Don’t ever let anyone tell you that losing weight is easy.
It is not. Every myth, study and scuttlebutt is true. It’ s easy and its
difficult.
It began about a year ago when I decided that I wanted to
“reset” the clock when I turned “half century” and try to get back to my
college weight….hahahahahaha. First
problem was I couldn’t remember my college weight from approximately 3 decades
ago. I decided to look at a BMI table and decided to reach an optimum BMI for
my height and weight (and age?). Initially that was beyond scary. It put me at
a weight beyond my reach but I decided on 165.
Seeing how I was at 187, I knew I had work to do.
Phase 1. Getting started is probably the first and most
difficult hurdle to clear. For two weeks, my body betrayed every natural law of
conservation of mass and energy. I felt I ate less than 50 calories a day and
my body would not shed a single pound. Hunger was a constant feeling. Pain was
my friend. Grit, will power, and mind over matter, ultimately won. My body
decided on the third week it had lost and the weight loss journey began.
Cravings decreased and hunger was not endlessly on my mind. During this period,
work, keeping busy help me through.
Now the second phase begins and this is where I learned to
be patient. Try everything in terms of what works and give yourself the
permission to fail. I knew I was on the right path and I needed to continue to
lose weight. I also knew it was unhealthy to lose weight fast so I begin to eat
again. But I changed my diet. I begin making fruit and spinach shakes for
lunch. Snacks consisted of almonds,
dates, olives and cheese. I drank low sodium V8. Dessert was replaced with oats
and yogurt. Dinners were one portion and not two or three. All these changes
were enacted over time and not together. I had to try combinations that worked
to satisfy cravings. The best thing is that now I see this as not my diet, but
how I eat. Not something that I am doing to lose weight but what I crave. Diets
are fleeting but healthy eating is for life.
I also began exercising. Winters are difficult but an
investment of a treadmill was one of the most important changes that helped. I
began walking in the evenings, running over the weekends. I watch the whole
series of COSMOS while walking miles. I tracked my steps, workouts and weight
on my phone and watch. It was important to me to see my progress and not fall
backward.
With everything in place I continued to lose weight. Not a
lot but maybe a pound a week. A sustainable plan. And did I fail? Holidays were
times when I could eat. Sometimes on the weekends I binged on bacon, eggs and
buttered toast. On certain weeks, I went to the dining hall and ate………. until I
was full. But I always knew I would fall back on the habits that I had enacted.
Third phase. I became a workout junkie. I’ve always enjoyed
running and swimming. So over the summer I decided to ease the caloric
restrictions and increase the caloric metabolism. I ran and swam more and more.
I ultimately plateaued with running 7 miles and swimming 2 miles a day. My body
responded and I felt energized. My body now craved exercise.
Phase 4. I am in the final stages of losing those last few pounds.
It is proving difficult but I am secure in the fact that my journey is ending.
I am somewhere between 164 and 166. I know that I have the habits in place to
reach my goal. As I reflect back on my year, what has impacted me the most was
not the loss of weight. Even though that was my initial goal and my indirect
measure of my health, I’ve come to realize how much I missed exercise. My
eating habits have changed and I do not crave the junk food. I’ve had to buy “smaller” clothes. I know folks can regress back
to weight gain but I am ready to maintain my healthy lifestyle. I enjoy my
running, enjoy my almonds. I do not eat lots of bacon but a couple strips will
do. I’ve come to realize that maybe the weight wasn’t as important as the
change to a healthier lifestyle that I enjoy. In the end this is what mattered
most.
