Weight Loss Problems

I stumbled across this tongue in cheek tumblr page that lists "problems" that come with losing weight...I experienced all of these things working to get healthier, but I take them any day to feel like I feel now and look how I look now! Here are few of my favorites....Real situations I went through...

Grocery shopping doesn't take as long anymore, but I definately take the time to read them for anything new that I buy.

Plateauing sucks! Shaking up my routine to lose the weight. Closely watching everything I was eating. Working out even harder. It can almost drive you batty. 

My floor is known for the sweets and parties and celebrations we have. In fact, when one my co-workers moved to our floor - he gained 5 pounds before getting his sweet tooth in check! Our administrative assistant organizes a food day at least once a quarter - a potluck with enough food for three tables. People bring in donuts and cakes for any reason - birthday, anniversary, a sale...It's hard to resist temptation when it's always in your face. But, now, most folks know I'm skipping the fattening treats. 

As exciting as it is to get new, better fitting clothes...It can also be expensive and time consuming!

This wasn't actually all that challenging...I would just sneak in the healthy snacks. Getting busted was. I actually got in trouble once for bringing in a healthy snack to a bowling alley.

 

I actually skipped one party when I just couldn't figure out what to eat healthily at the restaurant before hand (no menu was posted) and it was an unique cuisine (Jamaican) I could find healthy options online for. But, later I learned to eat very well the week and day of - eat a healthy snack before and eat as healthily as I could there - starting with a soup or salad before the main dish.

They feel you are being anti-social or a health nut...

 This is a BIG deal to me...Even though I know that no machine is "my" machine. I go to the gym at less busy times on purpose so I don't have this problem....

This one was a bummer - but was unavoidable...I had to give away so many favorite, fabulous things...But, replacing them has been fun!

It's embarrassing where and how you can sweat sometimes at the gym. I developed this crazy rash in between my breasts thanks to the boob sweat. More embarrassing was having to talk to my male dermatologist about it to get the problem taken care of. 

 

I found this hard to deal with at first - what do I say? what do I explain? should I elaborate? are they going to make light or belittle my decisions or reasons? could you not draw so much attention to my meals? Then one day my trainer pointed out that people were just trying to figure out how a real person makes healthier eating choices...

okay...this hasn't happened to me...yet :)

The Busy Person's Guide to Permanent Weight Loss

I found some great deals on health and fitness books in the clearance racks of TJ Maxx and Marshalls. When I saw this book had been marked down to $3 I snapped it up last year. It's a good read. I recently re-read it. It was broken up into 7 sections - basic principles, customizing the guide for you, meal ideas, exercise strategies, behavior tips, real-world challenges, and maintenance tips. There's appendices with protein bar chart, 5 ingredients recipes, shopping lists, and journal and worksheets.

I really enjoyed the book. She encourages each person find their unique niche following a basic framework...3 basic principles - nutrition, exercise, and behavior. The principles she gives are not set in stone but are guidelines.


Here are a few of my favorite points....


1) "Some obseity experts now believe its not the quantity of carbohydrates that should be addressed for weight loss by the quality..." She is not one of them....She believes that both quantity and quality matter. I completely agree with this thinking! 


2) Build Activity into you life - Permanently. Exercise plays its part in weight management by maintaining your muscle mass and metabolism. In addition to exercise, endeavor as much as possible to increase the number of calories burned through lifestyle activities (like the stairs instead of elevators and park at the back of the parking lot to walk into a store).


3) Ditch the all or nothing attitude. "Just try to make the best choices you can, the majority of the time, and get back on track as soon as possible if you slip up for a meal, a day, or even a week".


4) Always Have a Plan. "This means not only planning for healthy eating, but also planning for indulgences too. If you plan for them correctly, they wont' derail you..."


5) Determine Your Readiness To Lose Weight. "While you may have the time, you may not have the mental capacity or be in the right environment to lose weight. It will take a little thought, planning, and organization (not necessarily time) to figure out a system that works for you".


6) She recommends a diet balanced with whole grains, low fat dairy, lean proteins, fruits, and veggies. Her approach was very similar to what was recommended to me by my dietitian. It's practical and doable. And she has a section addressing people who may be suffering from metabolyic syndrome and need to more close watch their carb intake...on how to make more tweaks.


7) Great Travel Tips. I travel ALOT with work...She recommends not taking the airports moving sidewalks - get the extra steps in! Window shop or walk laps while waiting for a flight. Bring healthy snacks with you. If possible, ship some healthy foods/snacks to your location. Drink extra water...Indulge a little but reasonably. Continue to get physical activity in (although it be limited). Most importantly getting right back to your fitness and nutrition plan when you get home.


8) A section dedicated to weight management. I don't really read diet books - I've never tried various diet plans but I dont' think this too is common. She recommends 1) build a lifestyle that allows you to enjoy life & maintain your weight loss, 2) weigh yourself regularly, 3) get back on track if you start to gain weight, 4) be consistent, 5) don't ditch the veggies, 6) de-stress regularly, and 7) do keep paying attention to what you eat and how much you exercise.


The books full of good tips! It was a good refresher...

She Gets It From Her Momma

I take after my mom's side...thicker and curvier. My brother and sister take after my dad's...slimmer and leaner. My curves hit in junior high. I am curvy pear with plenty of hips.  

By the time, I had hit high school my mom moved from being thicker and curvier to being overweight. Through high school and undergrad, I maintained a weight of around 125. In graduate school, I started putting a little bit of weight on - My weight varied from 130 to 135 depending on how active I was and how well I was eating.


My mom did a wonderful job of making me feel secure in my own skin. When trying on clothes, she helped me figure out what looked best on my body type. She never criticize my shape or weight. She also never went on any crazy diets or criticized her body in front of us. She always dressed sharply. (I never really realized this until a few years ago...Reading and listening to some peoples accounts about the struggles they had with weight because of their mothers emotional baggage).


I can't quite remember when...but it was sometime after I had finished graduate school...My family doctor and I were chatting at church. She mentioned that I need to watch my weight and that I need to consider my family genes. 


I worried about that from time to time. Would I be able to overvoid being overweight like my mom? Was it just a matter of time? I am obviously have the curvier, thicker trait. Then I started to put on more weight...Maybe it was indeed inevitable.


But, as I started to lose the weight in 2009 and worked to keep it off, my mom had been  gluten free and diary free for about a year due to some health issues. She had lost 40lbs and started working out again regularly. I realized I don't have to worry about about being overweight because of what I got from my momma. I just have to work a bit harder - eat balanced meals and stay active.

How Bad Do You Want It? (Success)

I love this! You can download the mp3 version of this speech for your iPods/iPhones...

It's Just A Little Bit of Baby Phat

Do you track your body fat percentage? Do you have a body fat percentage goal?

I never new my body fat percentage until 2005. My weight had been recorded and known each year before then...In 2005, the gym I utilized for work out plans and measurements (my work has a small gym on site with limited hours and a staff including ace/afaa certified personnel) recorded that too - 29.6% (I just recently found the measurement sheets). Down to 25.9% in 2006, 2007. Back up in 2008 and early to mid 2009. 

It wasn't until I started working one and one with my trainer that I really started to understand the importance of the body fat percentage. In June 2009, my body fat was recorded at 36.4%. I am sure the staff at the other gym must have mentioned it...My body fat was something to work on too...But, she did such a wonderful job of helping me understand that we not only want to get my body weight to a healthy percentage but my body fat too. She help me understand how extra body fat impacted my health and appearance. She also helped me to understand that body fat was slower to change over time  - so progress there really spoke to continuous work and dedication. So, I researched it a little more and continue to read articles about it...By, March 2010, my body fat percentage was 29%.

I really wish I had jotted my body fat percentages down or paid more attention like I did with my weight. I bought a scale with a body fat percentage detector in late 2009. I really can't tell you what my body fat % percentages were for the past 2 years but I can tell you my weight at various points. 

Early 2010, I wanted to get down to a body fat percentage in the fit percentage range. But by late March, I realized that the fit percentage...was not quite how I imagined my body...So, I focused more on keeping my weight in a certain range and my percentage within average. But, exactly what that was - I can't tell you! 


At the beginning of this year...I was talking to my trainer friend about how I wanted to tone up my tricep area (OK...bingo arms) more...The first thing he asked was what my body fat percentage was....29%...(I rounded down a bit I think it was like 29.7%). He said I would need to get it down so more...Right now...I'm seeing 27.9%. I've still got some more toning I'd like to do...on my triceps and tummy --- as well as a few more pounds to lose....So, I think that may mean my body fat percentage will need to go down some...


I am gonna really work on jotting down my body fat percentage and measurements at least once a quarter. But, monthly would be better.

I used to love this song!

You've Put On Weight

So, a few days ago...after we went from a walk, my friends and I started chatting about our goals for next month. One friend said she was working on losing at 10 pounds through April and May but ultimately would like to lose 40 pounds. And, then, she said 40lbs again! I can't believe I need to lose 40lbs again (she had lost that 4 years ago).


'WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY TELL ME I GAINED WEIGHT?' She said.


In our inner circle of friends, we've talked about our weight - gains or losses and our fitness plans and activities. We also occasionally try different workouts. 3 out of the 4 of us had gained weight after we started our corporate jobs about 30 pounds or so and lost it (each of us working with a personal trainer). 3 of us realize the importance of eating healthy and we try to do so...3 of us had helped co-lead a fitness program at our church. AND, 1 of us....who is about 4 years younger then us...could care less (or at least until this year). She ate whatever, however, whenever. She never worked out. We had warned her to watch it...She never really paid attention...For years, she got away with it. It really caught up to her this year. BUT, my friend bemoaning the 40 lb weight gain was the one of the 3 that worked to stay healthy. 


I think that's why I never said anything (besides - it don't look like that much weight anyway). Maybe that's why no one else said anything either.


Plus, the weight gained happened kinda gradually...It's like you look up and you're like whoa...when did this happen? but you know it couldn't have been overnight...


I felt that way too when I reached 160lbs. Why hadn't anybody said anything? I was really packing it on! 


My family loves me and supports me. They've always made me feel beautiful and attractive. My friends are just as accepting. My boyfriend at the time never made one complaint about the weight. When I asked him later why he never said anything...He said you were never fat to me (we had been dating off and on since I was 16).


If there is anything I've learned from this journey it's that reducing smaller gains is better and easier than reducing larger gains. I think many of us don't say anything until a friend has gained 40 or 50 or more pounds. And, when, we do - it's after our friends bring it up. So, perhaps, we should say something when it looks like our friends or family have gained 10 or 15 pounds? 


The first time I was about 25lbs overweight. No one said anything to me. I had put the weight on in about 5 and 1/2 months. Then, at the highest weight, at my cousins wedding, a older family friend commented to my mother that I had really put on some weight - in clear ear shot of me. I was so hurt. I ended up leaving the wedding early and crying in my car before I went home. But, the next day, I went to the gym and put a fitness magazine.


I don't know what the answer is. Since, I have gotten healthier...I tend to invite friends and family to various workouts and health eating classes every so often. But, don't specifically comment on weight gain or an overall unhealthy weight or a lack of exercise. If someone asks me my opinion or for help, I am more than willing to share...But, perhaps, now, I should begin to think about being more conscious about when and how I could help someone get back to a healthy, happy weight and be more active - sooner rather than later.

I Work For It

A few weeks ago after church I was chatting it up with some friends…a girlfriend I grew up with and the wife of a family friend.  As we were chatting, out of the blue, the wife said I used to have a cute little figure like this (pointing to me)….but after the last baby I can’t shake the weight. The wife has had 5 beautiful kids – the last one she was one bed rest for almost a month and a half. But the baby is 2 years old now.

I remember thinking…I work for this cute little figure. But a few moments later, someone else joined our group and started a new discussion topic. Distracted, we never returned back to the conversation. But, her comment got me thinking….

Once upon a time, I might have believed that some people were blessed with better genes. The genes that let them eat whatever they want, whenever they want, however much they want. The kind of genes that allow them to relax on the couch or take leisurely strolls while others tirelessly toil away in a gym .

But, now I know that those people are few and far between. Many of seemingly easy slim people do the things to stay slim consciously or unconsciously – in their food selections and/or activity levels. If they do not, then for most, its only a matter of time before unhealthy food and exercise choices catches up with them – in terms of extra weight, lackluster hair, nails, skin; higher blood pressure; unruly blood sugar; and/or a myriad of other health issues.

I WORK FOR IT.

I realize that more than ever that healthy, strong bodies aren’t made with a 6 or 8 week six program or 7 easy steps to fabulous abs, 3 moves for toned arms, and 5 exercises to a great put. But, week after week and month after month and year after year.  I don’t expect my body to be in bombshell shape by walking a few miles a few times a week. Fit, yes. Little Black Dress – Summer Shorts – Heck, Bikini - Ready, no. Bombshell shape happens to those who work consistently for it and really challenge themselves.  So, I walk, run, squat, lunge, pushup, sit-up, lift weights, and a hundred other things to get my healthy, strong body. A body that can run miles at a time, teach aerobics classes, and lift pounds & pounds of weights comes from hard work.

I WORK FOR IT.

I realize now more than ever that what you eat, how you eat, and when you eat it matters. Cute little figures aren’t well maintained by only eating salads, drinking diet cokes, and skipping the bread baskets. Healthy, strong bodies aren’t created by eliminating a food group or a food item for a week or two (no carrots, or potatoes, or corn) or majoring on a certain food group for a week (eating nothing but cabbage soup). I say no to indulgent foods on a regular basis treating myself with healthy choices – yogurts, fruits, hummus & pitas. But, I occasionally I indulge – so that I don’t feel deprived. I challenge myself day after day to get varied, balanced meals of fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and dairy.

 I WORK FOR IT.

It took years for me to understand this concept fully. Even as I type this now, I feel like I still learning it. I have a good deal of say in my cute little shape - whether I fully realize it or not. I am just like so many others who work hard day in and day out to get the results they want. 


I WORK FOR IT.