I've been following a Weight Watchers-style lifestyle (not officially though) since the end of October. I've been quite successful and have lost nearly 50 pounds - I'm in the 240's now. I was living in Europe for a period before I started WW and also lost some weight while there, though I'm not sure how much.
Though I've found myself on a bit of a plateau for the past couple months, I'm quite proud of my success so far. Though 'plateau' is probably the wrong word; 'slow-down' is more appropriate. In the last couple months I've moved to a new city, started a new job, apartment-hunted etc., so I haven't been as vigilant, but over the past 10 weeks I think I've still lost about 10 pounds. At first I thought that was terribly slow, but then I realized that's still 1 lb/week! Great!! And I was able to do that without being completely perfect...for me, I thought this was a great sign that I've been able to successfully incorporate the concept of a healthy lifestyle into my life. Even on the days when I walked into a grocery store and was tired or bored or frustrated and wanted to buy some sort of food to make me feel better (can we say "emotional eater"?), I ended up walking out with some malba toast or chewing gum. In the past that would have been Doritos or frozen pizza or cheese & crackers. Though I'm still working on not eating for emotional reasons, this is great progress for me. I also try not to keep any cash on hand, as I'm more likely to spend it on food, whereas I'm more unlikely to pull out my debit card to purchase some poor food choice (perhaps it's the extra time it takes that gives my brain long enough to convince me it's a bad choice!).
About a year and a half ago, I started lifting weights regularly. Then I went to Europe for approx. 6 months and I lifted perhaps only once or twice a week, but when I came back I started right up again, 4 times per week as well as adding in more aerobic activities a few times a week. Finally, about 2.5 months after exercising seriously, I started the changes in my eating habits (i.e. late October). This is when I really noticed the weight coming off: once I had done the diet overhaul. I've been eating lots of vegetables and whole grain and whole wheat foods; I always cook leftovers and take them to work. I don't keep any snack food around (aside from Malba toast & salsa) because I will eat it if it's there (something I still have to overcome!). Though this may sound odd to some, I cannot keep Cheerios, Corn Flakes or Rice Krispies in my kitchen because plain cereal and milk is the thing that I am most likely to binge on.
It's strange to look in my fridge and see all the fruits and vegetables and be so proud. I'm proud (ok...*maybe* a *tad* resentful...
) when my normal-weight friends come by and are impressed by the foods I eat. I've been overweight since before I knew what overweight meant. I have never been this successful at losing weight (discounting another time when I lived in Europe for a year and lost probably 40 lbs - which I regained - due to the lifestyle of the country) and I often wonder why I'm successful now. Perhaps it was doing one thing at a time (i.e. exercise first, then diet changes). Perhaps I was just 'ready' to start. But perhaps I can attribute a lot of it to the weight lifting. I feel incredibly good about my strength. I used to play lots of sports as a (overweight) child, so regaining strength and a better fitness level is (happily) turning me back into an athlete. And when I take the weight-training seriously, I become more serious about feeding my body properly.Well, I suppose this a long enough re-introduction. Here's to more success!
back Lekker! Congratulations on your weight loss thus far!
