My Plan

                

   I thought I would go over my plan since there are so many people reading this lately.  I have been dieting almost my entire adult life and have tried most of the diets out there that didn't cost alot of money as money has always been tight.  I would lose great for awhile but after the lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks was over I was back where I had started.  Eating the wrong things.  I had decided to have lap band surgery and saw a doctor about that.  In the 6 months my insurance company keep me waiting with all their ridiculous delays I studied the Internet and books on nutrition.  I joined a message board for lap banders and I learned.  I learned that even with obesity surgery to be successful you had to change the way you eat.  It isn't a magic bullet.  It is still hard work, you still have to exercise, you still have limit your portions, you have to practice self-control.  In truth when I was finally denied by my insurance company I had enough doubts it turned out to be a blessing.  They wanted me to be on a doctor supervised diet for 6 months.  That worked out wonderfully for the insurance company as that would get me into another year where I hadn't met my deductible.  I could go on and on about the evils of insurance companies who take control out of a doctors hands and have the final decision on what is good for a person.  These are people with no medical background that have so much power over your health!  I pay a huge amount of money to these people as we all do.  There needs to be an overhaul of the insurance company's power but as we move to socialize medicine it will only become worse.  Anyway I got off on another subject, lets go on.

   I saw my doctor and told her what plan I would follow and she agreed to let me come in once a month for weigh ins at now charge.  I started out doing slim fast.  If you have never visited their site you should.  It is great and full of information on good nutrition.  That is where I started my food journal and where I still journal my food everyday.  It is great because at the end of the week I get a summary to see what I need to improve and what is working.  Even now today I drink slim fast alot for breakfast or if I am in a hurry for lunch.  Eventually I decide to throw my diet out the window though.  I decided I wouldn't diet ever again.  I always failed at diets because diets always ended and did they ever really teach you how to eat correctly.  From now on I would do it the way I had always been told too but never listened.  I would eat less and exercise. I decided to put the surgery on hold to see if this time knowing all I had learned, if I could do it myself.  I would eat well.  Most all of my recipes come from Light and Tasty magazine for other such magazine.  I use spray on olive oils,  jam instead of margarine on what little bread I eat, and I eat more fruits and vegetables then meat.  I drink lots of water.  The water is extremely important.  It keeps you full, is great for the skin, and has no calories.  I never was a pop drinker so that was no problem and I can't stand artificial sweeteners taste so water, tea, and coffee is what I drink most.  There is nothing that is not allowed on my plan.  If you have read any of this you will see I drink beer.  My husband was a brewer and we both love the taste of a good beer.  I don't drink it often though.  I also will have candy once in a great while, usually half of a twix that I share with my husband.  I realize this is how I will be eating forever and I have to be able to include them in my life.  Just not often.  Another great site I forgot to mention is the New American Plate put out by the cancer society.  It is a wonderful resource for portion control.  I try to eat alittle something every 3 hours or so in between my meals.  Usually it is a V8 or an apple with melted peanut butter or a rice cake. I want my metabolism to keep increasing.  This does not mean I am agains't weight loss surgery.  I am not.  It saves peoples lives and it should not be as hard to get it.  It is the most successful long term solution for many, many people.  The insurance companies will pay for their heart disease, their diabetic treatment, their wound care, their pneumonia's and all the other ailments that come with being obese but not the cure.  Go figure!  That needs to change.

    The other very important thing for me was my support group.  It is the 100+ board on aol.  They have the nicest people on it and we are all going through this struggle together.  I get motivation, great recipes, and honest friendships there.  Some of the people have lost all the weight they need to lose and just stick around to help the new people realize they can do this.  Some have had surgery and they realized they all need support.  It is a blessing for me and I visit it everyday.  Right now we are doing a weight loss challenge and exercise challenge.  Keeps me accountable.

   I try to meditate at least once a day but twice is better.  I practice my breathing and focus on my goals.  I use visualization to picture a new me.  It calms me and helps me get through any stressful situations.  I use it for pain control.  I use it to decrease hunger.  It has become very important to me and is a big part of my success.

   I started out at Curves which is a great way to get started.  They are very encouraging and the place isn't full of hard bodies showing off their pecs.  Immediately my arthritis kicked up and I started water aerobics per my doctors encouragement.  That was so hard for me.  I drove down to the gym 3 times and just sat in the car before I finally got the courage to go in and sign up.  Finding a suit was and still is a nightmare.  They fit terrible, don't last long in chlorine, and cost way more then they are worth.  I love water aerobics however and highly recommend it.  Especially if your arthritic like me.  Next I read a wonderful book, Strong Women Stay Young where it talked about the benefits of weight lifting.  My dextra scan was not good and here I was at 51 being told not to fall or I could break my back.  I needed to change that.  Lifting weights builds strong bones and  I have been doing that since Sept.  I love it.  I do the circuit machines and am going for healthy, not buff.  I ignore all the hard bodies and they for the most ignore me or use me as incentive to work out harder, :-)  I also am trying not to obsess about how long it is taking me to lose weight and try to remember it is going down, down, down, not up.

                                           

  This is basically my plan.  Smaller portions, lots of vegetables and fruit, cook healthier and cook most everything from scratch but I am not very good at that on my work days.  I do use lean Cruisines for work as they are lower in sodium then most and I have to watch my salt.  I hope to give those up eventually and have my meals made in advance but procrastination is my middle name.  This is working for me so far.  I stay under 2000 calories for the most part and sometimes as low as 1100.  I bounce around to trick my body into not knowing I am trying to lose weight so it won't start storing the calories Ieat.  I know that I will hit my goal this year, not sure of the month but I will hit it and don't see any reason I won't be able to maintain it forever staying with my plan.  If only I had listened to my Mother and Doctor years ago. I almost forgot my rewards.  I bought a charm bracelet and I get a new charm with each 10 pounds I lose.  Small but meaniful rewards to me. I have 4 so far and will add another when I am under 200 for sure.  If tomorrow I am still down I will count it.

    I love hearing from others who are losing weight so email me or leave comments.  Or if you know of any good recipes I am always looking for them