Weightloss...

In two days it will be the one year anniversary that I started on this journey of weight loss.  And guess what I found out, it doesn't get easier, it gets harder to keep losing.  After losing continuously for the last couple of months I had my first gain week and I freaked out!  I know what I did to gain, and knew what I was doing while I was doing it, but I did it anyway.  It was all in the line of my thoughts... I wish I could just eat like a normal person.

Truth is, I am not "normal," I am extraordinary in both good and bad ways.  I have never had a "normal person" metabolism, nor been a "normal person" weight at any point in my life.  Even child birth I was over 10 pounds coming out of my momma's C-section (yep I was too big to come out the "normal" way).

Fortunately I figured out a way that even I could lose weight despite my abnormalities (LOL). I'm happy to report, that although the last two weeks have been rocky and not as productive as the last two months, I am

66 pounds 

less than I was this time a year ago. 

66 pounds down = 4 dress sizes smaller = quite a few bra sizes down (none-ya as to how many) = rings falling off my fingers = longer looks in the mirror while winking at myself

I am still quite a distance from the goal.  I haven't quite decided what the goal is, but I feel like I'll know when I get there.  I have already hit the original goal and surpassed it back in October.


Natalie, how did you do it?

Well it's a long story, but to put it short first I feared for my life when the obesity was getting so morbid it was destroying other areas of my health, then I got passionate about my health, then I went to the fitness camp for two weeks and learned how to eat right, how to find healthy food in a super market, ideas to cook healthy, and that my body could take a lot more exercise in a day then I originally thought so 3-5 days a week should be a piece of cake.  I took all white carbohydrates out of my diet, and most sources of sugar as well and replaced it with Truvia (the natural stevia sweetener). I started playing flag football, dancing Zumba, tried Tennis (that failed), but just tried to mix it up so I stayed moving. That worked for about the first 45 pounds then I plateaued when I started working a very sedentary job. 

When the exercise is minimized, the diet has to be adjusted to continue weight loss.  I talked to a friend on facebook about how they lost 60-70 pounds in a quick time and they introduced me to Medifast, take shape for life www.tsfl.com.  I got a free coach and invested in their meal replacement products which I ate 5 times a day every 2.5-3 hours along with a 6th "lean and green" meal of my choice and I dropped another 20 pounds in a month or month and a half. 

I could continue to lose weight on Medifast if I would stick to it, but I've recently come to a slow.  So now I'm looking at which way I will turn now, all the while knowing that whichever way it is, it will continue to be a forward motion, because I'm never going back to where I used to be.  That's the plan.

The New Intervention

September 2012 post (can't remember when I wrote this one)

Situation:

So, I have managed to lose over 40 pounds and keep it off since I started this journey back in December.  I recently started a new, very sedantary, job with a crazy travel schedule and lots of money for expensing food.  I got a little too excited for not having to pay for my meals for half of the week anymore, and started buying more than  I could chew.  I stayed conscious of they types of food  I was eating, so no crazy fast food binges.  I frequent trader joe's and whole foods with the corp. credit card. I've come to realize, that even though I'm still eating a majority of healthy food, I'm eating more healthy food than I was before.  In short, too much of anything does not produce the desired results (even if its healthy).  I also came off of a high of working out 2-3 hours per day for 4-5 days a week when I finished school in May and didn't have to work until August.  I dropped a lot of my pounds in those few months while I was cooking for myself and burning fat because I had lots of free time.  All of a sudden, I have no free time, or very limited free time as a full time employee of someones company.  My workouts have moved to more like 2-3 times per week if I'm lucky.  And some of those are only 20 mins, while some are 60 mins.  So what do you get when you increase food and reduce exercise....drum roll....weight gain!  I gained back 3 pounds since I started working.  I also hurt my shoulder lifting weights so my muscle mass in my upper body is dwindling given the reduction in weights and pushups. 

Action:

The intervention...
When the time reduces and the exercise does too, there is only one way to continue weight loss, the diet.  In order to allow me to not have to think to hard about food prep, or reduce my need to cook but still be able to be healthy, I'm trying a new program.  It is called Take Shape for Life.  It is comprised of 5 meal replacements and 1 lean and green meal.  It was referred to me by a brother who lost 60 pounds on the program.  Today is my first day.  I thought that I could use the blog to write about what I'm feeling with this foreign food.  It's apparently piled with a lot of nutrition, but the portions are tiny.  The good thing is only 2-3 hours can go by before you eat again, so albeit small amounts, the eating is frequent which may curve hunger eventually.

It is lunch hour at my job now.  A lot of people eat at their desk.  I can smell soup and possibly Indian food.  It's a little painful, but I will reach about 2.75 hours shortly and I will be able to pull out my lunch as well.  Medifast Chili.  I hope it tastes good.  I'm starting to get hungry, but I'm trying to stretch it out since I spend so many hours awake. 

Ok, this was an unfinished post, but I decided to publish anyway...

Back Home Maintaining

As of last Monday, I have reached the 20 pounds down mark since I left 12/18/2011.  I am eating better, cooking more and exercising 4-5 times per week.  I feel better, people are starting to notice.  This is exciting, and continuing to succeed is keeping me moving forward and working hard.

I've learned from my fitness camp experience that this race is not for the swift, but for those who can endureth to the end.  And in the case of health and fitness, enduring is a lifestyle change, and the end is till the end of life.