So here I am. I recently went to the doc and he in every way told me I was the big “F” word. And my reply to him was well at least I know your eye site is good. I have always had this way of looking at my body as a joke. I have accepted myself for what I am and have even come to love it most of the time. Until he told me that if I did not loose the wait I was looking at maybe 5 years of mobility left and 10 to live. So being the mother of a beautiful three year old daughter I went into shock. How am I going to loose the weight? How did I pack on the weight? How did my friends and family let it get this far and not say anything? So on my drive home I called my husband, who by the way can eat a dump truck full of crap and not gain a pound, and told him what was going on and all he said was “I love you and he is right so what are we going to do”. So what am I going to do? My whole life has been around food. When families get together we eat, when some one dies we eat, when someone is born we eat. It is a viscous cycle! So what do I do not see my family and sit in my home with the door locked and yell as they knock on the door “NO MORE FRIED CHICKEN”.
I started by cuting everything I ate in half. If I went out to eat, I would seperate half, and only eat that. When at home, if I would eat 4 pieces of chicken, I changed it to 2. It takes a lot of trial and error, but i lost weight really quickly at the beginning with that. Your body is used to juggling a certain amt of calories a day, and cutting those in half, will make a HUGE difference. That was my big secret for losing 120 lbs in a year. I still ate what I wanted, of course, as time goes on, you eventually want to eat less until you get to what your calorie intake should be for a healthy weight. Best of luck to you!
I started by walking once a day, and from there I periodically increased my exercise. I never jumped into anything right away. I gradually cut down on foods that I shouldn't be eating, and started researching healthy alternatives. Some people like to dive off the deep end in the beginning of there diets, but it might help to take things slow. The beginning is where you are going to lose the most consistently in my experience, so just go at your own pace, and make healthy choices.
As far as your family goes, treat this as a disease. If you had cancer and had to go on some sort of very specific diet to cure it, no one would say "Oh, just this once, eat the fried chicken". Anytime they push you to eat, say "no, the doctor said I am going to die". And just keep saying that.
As far as everything else, it really is about changing your lifestyle. There are 10,000 things in the grocery store and most of us never even see any of them except the 200 or so items that we think of as "the sort of thing I eat"--most of which are the same sort of things our mothers bought. You've gotta start looking at the other 9800 things in the grocery store and find a whole new set of foods to eat.
This sounds horrible, but it really, really isn't. Think of it like moving to a new town. Have you ever done that? Yes, it's a lot of work because you have to build everything from scratch--everything from figuring out where to put stuff in your new house to where to shop to how to get the utilities turned on to what the new cable stations are. It can, no lie, be stressful and scary, but it can also be an adventure, and a lot of the new things you'll find in this new town will be amazing discoveries--some things, in fact, will be better, a lot better, than your old town. If you stick it out, eventually you'll get everything figured out and it won't be any more work to live here than it was to live there. You just have to have faith that it will work out.
This isn't to say you won't ever get to "visit" your old town--you aren't saying goodbye to it forever and ever--but you're never going to live there again. However, most of us find that in the end we like life in our new town better, and that even when we do "visit", we get a little homesick for our new life, believe it or not.
You have to move. You can look at it as a punishment and a trial, or as a new adventure. I really recommend the second option.
Fried chicken was my thing too. And I haven't touched it in almost 4 years. That's right. Something that was such a huge thing to me, something I thought that I couldn't live without is now a thing of the past. I've eaten lots of *off* plan foods since hitting maintenance almost three years ago, but never fried chicken. I can't go there. Such bad memories and I have ZERO interest in it.
Though I haven't eat fried chicken, I've eaten - roasted chicken, sauteed chicken, stir fry chicken, boiled chicken, cornflake/oats/almond *breaded* chicken, grilled chicken, sesame chicken (baked not fried), lemon chicken and a slew of other fabulous types of chicken. Each one of them more delicious than the next. Not only do they taste good - but they're good for me. I no longer settle for foods that JUST taste good. They have to taste good and be good for me long after I'm done chewing. I raised my standards. I require more from myself.
Yes, our lives are very focused on food - still is - I just switched the food. I used my love of food to my advantage and created/found excellent foods to eat that like I said earlier are good tasting and good for me. Be creative. Experiment.
It is wonderful to feed yourself and your family well. The sense of pride that comes with it is amazing. It feels great to treat yourself and your family with the dignity and respect that your bodies deserve.
The changes that need to take place are nothing to dread. The only thing to dread would be to stay as you are missing out on a higher quality of life and hopefully a longer one.
Adhering to a healthy lifestyle is not a prison sentence. But a ticket to freedom. It will open up doors to you that you didn't even know were closed.
I plunged in, dove in head first and never looked back. I made the DECISION to lose the weight, once and for all, no matter what and permanently.
After a difficult couple of weeks, more like 10 days actually, it got, dare I say easy. Yes. Work past that initial, temporary discomfort stage as you transition out of the bad habits and establish the new healthy ones. Make yourself some rules, set some boundaries. Get rid of the garbage - add in the healthy. Make a plan and stick to that sucker like glue. Like glue. The more you stick to it, the easier it gets. Map out your food schedule in advance. Know where each and every morsel you're going to eat comes from breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Much easier to stay on plan when you've got one. Plan, plan and than plan some more. "Failing to plan is planning to fail".
Just know this - you have the ability to lose the weight. We all do. We are all capable of it. Push yourself. Stretch. Reach. Grow. Strive. Prosper. Find out what you're capable of and stand back as you amaze yourself and transform your life.
You don't have to be fat if you don't want to be. You CAN lose the excess weight. It is within your power. This is something you can control.
Make the decision, make the commitment and be willing to do what is necessary. You won't regret it, not for a teeny tiny second. In fact, you will wonder why you didn't do it earlier.
I look forward to getting to know you better and hearing of your progress.
Last edited by rockinrobin; 07-06-2010 at 02:01 PM.
Sounds like you are on the right track and have a pretty upbeat attitude. (I've never been one who wasn't super sensitive to comments about my weight or who could joke about it, so I admire the opposites in others.) And you have all the right reasons to DO this! I'm a southern girl, so I can totally relate...our family functions completely revolve around food. Thanksgiving has been my favorite holiday since I was little...that says a lot. I preferred to eat a dish of sweet potatoes with marshmallows to opening gifts!
You CAN do this. That has to be your mantra. Welcome to 3FC and good luck with all your goals!
So on my drive home I called my husband, who by the way can eat a dump truck full of crap and not gain a pound, and told him what was going on and all he said was “I love you and he is right so what are we going to do”.
I just want to say how much it touched me what your husband said. Enlist him in your new journey and your journey will be so much easier.
You have gotten some wonderful advice here, so I just want to add my welcome, and also to second what everyone else has said.
I lived with morbid obesity for 20+ years because the idea of changing just seemed IMPOSSIBLE.
But weirdly enough, after the first few weeks, it just wasn't that hard....there are many different ways to do it-- I started by cutting out the foods I KNEW I would overeat and counting the calories of everything else.
The key is not really what you do, as many different plans will work. The key is believing that it WILL work-- because believe me and all of us-- it will work.
One of the most important things is to plan. I always plan, plan and plan some more. If your food is planned that's one less thing to have to think about all day long. The 'what will I eat next' food thoughts that could be spinning in your head don't need to be there.
I want to second what Ubergirl said - I was also morbidly obese and thought "OMG, it's impossible to lose that weight!" but once I got past the sugar cravings the first couple weeks I have not found this difficult at all.
You have a beautiful three year old daughter and a husband who loves you - that's two EXCELLENT reasons you'll succeed. You can do this!
As far as your family goes, treat this as a disease. If you had cancer and had to go on some sort of very specific diet to cure it, no one would say "Oh, just this once, eat the fried chicken". Anytime they push you to eat, say "no, the doctor said I am going to die". And just keep saying that.
Gotta laugh out loud at that. I think thats great advice!!
You can lose 25 years of fried chicken. I believe in you. The women here are great! I've gotten uplifting words and wise "suck it up and do its" from them.
I can't wait to read more from you, I bet you'll go far.
Think of it like moving to a new town. You have to move. You can look at it as a punishment and a trial, or as a new adventure. I really recommend the second option.
That is an amazingly great analogy Shmead. I really love it!
There is a lot of wonderful advice here, lala. Good luck! You CAN do it.
I lose years of overeating the way I put it on - one choice, one item at a time. It CAN be done, but it didn't come on overnight and it isn't coming off overnight either. You can do it, just be committed to your goal and always always always get back on the horse if you fall off. You can do it!!!
Just one more thing I wanted to add.... because I think about this often.
Our bodies are INCREDIBLY FORGIVING MACHINES....
People always say "It took a long time to gain, so don't expect to lose it overnight..." And it's true, you can't really lose it "OVERNIGHT" but the weirdest thing is that you actually CAN undo most of twenty years worth of damage in only one year.
ONLY. ONE. YEAR.
And that never ceases to amaze me.
I ate crap, whatever, whenever, and WAY TOO MUCH for most of my life and I've been able to undo the lion's share of that damage in just a little over 365 days.
I sat on a sofa and didn't exercise for YEARS and I've been able to turn myself into a runner in about six months.
Am I the fastest runner in the world in six months, no. Do I have a perfect bikini body and Jillian Michaels abs in just one year? No.
But, hot dang, for a woman who just turned 49 I think I look really good.
How I look today reflects the choices I made in the last 365 days much more than the choices I made during the twenty years prior to that.
I am just starting, too, so you are not alone. It is really depressing to think about how far you have to go.
It is like if you are looking at the top of a giant, giant mountain, and saying, "no way. I can't do that." And you give up before you start. Instead of looking at the ground just right in front of your feet, and saying, "I can take one step." And then repeating the process.
Don't try to change everything at once, and don't try to be perfect. You can't and you aren't. I can't say how many times I took one piece of candy and then let that turn into a full binge of junk food just because, "oh, well, I wrecked it today, so what does it matter?"
Just each day focus on doing what you can on THAT day to be slightly healthier than the previous day.
So how do you lose 25 years of fried chicken?
