Up, Down and All Around

I feel like I'm at a standstill with my weight loss. I had some good losses then gained again this week. I'm only one pound ahead from a month ago. Meh. I'll keep plugging away. I had such great losses a few months ago and now it's come to almost a near stop. I'm frustrated. It just peeled away and now... nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Since my husband has been out of work, I haven't been able to go to the rehab pool as we simply couldn't afford the fees, as low as they were. But I am blessed by being a member of a wonderful church and they have generously donated the money for me to go again. I can't wait to get back in the pool.

It's been a rough few weeks emotionally, but I've managed to not have one binge. Not ONE binge since I started on this new weight loss journey in May. Did you hear that? NOT ONE! That is one success I have to give myself a pat on the back for. Now if it would just show on the (*^(*^$(*^@@# scale!

And My Body Betrays Me - Argh!

The scale and I are arguing again. My calorie ranges are excellent, so it's not what I'm eating. I think it's the anti-depressant I've been put on. It's also constipating me big time. I know, I know - TMI. But that's what you get when you come to my blog! Far too much information. Heh.

So, I've been drinking extra water and taking Colace. Not that it's helping much. Both my therapist and my doctor want me to give it more time. I'll wait to the end of the month then re-evaluate.

Also, oh happiness, oh joy. I had some blood work done and we discovered I'm insulin resistant. It's sort of pre-pre-diabetes. It means that eventually I *will* get diabetes unless I do something about it ASAP. Therefore, I'm going to start taking small steps toward reducing my carbohydrates. I'm not going low carb, but I do want to move toward the lower end of my range. Plus I'm going to add beans and more complex carbs.

Today I cooked up a batch of kidney beans for the first time. I'll try out 3/4 cup of beans with some brown rice, a bit of tomato sauce and a touch of Parmesan cheese for lunch tomorrow.

The Four Hundreds are in Sight!

After a three week plateau, the weight is just whooshing off! I've lost fourteen pounds in the last three weeks. My husband is the laconic, laid-back type so to get my "rah-rahs," I call my mom who gushes over every pound lost. This is such a long battle that even with the consistent weight loss, I need the cheerleading, too, or I lose heart.

Just fourteen more pounds and I'll be under 500! I checked my weight loss folder to see when I last was under 500 and my records don't go back that far. It's been at least 10 years.

I Think This is Finally It

After 20 years of various dieting programs, I think I've finally turned the corner and am on the path to a healthier me. I haven't binged in months and the thought of one isn't appealing in the slightest. Considering the last two weeks of emotional upheaval, it certainly would have been like me to succumb to emotional eating.

We've had dental bills (husband), truck repair, job loss (husband), friendship loss (husband) and acute depression (both of us.) As I said to a friend, we've been married for over 22 years and this has been the worst of the "for better or for worse."

Instead, I've stayed on track and have lost weight. I'm tired of falling into eating and having to lose weight I already lost. The last time I binged, I got no comfort out of it. Just a sore stomach and nausea. I'd done. I don't want to do that anymore. It's hard enough fighting this battle to lose weight without having to lose the SAME twenty or thirty pounds over and over again.

Tracking my food, staying within my calorie range, adding fruits and vegetables - these are my tried and true strategies.

Consistency is Everything

Well, I stuck with it and stayed consistently within my calorie range and guess what?

I lost 7 pounds! Whooo hooo!

I have to admit, I was struggling with motivation and was worried I was going to have to seriously look at surgery no matter how much I didn't think it was appropriate for me. What else could I do? I HAVE to get this weight off.

But I also have to admit that the last few weeks I wasn't being "clean" with my food. I was skipping tracking on the weekends. I was eating a few hundred extra calories a day here and there. Yeah, I wasn't binging or eating horribly. But I wasn't following my plan either. And it showed.

My range is 2200 - 2400 and I averaged 2202 calories this week. And the weight just peeled off.

The plan works when you work the plan.

Plateaus Can Kiss My Lily White... Toe

Third week of the plateau and I'm losing heart. I spoke with my therapist and I'm going to bring my calorie counts in for the week to the next visit. We think I'm not being consistent enough in staying within my calorie range.

We did discuss weight loss surgery and I told her why I didn't want to do it. She said they only reason she brought it up is because she didn't know if the program I was on would get me to the goals I said I wanted and she was concerned with me being out of breath. We came up with a plan that I would reconsider surgery *IF* I ate under 2000 calories a day for 30 days without fail and hadn't lost at least 4 pounds.

However, I'm not at that point quite yet. Right now, I just need to stay within my calorie range of 2200 to 2400 calories every day this week, no slips, and stick with my exercise program. This week that is 2 chair dance songs in the morning, 2 in the evening and marching for 40 seconds every time I get up.

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People amaze me. They think that if they leave some type of encouraging post, I'll publish their porn/sales/weight loss gimmick link.

That would be a big fat NO.

I had one that really had me going. They sounded so understanding and the link looked like a legitimate weight loss blog. More fool me!

If You Bite It, Write It

If I had to give one piece of advice to someone who wanted to lose weight, it would be to journal your food. It doesn't matter if you count calories, points, or exchanges, just keep track. When I track calories, I lose weight. When I don't track, I don't lose.

When I don't track, I slip in extra snacks, "just one more bite," or another cookie. It's much easier to eat an extra few hundred calories a day if I'm not aware of each bite. It's easier to say, "It doesn't matter." or "I'll be good tomorrow."

There have been studies that show that this plus not skipping meals and eating out less can improve weight loss results.