, the Paleo diets, the diet plans at places like Quick Weight Loss Centers, and others. If you can, you should have 'light meal/snack' food with you always, and get in the habit of the 5-6 small meal / large snack day. Fresh veggies, small helpings of fruit (fresh -no added sugars, and limit the quantities - fruit has a sugar called fructose!), and protein. Here, you can get creative. For example, make a chicken wrap with chicken, a bit of light mayo, tomatoes, etc, but instead of bread, use a large lettuce leaf! When you cook chicken for this, sometimes boil it, then reduce the liquid to make a rich, healthy chicken stock. Add vegetables (not potatoes), some of the chicken, and spices for healthy chicken-vegetable soup. If you're an average cook, it's easy to have good, quick, and healthy low-carb meals.
The message I'm trying to convey is that eating with very few carbs and limiting your daily caloric intake is gaining acceptance as a very healthy way to eat, it's not that hard, and helps the goal of weight loss. As weight slowly comes off, your ability to be more active will increase, which helps on the exercise part. But please, please be careful and pay attention to what your body is telling you; if something feels wrong, get it checked immediately.
Imagination is more important than knowledge
A. Einstein