Plateau

I am at a very plateaued place, and I am in roller coaster mode. Of course, I only have 5 to 10 pounds to reach the first final goal I set, but I have decided I would like to drop that goal by another 10 pounds just to see if I can do it.

I went through almost three weeks of up and down weight, and let me tell you, that gets very frustrating.

My daughter gave me a couple of ideas, and I think I am going to use the one where I add 100 calories to my current calorie count.  I have been trying to stay between 1100 and 1200, but I think I am going to allow myself, for the next week to reach 1200 to 1250 each day, and then I will drop that by 100 and see if it makes a difference.  She also mentioned varying what I am eating, but I really enjoy my salads at lunchtime, and I can actually eat more in a salad then if I have eggs, bacon, and toast, even though with those three items, I would be eating fewer calories; of course, I need to add the butter for the toast and frying the eggs, but still, food-wise, it is less food I am eating.  I will see if upping the calories for a week and then lowering them will help bring me off of this plateau.

So, it has been about a week of adding the calories, and I actually added almost 200 calories to my diet.  I am ranging between 1300 and 1400 calories per day, and guess what - it has worked.  I have finally begun to drop some weight again.  I will probably stay at this calorie target for a few more weeks and see if I still continue to lose a few pounds or ounces here and there.

I guess my daughter was correct when she said that your body can decide that you are starving it, and then your body retaliates by retaining weight to fight off starvation.  My goal was never to starve myself, but sometimes, I forget that my body knows better than what my mind is thinking.  Who knew you could lose weight by eating more.  Of course, not too much more because then I would really begin to gain again, and weight gain is not my goal.

Give Up Nothing

This refers to much more than just quitting because you do not think you can continue.  No, this is about the food itself, and then on yourself.

Give up nothing that you enjoy, or better yet, Give up Nothing That You Love; yes, I am talking about food.  Instead of giving up on food that you enjoy, either cut the serving in half or eat only what a serving is because if you force yourself to give it up, then you will get frustrated and see it only as something you are losing out on.

For instance, I love chocolate and did not want to give it up, so what I did was to look at serving sizes, the number of calories in the serving, and then decided what I could and could not live with.  I made changes.  I have gone to eating Peppermint Patties, the mini ones, and Unwrapped Mint 3 Musketeers that are also mini bites.  Each of these alternatives are only 15 calories per piece.  Could I live with that?  Yes, I could, and I do.  Do I eat only one?  Heck no, I have anywhere from two to four, sometimes five, depending on what I really want and if I have the calories for the number of pieces I plan on taking.  I titled this post “Give Up Nothing” because it really is about not giving up those things that you really enjoy eating.

What else have I not given up?  Eating out, but I am careful where I choose to eat out at.  Living in a small town, we have very few choices, and that does help.  I still eat at subway; you can always find something low in calories to eat at subway, and Pizza Hut, but my family has gone to eating the personal pan pizzas rather than buying medium and large pizzas.  If you have less to tempt you, then you will not feel like you have to eat more; besides, we never could eat an entire large pizza and always threw some of it away.  Of course, the other factor in that is that I cannot eat the red sauce because it makes me sick, but I can eat the white sauce and the BBQ, both of which I really enjoy.  The rest of the family enjoys the red sauce.

The other places around us are Sonic and Wendy's, and I never liked Wendy's food.  Sonic, on the other hand, well, have you looked at their nutritional menu?  Their hamburgers, although very good, are astronomically high in calories.  I can make a hamburger at home with almost 1/4 the calories, and much healthier for me.  In my house, we have gone to buying 90/10 lean ground sirloin; yes, it is more expensive, but we also do not eat beef that often.  We now eat more pork, chicken, turkey, and fish.  All much better choices for us and also leaner with less calories.  It is a wonder what you can do with those meats when you start looking for recipes on the internet.

So, as I said, do not give up what you really enjoy.  Look at what the choices are in that food group, and choose wisely and with your health in mind.  Calories count, but so does enjoying what you are eating.  You be in control of what you choose.

130 and Still Working On It

I left off discussing the benefits I have received from losing weight, and I stopped with number 3, which was working out at the gym.

3.  I consider this a benefit because it has helped improve my health as well as helping my back, legs, and hips.  For the past ten or more years, I have been undergoing spinal manipulations as well adjustments to my hips because they have been going out of place.  There had been times when my hips were 2 1/2 inches out of place, and it caused a variety of back aches and pains.  Since losing weight, I have had fewer problems with back pains, and my hips are less out of place than ever before.  I now only need maintenance adjustments and those less often than before.  Before, I had to be adjusted at least every two weeks, and now I can go once a month.  Being at the gym has also allowed me to improve the strength in the muscles in my legs, especially around my knees, both of which were replaced during the past 7 years.  The first knee I had done did not recover as well as the second one, and the result was that the knee never recovered its 100-degree bend.  That has been something I have been working on at the gym, and the bend is improving, but I still have trouble on the one machine that required me to lift the leg at the knee resulting in a bend behind me.  It is also at the gym that I do a lot of my walking on the treadmill, and that walking has helped me to walk more without the use of my cane.  At one point in time, I needed a walker to take walks outside, and I needed the cane to walk around the house and from my car to places I needed to visit.  Know, I walk around my house without the use of my cane, and at times, I can walk to and from my car without the use of the cane.  If I talk a walk outside, I still use the cane because of the uneven ground and pavement.

4. I have received many great compliments.

I think the best compliment that I have received from a number of friends and family is that they did not realize it was me because of how different I look because of the weight loss.  I also enjoy being told that there is less of me to love, I'm a loser - referring to the weight loss, and how I am now the smallest looking person in our home.  I have also received nice compliments about how proud people are of what I have done in my life, and that I am an encouragement to them to work on their own goals.

Even though I started losing weight for myself, it has been nice to have friends and family say nice things about me.  It was very hard for me growing up because I was never that extremely thin child who looked like they were walking on sticks.  My bone structure has been, and always will be, on the larger side, but know I am aware of that fact, and I do not plan on making myself look anorexic but be a nice acceptable weight, which my doctor finds an acceptable weight for my build and age.  I am getting much closer to my goal, and wondering if I might consider losing another ten pounds.  I do not ever expect to become as thin as I was when I was seventeen years old because in my mind that is an unrealistic expectation.  If I try to set a goal that is unreasonable, then it will become disappointed, depressed, and unhappy with what I have already achieved.

All good goals must be set with success possible.

This is what people are now seeing, and I am finally believing the results are true:

                            

Taken on February 22, 2016.

And here is what people used to see:

Taken in the early summer of 2014.

I really like the difference, and I am finally proud of myself for being able to make a major change in my life.

5.  I am eating a much healthier diet.

I take more notice now of what is in the food I eat.  I do not just the calories, but I do look at the amount of sugar, carbs, and protein in the food.  I also look at the amount of fiber available.  I have not, at this time worried about the sodium content because some better food choices have much more sodium than the high-calorie food it is replacing.  One food that is making an appearance in our diet much more often is fish.  Fish is high in protein and low in calories, depending on which one you choose.  Chicken and pork are also served more often than beef because beef is high in calories. I did find a chart on Pinterest that lists the different types and cuts of meat along with their nutritional values.  This chart is going to play a role in choosing what meats we eat in the future.

What are the drawbacks to changing my lifestyle and losing weight?  I will deal with that next time.