Well, I've lost 43 pounds so far, and am within 10 or 12 pounds of my goal. Even though I'm not a big believer in the BMI measurement, I'm pretty excited, since I'm no longer considered "overweight" by BMI standards, but on the high end of "normal." I can get the rooster pants and my skinny jeans on, but I can't close them quite yet.
I am at the home stretch…on Tuesday we start transition.
The first stage of transition is taking away one product and replacing it with "real food", which consists of 220 calories' worth of lean protein and 1/2 cup cooked veggies. We can have that meal any time of the day. I have decided on a veggie omelet, eaten at dinner time, since that is the time I can really relax and enjoy it.
Some of my cohort mates started planning elaborate menus consisting of something different every day; our lovely facilitator, N, suggests that we "keep it simple" for the first week at least, and have the same thing (or close to it) every day. So I bought a dozen eggs, some broccoli, a bag of spinach, and some mushrooms. I'll be making a veggie omelet every night and alternate the broccoli and the spinach so it doesn't get boring.
I have a little gadget called a "Stone Wave Cooker" (you might have seen it on late night TV commercials) which cooks up a yummy little omelet in the microwave, using no fat or oils, and it doesn't stick to the pan. I can go to the gym after work, come home, and have dinner ready in a couple of minutes.
Last blog post I mentioned that I joined a gym. I've been going almost every day and I really do love it. It feels so good to move! I've taken a couple of days off here and there, and when I do, I miss it. It is part of a chain that is establishing itself in my area, and I found out yesterday that they acquired another gym that is within walking distance of my home. I will have two gyms to choose from and take Zumba and yoga classes, etc.
Now that I am 43 pounds lighter, it is much more fun to walk and move around.
N has told us that the "product only" phase is the easiest part of the whole journey, and the challenges begin during transition. I believe her! Just walking through the market, looking at all the food, I can really understand why people get fat. From now on, I can only make good choices and watch everything I eat – weighing, measuring and tracking – if I want to keep this weight from piling back on
I was worried about having the food in my fridge until Tuesday, when I am finally allowed to eat it. Now it doesn't phase me; I know I can hold my horses until then. Eating product only is so simple! I am looking for ways to simplify my eating habits during transition and maintenance, and make sure I always have healthful food on hand.
Showing posts with label clothes size. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clothes size. Show all posts
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Week 8, Day 1: Plugging Along
I went to my meeting last night and, according to Kaiser's scale, I lost 3.1 lbs. last week, or 23.4 pounds on the program so far. Yippee! I do feel a lot lighter and more energetic. I can wear smaller jeans.
At the end of this week we will be exactly halfway through the product-only phase of the program. N, our lovely facilitator, said that this is the time that a lot of participants get really sick of eating Optifast product only and want to eat real food. I am feeling very fortunate that I am not experiencing the challenges and road bumps that many of my cohort members are experiencing. I don't have to cook for a spouse or children and smell the food. I don't travel for business or entertain clients at restaurants. I have no cruises or vacations or weddings or any social commitments that require me to be around lots of food. This program is probably easier for me than it is for a lot of people.
I'm not jonesing for "regular" food; not really. Yes, I occasionally think of steamed veggies, or pizza, or yogurt. If I REALLY REALLY wanted to, I could probably munch on a few carrots or celery sticks, or eat an apple, and not suffer any ill effects. But as N says in class, "It's a slippery slope." If I give myself permission to eat raw veggies, it's a short trip from veggies to a piece of chicken breast to fries at McDonalds. And I don't want to go there.
I want to lose the rest of my weight and put the SMART Skills we are learning into practice. I'll never, ever be able to eat what I want and as much as I want. And that is okay. I'd rather be thin than be full.
SMART stands for:
Set a goal
Monitor your progress
Arrange your world for success
Recruit a support team
Treat yourself
(from the book Living Smart: Five Essential Skills to Change Your Health Habits Forever, by Joshua C. Klapow, Ph.D and Sheri D. Pruitt, Ph.D)
I have the first four nailed down; "treating myself" is a bit more awkward. After all, I'm single with no kids. I am not always denying myself to put my family first. I guess you could say that my life is one big "treat"! When we talked about this in class, N said that it's more about training ourselves not to use food as a reward for meeting our goals. I can buy that. So I guess that instead of having a cookie or a glass of wine and a piece of brie, I need to find something else to "reward" myself with. An iTunes download? A new e-book for my Kindle? A pair of knitting needles? I'll have to figure that out.
Before the program I didn't really look at food as a "reward", though. For me, food was my stress reliever, drug of choice and comforting friend.
Traffic bad on my way home? I'd have a cookie, or two (or three).
Boss being a pain? I'd wait until after five and pour myself a glass or merlot and cut off a hunk of cheese with it. (Cheese is good for your teeth, dontcha know? Red wine, not so much.)
Lonely at home, no one to hang out with? I'd order a pizza from one of the six pizza places within walking distance of my condo, bring it home and chow down. (After all, if I walk there and walk back, I'm burning off the calories, riiiiiight?)
Reading over this post, I've got a lot to be thankful for, and sometimes I don't realize it. I look forward, not to cookies or wine or pizza, but to being the size I want to be, and having a new, healthier body.
If you would care to share your challenges, or what is motivating you to lose weight, I'd love to hear from you!
At the end of this week we will be exactly halfway through the product-only phase of the program. N, our lovely facilitator, said that this is the time that a lot of participants get really sick of eating Optifast product only and want to eat real food. I am feeling very fortunate that I am not experiencing the challenges and road bumps that many of my cohort members are experiencing. I don't have to cook for a spouse or children and smell the food. I don't travel for business or entertain clients at restaurants. I have no cruises or vacations or weddings or any social commitments that require me to be around lots of food. This program is probably easier for me than it is for a lot of people.
I'm not jonesing for "regular" food; not really. Yes, I occasionally think of steamed veggies, or pizza, or yogurt. If I REALLY REALLY wanted to, I could probably munch on a few carrots or celery sticks, or eat an apple, and not suffer any ill effects. But as N says in class, "It's a slippery slope." If I give myself permission to eat raw veggies, it's a short trip from veggies to a piece of chicken breast to fries at McDonalds. And I don't want to go there.
I want to lose the rest of my weight and put the SMART Skills we are learning into practice. I'll never, ever be able to eat what I want and as much as I want. And that is okay. I'd rather be thin than be full.
SMART stands for:
Set a goal
Monitor your progress
Arrange your world for success
Recruit a support team
Treat yourself
(from the book Living Smart: Five Essential Skills to Change Your Health Habits Forever, by Joshua C. Klapow, Ph.D and Sheri D. Pruitt, Ph.D)
I have the first four nailed down; "treating myself" is a bit more awkward. After all, I'm single with no kids. I am not always denying myself to put my family first. I guess you could say that my life is one big "treat"! When we talked about this in class, N said that it's more about training ourselves not to use food as a reward for meeting our goals. I can buy that. So I guess that instead of having a cookie or a glass of wine and a piece of brie, I need to find something else to "reward" myself with. An iTunes download? A new e-book for my Kindle? A pair of knitting needles? I'll have to figure that out.
Before the program I didn't really look at food as a "reward", though. For me, food was my stress reliever, drug of choice and comforting friend.
Traffic bad on my way home? I'd have a cookie, or two (or three).
Boss being a pain? I'd wait until after five and pour myself a glass or merlot and cut off a hunk of cheese with it. (Cheese is good for your teeth, dontcha know? Red wine, not so much.)
Lonely at home, no one to hang out with? I'd order a pizza from one of the six pizza places within walking distance of my condo, bring it home and chow down. (After all, if I walk there and walk back, I'm burning off the calories, riiiiiight?)
Reading over this post, I've got a lot to be thankful for, and sometimes I don't realize it. I look forward, not to cookies or wine or pizza, but to being the size I want to be, and having a new, healthier body.
If you would care to share your challenges, or what is motivating you to lose weight, I'd love to hear from you!
Sunday, March 2, 2014
Week 6, Day 6: Hooray for smaller jeans (and closet surfing)
My jeans (which fit me fine a month ago) are now way too big. I can pull them off without even undoing them! And when I sit down or bend over, I don't want to flash everyone in the room. :( Yesterday I went shopping in my closet and found a pair which is a size smaller – they fit great!
I once read a magazine article about the late comedian Jackie Gleason. Those in my generation and older will remember him! The article said he had suits in his closet in varying sizes, all arranged in order, to accommodate his weight fluctuation. I have a walk-in closet filled with clothes from size 8 to 18. Someone said, when I told them about weight loss and new way of life, "You'll have to go shopping for all new clothes!" I can just walk into my closet and find things that I had no idea were there. They may not be the latest styles, but I like vintage dresses, so I'm good to go.
Seeing the results in the mirror and in my clothes are giving me great motivation. I have figured that my scale (and being unclothed) registers about four pounds less than being fully clothed on Kaiser's scale. By that estimation, I have lost about 19 pounds since beginning product.
I'm a bit under the weather this weekend. I have been fighting a cold and sore throat, and the bug appears to be winning. I hope it will stop here and not morph into full-blown flu. The silver lining to being sick is that I'm not hungry at all.
A bit off-topic (but it's my blog and I'm allowed to go off-topic)…I'm reading a wonderful book: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I first read it in high school but I didn't have the wisdom to fully appreciate it. If you want to read about life, relationships, faith and reason, pick this one up and give it a try. It's big and challenging, but well worth the effort. If you are an e-book reader, there are freebies online and at the Amazon site. A word of caution: Some of the freebies aren't proofread or very well-formatted and are frustrating to read. For $1.99 on Amazon, you can purchase the annotated and illustrated Garnett translation for Kindle by Petrocast Ebooks. It is very well-edited and is easy to navigate. The footnotes are also helpful.
I once read a magazine article about the late comedian Jackie Gleason. Those in my generation and older will remember him! The article said he had suits in his closet in varying sizes, all arranged in order, to accommodate his weight fluctuation. I have a walk-in closet filled with clothes from size 8 to 18. Someone said, when I told them about weight loss and new way of life, "You'll have to go shopping for all new clothes!" I can just walk into my closet and find things that I had no idea were there. They may not be the latest styles, but I like vintage dresses, so I'm good to go.
Seeing the results in the mirror and in my clothes are giving me great motivation. I have figured that my scale (and being unclothed) registers about four pounds less than being fully clothed on Kaiser's scale. By that estimation, I have lost about 19 pounds since beginning product.
I'm a bit under the weather this weekend. I have been fighting a cold and sore throat, and the bug appears to be winning. I hope it will stop here and not morph into full-blown flu. The silver lining to being sick is that I'm not hungry at all.
A bit off-topic (but it's my blog and I'm allowed to go off-topic)…I'm reading a wonderful book: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I first read it in high school but I didn't have the wisdom to fully appreciate it. If you want to read about life, relationships, faith and reason, pick this one up and give it a try. It's big and challenging, but well worth the effort. If you are an e-book reader, there are freebies online and at the Amazon site. A word of caution: Some of the freebies aren't proofread or very well-formatted and are frustrating to read. For $1.99 on Amazon, you can purchase the annotated and illustrated Garnett translation for Kindle by Petrocast Ebooks. It is very well-edited and is easy to navigate. The footnotes are also helpful.
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