Non-Scale Victory

Had a nice lunch from Meals on Wheels yesterday - Chicken Primavera with Vegetables, a bread stick, peas and a brownie. I got halfway through the brownie and realized I was full. Guess what I did? I stopped eating! A CHOCOLATE BROWNIE. And I closed up the container and put it off to the side to have later. Do you have any idea what that is like for me? A miracle, that it what it is.

Now if I had just listened to myself when I realized I was full before having that extra piece of pizza for supper. But one step at a time, eh?

Therapy Homework

I met with the therapist at the Melrose Institute for the first time. She seems nice enough. We didn't get much accomplished as it was an "intake" appointment and it was mostly us going over my history and setting up goals. I got a "homework" assignment though. I am to bring in an object that represents me.

I told my husband about it and he said I should bring in "Lovey." Lovey is a blond teddy bear he gave to me decades ago. She's dressed in a pretty, light blue dress with a silver stars. He said I am like a teddy bear and I'm "cuddly and soft." I said I wanted bringing in my kneadable eraser because it's "an ugly grey blob." The only thing is that it's not big enough so it isn't a "fat ugly grey blob."

So, I'm going to bring in both objects. The best and worst of me.

Birthday Blues

I know a two pound loss is good but it's still disappointing. It's my own fault though. I had three high calorie days this past week so shouldn't surprised. I should be grateful to have lost at all in all actuality. First we went to Benihana's for my birthday. While I ate less than I usually do, it is still not exactly a low calorie meal! Except for the rice, I ate half of everything. I ordered two servings of rice so I could take one home with the other half of my food. I ate the leftovers the following day which meant another high calorie day. Love the shrimp sauce but OMG the calories!

This Saturday we went to Target. I thought it would be one hour trip but it ended up being closer to three or four hours. We were comparison shopping to see if it would be a cheaper place to grocery shop. They are certainly less expensive than Cub or at least comparible. However, we ended up eating lunch there which was unplanned and the choices were pizza or pasta. Again, not exactly low calorie.

I tried to make good choices the rest of the week to make up for those days.

New Pool Workout

I've been meeting with two new pool therapists and I'm working on a new pool exercise routine. It runs about one hour.

Chest High Water:

• 2 walking laps with closed paddles
• 2 side step laps with closed paddles
• 1 grapevine lap
• 2 laps - going on toes, coming on heels
• 2 laps - heels to butt
• 1 lap - marching, knees high
• 3 to 5 minutes of jogging (about 1 lap per minute)
• Otter rolls (hold ball at chest, roll to side, roll back)
• Float on back in V-postion, lightly paddle for 30 seconds x 2
• Reverse push ups? (float on stomach, hold dumbells out straight, slowly bring them down x 5)
  
• Tricep curls with yellow dumbbells (20)

Waist High Water:

• Side Wall Push Ups (20x2)
• 2 walking laps

Hip High Water

• 1 walking lap

Deep Water

• Lobster rolls (float on back, crunch up, switch to float on stomach)
• Flutter kicks (15 seconds as fast as can, 15 seconds rest x 4)
• Cross-country skiing with dumbbells (1 minute x 2)
  

I think I'm forgetting some stuff but I don't have the list right on me at the moment. All I know is that I was bushed!

Don't See Your Comments?

I moderate comments. If your comment doesn't show up after my next post, it isn't going to be published.

I don't publish comments that include links to weigh loss products or schemes. Ever. I think they are all scams. I don't publish comments that are for products period.

I don't publish comments that are degrading or rude. Insulting me isn't going to get me to change. Supporting my efforts will. And I won't give people a soapbox for their particular biases. The weight and hygiene post is a hot spot for negative posts.

I'm not going to publish comments that are basically flirting (!) with me. I'll be celebrating my 22nd wedding anniversary this weekend and I'm very happily married.

Questions, support, comments, and links to people who are losing weight through *healthy* diet and exercise are always welcome.

And She Scores!

I'm such a loser!

The visit with the doctor went well. I lost 33 pounds since the first visit a month ago and 25 pounds of that was fat. I weigh on a special scale - barefoot - that measures my fat. I don't know how accurate it is but my doctor was pretty happy. She wants to see either 70 or 75% of weight loss to be fat (I can't remember which) and I was at 65%. The rest is water, muscle, etc.

To keep the fat loss high I need to keep my protein intake at 60 to 90 grams and exercise. Once I got home I checked SparkPeople and my protein runs over 100 every day, so I need to get better about my exercise.

And then I had another five pound loss this week. Go me!

How Do I Do It?

I've had a couple people ask me how I've lost the weight. Here's my response:

You really are going to hate this but it comes down to:

Eat less.
Move more.

There are no magic bullets.

You need lots of lots of patience. It takes a long time. A really long *(*&^$$&()#* time.

And I journal my food every day. Every bite gets recorded. Even on the "ugly" days. No matter what my calories are, it seems like if I track, I lose. If I don't track, I don't lose. Just being aware of what I'm eating really helps a lot.

Also ADD food. Add more fruits and vegetables. Add a handful of nuts a day. Eat them first. Getting that nutrition in is very important to satiety.

I don't starve myself or restrict my food. I eat anything I want. I just don't eat EVERYTHING I want. Portion control is key! There are VERY few foods that I can't control myself over. They don't come in the house. (Entemann's chocolate donuts and Pepperidge Farm Chesapeake cookies are evil.) But meanwhile, I eat full fat cheese, cookies, candy, etc. But I have a single serving. One ounce of cheese, 2 Oreos, 1 snack-sized Mound, etc.

Final tip: don't drink your calories. Get rid of soda, juice, wine, etc. For the same amount of calories, you can eat a lot of food. For instance, a glass of apple juice is about the same as 1 1/2 apples!

Doctor's Orders #7 - 9

I'm finishing up here since a) my appointment is on Friday and b) my laptop became a paper weight on Sunday and I haven't been able to post.

#7 Make an appointment with a therapist.

I was to make an appointment with one of the Melrose therapists since I have on-going depression and anxiety issues on top of the binge eating disorder. I asked for a specific recommendation and I'll be seeing her at the end of the month. I can't remember the exact date and since I'm in the middle of a restore, I can't get at my calender.

#8 Make a followup appointment.

That's this Friday at 3:30pm. It's going to be nice to weigh in and have a 30+ pound loss. Take that, fat!

#9 Try probiotics, specifically Align.

Supposedly there are studies showing that people who are very obese have a lot of bad bacteria in their gut and with all the antibiotics I've been taking over the past few years with the skin infections, I may have more than most. However, it's $30 a month for these and I didn't want to try two new prescription drugs AND a new over-the-counter at the same time, so I put it on hold.

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I'm trying to not be disappointed with my one pound weight loss this week.

Doctor's Orders #6

Start on Topomax to decrease appetite and stabilize mood.

Also known as better living through pharmaceuticals.

Prescribed for epilepsy and migraines, it is now used off-label in smaller doses to reduce binge eating.

Oh my god, this stuff is like crack for binge eaters. Where has it been all my life? I haven't had one binge since starting on this miracle drug. That's *22* days without a binge. And I've only had two days where I've been over my calorie range and even that was only by about 500 calorie each time. I've lost THIRTY POUNDS during that time period.

I snuck a weigh in yesterday and the loss is tapering off to something more reasonable, but dang! I am one happy camper.

Doctor's Orders #5

Start on Buspar for anxiety.

I tried Buspar before but didn't take it regularly like I was supposed to. You need to take it three times a day and I kept forgetting my lunch time dose. So, I purchased a three a day pill reminder case and fill it up once a week. Also, I set up Outlook reminders to beep at me.

I'm not so certain the Buspar will help me as I've not had a lot of luck with mental health medications but I'm willing to give it a try. No effect yet but it can take four to six weeks to start helping and it's only been three.

Doctor's Orders #4

Try Stevia instead of sugar.

Hem. Haw. Wheedle.

It's not like I use a lot of sugar during the day. I use two teaspoons in my cereal in the morning. A total of thirty calories. Whoo whee. But the doctor wants me to try to cut calories where I can. Grumble grumble.

I was resistant at first because I don't like chemical sugar substitutes but my friend told me it's from a plant. She also sent me a sample which I've had for a couple weeks. I'm still stalling. I'm going to have to try it at least once before my doctor's appointment on the 15th. So, I'll get to it eventually.

Doctor's Orders #3

I've been taking Metamucil for years for "regularity." I put it in a cup of orange juice until I started having stomach issues earlier this year so I changed over to apple juice. The doctor suggested that I change over to taking it in water. Since I have Metamucil Clear and Natural rather than one of the flavored ones, it seems to be fine. The water tastes a little odd but that's about it and it saves me 60 to 80 calories a day. Plus the doctor says for the same amount of calories I can eat an apple and it would be much more satisfying.

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And here's my latest crochet project. It was for a silent auction at my church.

Doctor's Orders #2

Eat 1 handful of nuts per day.

I was having problems with feeling hungry all day. The doctor said that one component of it was issues with satiety and that I needed to eat more nutritious foods. Part of this was to eat more fruits and vegetables, the next part was to eat a handful of nuts per day. I particularly like cashews and almonds. So I measure about about 100 calories worth. This comes to 11 cashews or 15 almonds. It didn't seem like it would be enough but it certainly does seem satisfying mid-morning when I get "the hungries."

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For serving sizes, try:

The Portion Distortion Guide at SparkPeople

How Much Are You Eating? at U.S. Department of Agriculture

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Finally, a blog by a previously super obese person who has lost a lot of weight without weight loss surgery or any fad diets. Whoo hoo! Check it out. It's very inspirational.

Who Ate My Blog?