So, first off to start on a happy note- I discovered this morning that I am only ONE pound away from my first goal of loosing 50 pounds. That's right, I have lost 49 pounds since May!!! Woot! So, later this week I will surely have made it. It's exciting and it's inspiring. My next goal? Another 50 pounds. And after the past several months I am sure I can do it. So, just wanted to share. Setting a goal is so important- it gives you something concrete to work towards and it's a gauge for progress. Plus it's less intimidating to do anything if there's an attainable end in sight. If you want to do anything set goals!!
Moving on- loose skin. Ew. I mean really ew. I'm doing all this work to get healthy, but kind of hoping for the side effect of looking better too right? Well, look out world cause here comes loose skin. Ugh. My boobs are deflating, my tummy is hanging and I am disgusted with the whole thing. I mean- it's almost tempting to gain weight again just so my skin will fit. Don't worry though, I said almost. I've worked too hard to go back now!
So what to do? Am I going to have to resort to surgery later when i reach my goal? That's the LAST thing I want!!! After much reading on the subject the consensus seems to be that with time my skin should at least snap back a little bit, but it's kind of sort of a maybe. The main thing seems to be patience and getting one's bmi quite low (single digits for men and teens for women). I'm not all that sure I was really wanting to go that far with all this, but I may have to because I don't want to flap whenever I walk for the rest of my life and I HATE the idea of surgery!
And for my final act- fielding the question/comment "Wow, 50 pounds! How did you do it? What did you give up?" I get this question a lot lately (I guess it's all starting to show in a big way) and while on one hand I don't mind it on the other it's annoying because I seriously doubt anyone wants to hear what I have to say... Because it's not "Oh, I eat nothing but lettuce and run 10 miles a day" It's not "I take this pill, eat what I want and do nothing" it's somewhere in between. I eat less and I move more. Period. I cut back on portions and calories until I was eating a lot less- in fact I can't even contemplate finishing some of the portions I used to eat before! I do some sort of exercise 4 or 5 times a week at least. (Yay hooping!) and that's the main idea.
If I want something I have it. If I am hungry I eat. I don't give myself an excuse to binge because I don't say "Oh I can't eat that!" I just portion it smaller or look for something to substitute. I love chocolate, so I eat it as dark as I can find it- with really dark chocolate a little goes a long way- less calories and complete satisfaction. I eat pizza at least twice a week- but I have a slice or two not 3 or 6. I eat fries once in a blue moon (mostly when I want a ketchup delivery device. I don't crave the fries so much as the ketchup and I can't bring myself to drink it straight! lol), I've even been known to eat the occasional cookie...
I will say that there are some outside influences that probably contributed to my weight loss: I moved into an upstairs apartment, I didn't have a car, I finally got my Bi-Pap machine for my sleep apnea etc... But who knows how much they contribute. I guess if you wanted to learn from them I'd say take the stairs whenever you can, get enough rest (check for sleeping disorders if you're always tired) and walk walk walk!
I think that's all I have to say this week, what about you? What are some downfalls to weight loss? What common sense approaches work for you in working towards a healthy lifestyle? How has setting a goal helped you to accomplish something?
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