Except for enjoying a surprise brunch at The Waffle House when out with my husband, I’ve been good this week. In fact, when my husband said we should go somewhere out to eat when we found out our friends wouldn’t be at Lunch Bunch yesterday, I convinced him to stay home and make our own lunch – even though it was nice of him to suggest it.
I’m hoping that my new “One Day at a Time” affirmation will continue to give me the strength of purpose to keep my mouth shut, not eating in-between meals or in the middle of the night when I am finding it hard to sleep, and getting back into my exercising daily.
So far this week my scales are still laughing at me, but I AM showing about 2 lbs less now. I’m hoping for 2 to 3 pounds per week, or at least that I hold whatever I’ve lost from week to week before showing more loss. Onward and downward.
creativeartworksblog 
May I suggest you begin tracking your weight — before you even attempt to lose. Begin a chart, weighing every day and observe what is happening across a period of time. I began a weight loss program in September and have lost 15 pounds since then bringing my BMI back into normal range. I will be losing about another 12 pounds to arrive at an ideal weight (I’m already in the upper range of what’s considered ideal for my height — yea!), which I’ll maintain using the same means that I used to lose weight. The key is eating less. Exercise is great and promotes overall health and well-being, but you have to be a serious athlete to lose weight through exercise alone. By charting weight loss, you discover clues to your own body’s metabolism. Losing 2-3 lbs per week might be unrealistic, and then you might become discouraged. After I tracked my weight loss for even just a month, I noted that I wasn’t losing at a rate that robust. So, I altered my expectations — chiefly to keep myself motivated. I learned that, in my case, I was losing about 3 oz/day and that I’d have to wait more than a week to see even the loss of one pound. (My scale is not terribly accurate either — so I recognized that I could actually be losing more weight than I was aware of but wouldn’t see the evidence until a longer time span had passed).
I didn’t use Noom, but I did go through Noom’s interesting sign up process because they ask many very revealing questions. I know enough about motivation psych that I didn’t really need the app itself (plus I’m kind of an analog girl, not terribly fond of gadgets). But you might not be like me and you might find the Noom apt helpful. It’s based on psych research. I found a way to reward myself for not eating after dinner (I have three moderate-to-small meals that I adore.) I just put a red dot on the calendar after dinner. THAT WAS IT. After a week there’s a whole band of red dots showing my successful behavior. After a month, the whole month is filled with red dots. This worked for me. It sounds crazy, but I am not losing my red dot!!! I’d rather be hungry occasionally some night (my time of greatest temptation) than to lose my winning streak of red dots! There were a few times I would have talked myself into eating something but for the inviolate RED DOT. Find something similar that works for you. Part of the deal is learning about yourself and your body.
Since winter began I found I was losing weight even more slowly. That was a tad disappointing, but merely realistic. I had been hiking a few hours most week-ends until winter rolled in. I calculated and found I was losing at a rate of 1.5 oz/day, which is a bit over 10 days to see even a pound disappear. My weight plateaued for almost a solid month, seeming not to budge. But that was okay. Once I understood what was happening, I realized that I was still losing weight, just losing it more slowly. Around that time, though, I passed an important milestone! I hadn’t been this light in 25 years. As spring arrives and I get more active, I can probably resume losing at the slightly faster rate again. Our bodies metabolisms wax and wane. Originally, I was on track to arrive at my ideal weight by mid-March. Now it looks like it might be mid-April. But what’s one month? As I tracked it, if I lost weight at the slowest rate, I’m still at the “perfect” weight by June. The point is to arrive and once arrived to stay — to stay healthy and agile. I already feel so much better and I’m seeing another marvelous change: my blood pressure is now in the normal range with no medication.
We put weight on gradually, and it’s okay to lose it gradually. It’s probably the best way, the easiest on your body, to lose it gradually. I did a lot of research on foods and began eating an anti-inflammatory diet which resolved some minor arthritis that I had had in my hand. And I began investigating gallbladder friendly foods too because sometimes weight loss leads to gallbladder problems, especially when people lose weight too quickly. These investigations were themselves motivating. I like knowing that I am pursuing a healthy strategy that is broader in scope than just weight loss. But the weight loss itself is so worth it. I feel so much more agile now. I have loved this whole process. It makes me feel that I can succeed in so many other avenues of life. It really is transformative — maybe almost a bit magical, Linda! Find out what works for you personally. You will be so glad you did. And remind yourself often that it’s a journey. Find good things in each step. The red dots helped me because I’m a visual person. I glance at the calendar and feel a shot of adrenaline, a “way to go, girl” sensation. It takes time. The key is making the journey itself really as marvelous as possible. Find lots of little motivations because you can measure your behavior day to day. The results take a bit longer to arrive. They are happening, but we just don’t see them — like we cannot watch plants grow without time-lapse photography. So you find something that mimics, something you can SEE in you-time. For me, it’s red dots. Good luck! Bon courage!
LikeLike
Wow, Aletha. Thanks for telling me about your journey, and congratulations on almost being where you want to be!!!! Let’s hear it for the red dots! :0) My red dot is a sparkly stick-on star. I will look at Noom. I’ve heard of it, but haven’t checked it out. I do have the target for the week, but I DO hear you that that is probably unrealistic. That’s okay. As long as I’m not GAINING each day, I’ll consider it ‘going in the right direction. I’m glad your changes have resulted in the lower blood pressure and lessening, or doing away with your pain altogether. My diet is complicated by my lack of a gallbladder and my thyroid was radiated away due to Grave’s Disease. I will certainly check out the anti-inflammatory foods, too. Thanks for all the good suggestions, and just plain maturity you show. I appreciate your time in writing and encouraging my efforts. Best of luck – determination – red dots and sparkly stars to us both.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, indeed, Linda — here’s to our mutual successes!
LikeLike
:0)
LikeLike
Pingback: A Little Bit of Hope – http://zakir09.wordpress.com