We have a looooong corridor at work that we call "The Green Mile" and my classroom is allllllll the way at the end of it. Two years ago, if I were asked to go up to the front office or some other errand, I would sigh and be back in, say, fifteen minutes. Now, I can go up and down TGM in a snap. Walking has gotten so much easier!
And don't get me started on what I would eat late at night!
I remember eating fast food 2, sometimes 3 times a day. I'd have to rotate which places I'd go to because I didn't want them to remember me
I also remember being mortified at pretty much any picture that was taken of me and how I was lucky if I fit into the biggest size at any "regular" clothing store. I still have a long way to go to get to my goal, but it's so much better being 50 lbs lighter!!
Just last week I was shocked at the difference in the amount I used to be able to eat in a meal....not even a binge. I was making salad rolls and ate 2 and was STUFFED. 6 months ago I could have eaten 4-5 AND at least 4 spring rolls!!! My how things have changed.
I once ate 3 Big Mac's plus fries and coke for lunch--just thinking about it makes me sick now. I used to wake up so fuzzy-headed and lethargic that it took me a couple of hours to really feel awake. Now it just takes about 5-10minutes. There's a hill close to my house that was always a challenge--I was breathing hard and struggling to walk up it. Now it barely causes me to breathe harder and it seems easy to walk up.
I remember how much I used to LOVE fast food hamburgers. The BIG ones. And BIG fries. And so on. I started eating cleaner on Feb. 22, 2010 and stayed 100% on plan until Father's Day in June when Robert wanted to drive through at Hardees. It took almost 40 minutes to get the food, and it tasted so nasty and greasy and SALTY. UGH! I have eaten a fast food burger occasionally sine then, but have never gotten back the same taste for them that I had before. We even had nice steak for dinner last night, a super lean NY strip steak and we split one. Robert had a little over 4 oz. of it and I had a little under 4 oz. We used to eat a whole one each, or better still if I could find a pkg of three we'd each eat one and split the third. YOWZA!
Yeah - I can remember the big bags of Salt & Vinegar chips going down the same way .... and I DO like peanut M & M's!
portion control has always been super hard for me. first of all, most portion sizes listed on nutrition facts are nonsense. if you buy a 20 oz bottle of coke it tells you its 2.5 servings... yeah right. 2 slices of pizza, 1 ounce of chips, etc. by the time you total up what *i* considered a serving itd be like 3 or 4.
also, i remember destroying the inside of my mouth on many a bag of salt n vinegar chips, lol. theyre sooo good!
also stimkovs im sure i could still put one down happily. ah, sometimes i long for the days of eating whatever nonsense i wanted all the time.
Last edited by juliastl27; 09-24-2012 at 08:11 PM.
I was going through the refrigerator and cabinets throwing old stuff away and found the maple syrup. I had the thought, I used to drink this stuff! I have come a long way since then.
I remember my life being an unorganised mess. I would go to bed at 3 am and wake up at midday. The house was always messy, I would forget to get the mail and fall behind paying the bills, there would be no routine and I couldn't get anything done. The kitchen was always the worst, with food packets and bowls and plates everywhere from my constant overeating. For some reason, when I started eating well and excercising most days, everything else just sort of came together. I think it was because I needed a routine with my eating, and I had to plan my diet around my workouts since I tend to get stomach issues if I eat too close exercise, and I like a post workout snack. The kitchen was cleaner because I wasn't eating all the time and using up plates. Following a healthy diet and exercise also gave a me a feeling of control which bled over into other parts of my life. I didn't realise this until I had a bad day of binging and no exercise and the next day everything was a mess, and I realised I had fallen behind oon everything I was supposed to do that day.
I think about the difference in my lifestyle now vs. then.
I like to travel, and when I was heavier, I would drive around a city to see the sights. I never got out of the car - I even stayed in the car for fast food.
Now when I travel, I look up the city online and try to find out places of interest that I can visit. I will take walking tours in cities, when offered, like I did in Europe and what I plan to do in South America later this year.
I am going to Fargo later this week; my mom was raised there and I have never visited ND (my quest is to visit all 50 states, and ND is about to be #45). I looked up parks and hiking trails so I could walk and get exercise, and am staying near ND State U so I can walk on campus. No driving everywhere!
It is always hard for me to stay on plan when traveling, but I am in a hotel with a kitchenette so I can cook my own meals. In my "past" life I would stay in places that offered room service so I could binge in private and not go out, or I would get massive amounts of takeout/delivery. Now, between walking as much as possible and having the ability to eat healthy, I hope to stay on track this weekend.
Oh my gosh, I have always been overweight, but during high school I tried so many times to lose weight that what I ate was never that bad, but there were times that I definitely ate way more than I should have. I'd make attempts, but for the most part I just ate what I wanted when I wanted. I never really "binged", but I had no problem eating fast food or any other junk, I just ate the proper portion too many times, haha!
My freshman year of college was the worst. Most people gain the freshman fifteen; mine was more like the freshman forty! Oh gosh, it was terrible. I had come into some extra money, so I just went and ate fast food whenever I felt like it. I was also partying a lot: lots of drinking and smoking (cigarettes and otherwise), which would cause me to consume massive amounts of food. I'd come home from a party and scarf down everything in my room that was edible. When I hit 280, that immediately stopped. I quit drinking so much, quit smoking illegal substances, and my weight immediately started going down, although it was slowly. It took me 2 years to drop that extra 40lbs. I never exercised; I mostly just sat on my butt and played on the computer all day when I wasn't in class. It was terrible, and I will never, ever, EVER go back to that.
Just how often I ate out! & I can't believe I could suck down those venti size sugary frappuccino drinks & not even think of it as anything more than just something to quench my thirst! Now I don't even eat that much sugar in a WEEK!
