Back on Track

Hello everyone!

It's been a long time!  You might be able to guess why I haven't written in my blog for a long time.  I have not exactly been on track with my weight loss for the past several months.  I have attempted to do well, but more often than not I have failed.  Most of you probably know that I recently got married.  I married a wonderful man on November 28th.  I have known him for a long time, but we didn't really get to know each other until we went to Ireland with a singing group this past May.  While we were dating we went out to eat every evening, which was a lot of fun, but I didn't have enough discipline to always pick the healthiest items.  Mack and I spent a lot of time walking at the different local parks, which helped me to not start gaining a lot of weight back.  It is definitely possible to maintain a diet when eating out, but it requires a lot of planning and extreme discipline to choose healthy food, and sadly a lot of restaurants have very few items that fit into that category. When I would get to the restaurant and look at the menu I was tempted to choose the more unhealthy items.  I put on several pounds during the past seven months, and realized that I was undoing a lot of my hard work from the past two years.  I started back to Weight Watchers at the beginning of January.  If you followed my past blog posts you know that I had lost almost 100 lbs.  I am up 20 lbs from that point, but I am well on my way to losing that weight, and then I will continue on until I reach my goal weight.  I know that I will need to continue to work to maintain that weight loss, and I am up to the challenge! I am very excited to be back on track!  There is nothing quite like feeling that you are in control of what you eat, and that what you are eating is not controlling you!  My husband is extremely supportive of my efforts, which has helped give me the extra boost I need to keep going towards my goal weight.  For everyone who is on this weight loss journey as well, don't get discouraged, keep fighting!  I know the constant struggle!  It helps to know that there are others that understand!  Let's be an encouragement to each other throughout this journey!


Me and my amazing husband at our wedding rehearsal! (So Very Happy!!) :-)

Our Wedding day!

Fresh New Motivation

As most of you are probably aware I just got back from Ireland last Saturday night.  I had the most amazing time, and I have lots of stories that I could share, but since this is a weight loss blog, I will stick to the relevant stories.

The Plane Ride

If anything has motivated me to stay with it, and keep working to lose weight, it was flying on the planes.  I have purposely avoided planes for a long time because of my size, but before I left on the trip I had it in my mind that I wasn't going to have any difficulty fitting into the seats or fastening the seat belt.  After all I had lost almost 100 lbs and I felt very confident that I wouldn't have any trouble.  I was sadly mistaken.  I am still a big girl, and still have a lot of weight to lose, and it was definitely a problem.  When I first sat down I was shocked at how much room that I took up.  On the flight from Orlando to Charlotte, NC, I was sitting next to someone on the team who is very small, and therefore I felt a little more comfortable.  On the flight from NC to Dublin, Ireland I was sitting next to a stranger.  He was a very friendly guy, and in no way did he make me feel uncomfortable, or make me feel like I was really big, but I was extremely self conscious.  I was determined that I wasn't going to take up any of his seat.  I purposely sat so that I overlapped a little into the aisle.  This is embarrassing to admit, but the awful and honest truth.  I sat that way for 7 1/2 hours, but I figured that it was better for me to be uncomfortable than for the nice stranger next to me.  When I went to put on my seat belt I became very afraid that I was going to have to ask for a seat belt extender, and the thought of that was enough motivation to squeeze myself into the seat belt.  I was successful, but probably relocated some of my internal organs in the process - ha ha.  To say the least all of this combined created in me a new motivation to never give up in my quest to reach my goal weight.

The Food

I wish I had a wonderful story to tell you about how I stuck perfectly to my diet the entire time that I was in Ireland, but that is not the case.  I knew that without the opportunity to measure or weigh my food that this would be a problem.  I honestly just tried to enjoy myself, and not go too crazy.  I know that I went over my calorie count each day, but I was getting so much exercise that it more than made up for what I was eating.  In fact I lost weight while I was there. Yay!!  The hills in Ireland are very steep, and at times I was getting some very intense exercise.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, and took every opportunity to get as much exercise as possible.
The food was amazing, and if you love fish you are set.  I had fish several times, and it was wonderful every time.  I also had a cheeseburger at one restaurant.  It was good, but the flavor was unexpected.  I expected it to taste like an American cheeseburger, but they add different spices to the meat, and it tasted a little more like a mild sausage.  We also would grab deli sandwiches on the go sometimes, and they were always fresh and good.  I was impressed with all of the food.

Now that I am back it has been a challenge to get back into a routine.  I didn't count points for an entire week, and didn't think about every bite I was putting into my mouth.  (Honestly it was nice to have a break.  It can get tedious keeping track of everything).  I am back to counting everything now, and determined to shed the remaining extra weight that I am carrying

I know that I talked about the struggles that I had, but I was thinking that two years ago I would have never been able to go on this trip.  I wouldn't have fit into the seat on the plane, and I would have never been able to climb the hills, or do all of the walking that we did while there.  I am so grateful for the amount of weight that I have lost, and I think the Lord for all of the help that he has given to me in the process!

  

Story of the Week

In my first blog post I mentioned that I have been on many diets in my lifetime, and have been the worst kind of yo-yo dieter.  Dieting can be tricky, and choosing the correct diet plan for your health can sometimes be difficult.  It seems that there is always someone telling us of a new and better way to lose weight.  I thought I would share a time when I did it all wrong.  

Some of you might remember a period of time when I was in college and lost a significant amount of weight.  What you probably don't know is the way that I lost the weight, and what a scary and dangerous time it was in my life.  I started out the way that you are supposed to.  I was eating healthy and exercising everyday.  Every week I would get weighed, and the scale would always show that I had dropped several pounds.  I was excited to see the weight dropping off so quickly, and I didn't want it to stop.  Every week I would continue to eat smaller and smaller amounts of food, and I started exercising excessively, so that I could continue to get the amazing results on the scale.  I reached a point where I was barely eating.  I had some friends express concern at the bird size portions of food that I was eating, but there was no one who could convince me to stop what I was doing.  I had become obsessed with the number on the scale.  I loved all the compliments I received about how good I looked, and I wanted it to continue.  I was eating 500 calories or less a day, and I was oblivious to the amount of damage that I was doing to my body.  When I went home for Christmas break something kind of clicked in my head and I realized that if I continued to eat less and less, that I would reach a point when I wasn't eating anything at all...profound I know.  The thought of starving myself completely scared me, and I started to slowly eat a little more every day.  Of course as I started to eat again I also put back on the weight.  I remember how disappointed people were when I started to gain back all of the weight I had lost, but I was too embarrassed to admit to anyone what I had done to lose the weight.  I look back now and wish that I would have gotten some help, so that I could have learned to eat correctly, and still lose weight.

I know that there are a lot of people that struggle with finding the right balance with dieting and exercise.  It is easy to become obsessive and take it too far.  The trick is picking a plan that you can live with the rest of your life, and that also teaches you healthy eating habits.  I know that when I reach my goal weight I will have to follow a maintenance plan to keep the weight off.  That is why it is so important to not pick something that only gives you temporary results.  It is also important to give yourself a break when you have a bad day.  Sometimes we end up eating more than we should, or we eat foods that are not good for us.  I know that sometimes this can cause us to either panic and become obsessed with being perfect,  or it can make you just want to completely give up.  It is important to realize that sometimes things happen that make sticking to plan difficult.  Sometimes I struggle when I have a party at work, or when I go out to eat with friends.  It is okay to have a day where you eat a little more, you just don't want to make it a habit.  I am still learning how to deal with the unexpected, and sometimes I have to give myself a speech about not beating myself up when I have a bad day.  If you eat something that you shouldn't, don't let it ruin your day or week.  Don't feel like you have to wait till tomorrow or Monday to start again.

I will have a chance to put my tips into practice this next week.  I will be going to Ireland, and I will definitely be facing the unexpected when it comes to food.  I will have to let you know how it goes.

Tip of the Week

Buy a really nice water bottle - Keep it filled with water - Carry it with you everywhere you go.  If you do this you will never have trouble getting your required amount of water for the day.  You should drink a half an ounce of water for every pound you weigh.  For example if you weigh 150 pounds you should have at least 75 ounces of water every day.  I know that a lot of people really struggle with drinking water, but it gets easier after a while.  I find that I actually crave water now. 

In future posts I will also be sharing recipes, interesting articles, questions and more. Hope you Enjoy!

Let Us not Be Weary In Well Doing...Weight Loss - From My Perspective

"Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 
Galatians 6:9 (KJV)

Hopefully I am not too guilty of taking this scripture out of context, but I sometimes use this scripture to encourage myself with my weight loss.  Funnily enough, I have also used this scripture when talking to some of my former junior high and high school students who were not working up to their potential.  I realize this scripture is referring to our spiritual walk with Christ, so again I hope I am not guilty of adding to the Word of God, but I find it helpful in every aspect of my life.

One of the questions that I always had is whether we should pray about losing weight.  When I was a teenager, and first started trying to lose weight, I was always of the opinion that I got myself into this mess, and that it was up to me to get myself back where I needed to be.  The thought of praying and asking God for help was not an option.  I am not sure where I got this idea from, but at the time I would have never dreamed of asking God to help me with my weight problem.  Maybe I felt too ashamed about it, or maybe I thought God had better things to take care of than my weight issues.  Whatever the reason, I have changed my opinion over the years.  I still believe that we should take responsibility for our eating habits, and that God is not going to do it for us, but I also believe that God wants to help us in whatever area we have a struggle.  I would encourage anybody who is trying to lose weight to allow God to be a part of the journey.  

I read an article a few months back saying that obesity is a sin.  I think they got gluttony and obesity confused.  I realize that one can lead to the other, and that it might be easy to confuse them, but I have a few questions for the person who wrote that article.  When is the obese person no longer a sinner?  Is it when they reach the magic number that says that they are no longer obese?  According to the BMI scale the magic number for me is 214 lbs. Until then am I a sinner? I obviously don't believe in the authors logic, and that is why I firmly believe that we should never confuse the words gluttony and obesity.  The Bible does tell us that gluttony is a sin, and that should be the issue that we deal with, if that is the issue.  I have met some obese people who eat very little, and remain in their obese condition.  I have also met some very skinny people who eat a lot of food, but there metabolisms didn't allow it to show up on the outside.  Gluttony in my opinion is separate issue from obesity.  There are a lot of damaging thoughts out there that can be discouraging to people who have weight issues.  I admit that when I read that article I found it to be hurtful.  I would share the article so that you could have something to reference against my statements, but I am now unable to find it on the internet. I originally read it through a post that someone shared on Facebook.

I believe strongly that God wants us to take care of our bodies.  Eating healthy is one way that we can do this.  It is not always easy.  Some of the non-healthy foods taste really good, but the rewards of good eating habits far outweigh the momentary pleasure of the food that is tempting you.

I will continue to fight, I will not give up, because in due season I will reap, if I faint not.

What is your secret?...I have heard this question several times since I started on my weight loss journey.  It's kind of a tricky question, considering the fact that I don't really have a big secret.  My diet secret is the same thing that has been taught for years - hard work, discipline, keeping track of everything you eat, and good old fashioned exercise.  I hope this does not cause you to stop reading.   I understand where they are coming from when they ask the question, because I know that in the past I was always looking for the big secret, the one that would cause me to lose large amounts of weight in a very short period of time.  I have discovered that for the majority of us that this is just not reality, as much as I wish it was.

I started losing weight on May 10th of 2013.  I say started, but if you know me at all you know that I have been on many diets in my lifetime.  I was a very skinny child growing up, but when I hit the age of 15 everything changed.  I started putting on weight, and thus began the eternal yo-yo dieting.  I think I have read about every diet that has come into existence, and have tried quite a few of them, but I never stuck to any diet for more than a few months.  I am not sure what made this time different.  I think I just got scared enough that it was do or die...literally.  I went to the doctor early in 2013, and had my blood work done.  When the doctor called to give me my results, he proceeded to go down a very long list of all the many, many things that were wrong with me.  I was shocked and overwhelmed.  I knew that the majority, if not all of my problems, came from my weight.  I didn't know how much I weighed, because the doctor didn't have a scale that would weigh me...scary.  One Saturday morning I woke up, and impulsively decided to go to a Weight Watchers meeting.  When I walked into the meeting and stepped on the scale I received my biggest wake up call.  The scale read 379.4...What????...I couldn't believe that I was almost 400 pounds.  I sat down in the chairs for the meeting, and tried my very best not to burst into tears.  The leader was speaking and the room would occasionally fill with laughter because of something our leader had said, and I kept repeating to myself, "don't cry, don't cry."  It would look really crazy if I burst into hysterical sobs when everyone else is laughing and having a good time.  I successfully made it through the meeting, but there was no turning back from that point.  I attended the meetings for six months, and then switched to weight watchers online for the next six months.  The meetings really helped me to become established, but after a while the lessons were being repeated, and I felt like I could do it on my own.  After the first year I dropped my Weight Watchers membership, and started using the Fitness Pal app on my phone, and that is what I am still using today
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My weight loss has been very slow, but I am still plugging away.  I have lost 94 pounds so far, I currently weigh 285 lbs.  It will be two years on May 10th.  I honestly have started this blog to help myself.  I have become bored the past few months, and it has been difficult to keep up the fight, but I am determined to keep going.  I figure that by writing this blog I will be kept accountable.  I pray that along the way I am able to help others, and give encouragement where needed.  My goal weight is 175 lbs, so I still have a long way to go.  I have discovered that my weight will eventually come off, and I will eventually reach my goal weight.  The amount of time that it takes is not important, because the good eating habits that I have learned, and continue to learn, will be with me the rest of my life.  I have lots that I can share, but I will save it for later posts.


This is me before I started losing weight in December 2012

                                 

This is me now