Restarting the weight loss blog... but with a different focus

I decided to revive this blog.  I will link it to my more popular, varied blog Mama Bean's World.

I've learned a lot in the past year specifically about my weight issues.

#1- I eat very well most of the time.
#2- Diets don't work and are demoralizing.
#3- Calories In- Calories Out = Weight Loss isn't necessarily true for me.

Okay, so before the skinny people start talking about "#3 is wrong...", good for you.  I will take a lie detector test.  I logged everything for 6 months.  I wear a heart rate monitor when I exercise- as I became more fit I burned less calories- so I am very confident I didn't underestimate my work outs. 

I was doing Weight Watchers the last time I blogged here.  I think Weight Watchers is a great place for people to start.  I really enjoyed the camaraderie with my friends.  Other than that, well, um, the points, the free fruit, the low fat, high grains-- I lost 11 pounds in 6 months.  The good news, I kept it off without paying $50 a month.  Their new program made a little more sense to me since it allowed you to eat fruit, but on the flip side, it was basically a low cal, low fat diet that assumed that I never ate fruits or vegetables.  Since I do eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, making them "free" upped my calories.  Not good.  Hence I stopped losing weight.  And i was getting very irritated when people kept implying that I wasn't tracking.  Yes, I was.  I stayed within their magic guidelines and nothing for 2 months.  NOTHING.

So I took a break, managed to stay the same for a few months, upped my workouts and still nothing. But I was $150 richer.

I had planned on starting Cross Fit this summer after a few friends had a lot of success- all at various ages  and fitness levels.  Within Cross Fit is a subculture of eating paleo or primal style.  My friend Helen has been doing this and swore by it.  It really isn't a diet.  How do I know this?  Most diets wean you off their "lifestyle change" programs.  Which, to me, implies they are, in fact diets.  Everything I've read on Paleo & Primal-- and there's a ton out there-- wean you ON.  There is no off.  Some are fanatical.  Most, however, say "Try to do this 80-85% of the time."  There is no "Eat this on Monday."  It's a list of foods to eat, things to avoid some time, things to avoid most of the time, things to avoid nearly all the time.  The mantra is "If it has a label, it isn't food."  Yep.  There is no counting.  No weighing.  Eat until you're full.  There are some tips on how to do that (if you've dieted for 20 years like me, it's a hard concept). 

When I was a kid, I got sick a lot.  I was a "picky" eater, but to be honest, I think I was just very sensitive to food.  Most of the foods I didn't like are on the list of things to avoid.  My daughter is a very healthy eater.  She does the same thing. She is thin and very energetic. Hmmm.....

I started the 80-85% phase in this past week.

I've lost 3 1/2 pounds.

More than I ever lost in 1 week on WW's.  And I never counted a single morsel.

As I said, I read a lot about it before starting it.  I was hesitant.  I was programmed to think oatmeal every day was a good thing.  I like oatmeal.  And beans?  Beans are bad.  But I AM a bean.  And I've always eaten beans because they are good for me....

Wait... what's that in the mirror?  My reflection?? 

To quote Dr. Phil "How's that workin' for ya?"

Okay.  I bite.  I'll give it a try.

I had no idea how easy it would be. 

This isn't some bizarre diet either.  It's not Atkins telling me to eat bacon.  It's a very normal diet of eating meat & fish- preferably fresh and lean (very convenient since we have a freezer full of fish we've caught and elk meat from my husband's hunting adventures).  I already switched to organic chicken last year when we noticed 1 organic chicken feed 4 adults and 2 kids with leftovers, whereas the regular chicken barely feed 2 adults and 2 kids- and tasted nasty.  The organic was well worth the price.

I can eat fruit.  If I want to lose weight, it advises to go easy-- but not at first.

Potatoes are okay in moderation, like once every 2 weeks.  

And grains- none.  I am not a bread fan, so that's okay.  But I do like corn.  And crackers.  Again, a little goes a long way.  And oatmeal?  Well, if you say so...

The bean thing threw me, but again, my reflection seems to argue their point.

Nuts are big. 

Nuts, berries, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables...  this is not crazy stuff. 

And as for my exercise regime-- I loved that all the books basically say the same thing-- exercise is a small part of weight loss.  Food is the primary thing.   Less cardio, more bursts of exercise- like our ancestors.  Natural movement.  Flexibility. 

So why not? 

And if it doesn't work... you know what?  I'm confident it will.  I approached Weight Watchers with a "we'll see what the fuss is approach"-- I believe I compared it to the third Circle of Dante's Descent into Suburban Hell-- but this, this makes sense to me. 

My friend Candi has been eating like this and has lost no weight, but feels fantastic.  Her skin is glowing.  She is sleeping well and has energy.  She started Roller Derby (did I mention I have fantastic, crazy friends??!).

I'm good with that.

I am VERY excited about Cross Fit.  I hear it's a cult- which is why I separated the blog again.  In case I start to get preachy about it.

So here I go....

I couldn't keep up with two blogs...

I had my other blog "Mama Bean's World" and started this as a secondary blog.

There are not enough hours in the day---

So, if you would still like to follow my s          l         o         w   weight loss, please join me at:

http://mrsbeansblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/losing-weight-publicly.html

I've really enjoyed the support of everyone!

5% Gone, FINALLY!

I finally after almost 4 months, I finally hit my 5% weight loss goal!

Granted it took forever, or what seemed like forever.

While I am a huge fan of the weekly meetings, the one downside is hearing how everyone else is flying past me on their losses.  I know they are working very hard at it, and maybe if I did more, then I would be having huge losses.  I am intentionally doing this slowly- I don't want it to feel like a diet.  I know small changes got me to where I am and small changes will get me back.

I have to say, I am ecstatic about losing weight during the holiday season.  For all the people who wait to put off their health and fitness goals until January, I think they are making a big mistake.  I can only imagine how I would have had a "might as well eat everything, since I'm starting a diet after New Year's" and the damage it would have done. 

It's been a long road, but honestly if it stays at this pace, I'm good.  While I would like to lose 80 pounds by this time next spring, you know what?  Thirty-forty pounds would be more than okay.  My birthday is in January and regardless of what the number on the scale is, it will be smaller than it was last year.

A woman today hit her second 10% goal.  She's down 45 pounds.  She looked great.  She said she started out thinking that 80 pounds was a lot to loose- I honestly can't imagine her losing another 40 by the way-- but the small steps over the past year have kept her going. 

I swear, I think sometimes they plant these people or change the topic to make it fit whatever is going through my head at that moment.  And that's the bigger bonus of the meetings.  They help keep you on track and you don't feel like the lonely fat chick.

One more week down.  1.6 pounds gone.

Yippee!

And the scale goes down, down, down...

Woo hoo!!  Another 1.2 pounds gone!

I as stunned because Saturday night, late, my husband and I decided to go get In N Out Burgers.  It's been a really long time since we'd done that, late at night.  And might I say, it tasted good. 

But here's what I'm learning at Weight Watchers-- it's okay.  It's not okay if I do it every day.  But once, was fine.  And I didn't feel guilty.  I really don't want this be a diet and passing on it, would have felt like dieting.  We went to 2 parties over the weekend and I had one drink at each and stuck with the veggies.  Clearly it was worth it.  I got to eat what I really wanted- the burger- rather than simply noshing on things I didn't like because they were there- like the meatballs or wings.  Or drinking all my points. 

I also need to conquer the fear I have of spiraling.  I don't want to be afraid of a cheeseburger.  Like it's the one hit that will lead to dark alleys snarfing down Ben & Jerry's behind dumpsters.  I ate it.  I didn't want another one.  I moved on.  Sunday was another day.

I still haven't hit my 5% goal- but I'm thinking soon.  I like this 5% goal stuff.  With so much to lose, I know it's going to take awhile.  The mini goal stuff at least makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something.  Or at least that it's not impossible.

Matt, the leader, talked about teeny tiny losses- as if he were speaking to me directly.  And even though I wish it were going faster, I have to say I'll take the .8 pound a week I've been losing.  Especially if can go to parties, have some wine and enjoy a cheeseburger from time to time.  If I can make it through the holidays and actually lose a few pounds, then I have no doubt that I can breeze through the spring.

So the scale dropped a little more.  It motivated me just a little more. And I keep on going.

And another .2 pounds are gone... jealous?!?!

Yes, I lost a whopping .2 lbs.

Amazing.

Astounding.

Holy crap this slooooow process is killing me.

I know I could step it up, go all "Biggest Loser" on it, but I really, really, really don't want this weight to ever come back.

Ever.

I could totally go all Type A, knock off 20 (or so I think) and I will be crabby and gain it all back the second I take my eye off the prize.

So little teeny, tiny losses every week.  This month-- I lost 2 pounds. 

I know.  Can't you see it in my.... wrists?

My clothes are looser, despite the minimal losses.  My heart rate monitor says my cardio fitness is improving.  All good stuff.

I just have to stay focused.  Every half pound adds up.

Or quarter pound as the case may be!

And to be honest, I'll take a .2 pound loss Thanksgiving week.

I keep telling myself if I can just stay even over the holidays, it technically counts as a 7 pound loss since the average American supposedly gains 7 pounds over the holidays.

But I would be lying if I didn't have bigger hopes for my birthday in January.  I had hoped to be 25 lbs down-- not unrealistic for 5 months.  It's not looking so good.

The other issue that I have is that I'm getting hungry at night.  I've increased my exercise and now I'm hungry.  I can eat as much fruit as I want per Weight Watchers-- but what I want is crap late at night.  So I'm working on that.

I'm working on a lot of things.

If it seems like this random mind fart goes back and forth between positive and negative, it's because it does.

I'm happy that I'm sticking with it.  I'm happy that in 12 weeks, I've only had 1 week with a gain (.2-- not much at all) and 3 weeks of staying even. 

I'm frustrated that all of this tracking and measuring and monitoring isn't making a bigger, faster impact.

Here's to another 12 weeks.... and if I'm "only" down 8 more pounds, well, that's 16 total.  And 12 more weeks... 24 pounds and another 12 weeks 32... and so on and so on and so on.

More random thoughts

So while I didn't pig out on Thanksgiving, I definitely exceeded my daily allowance of WW points.  I'm okay with that.  I started the day putting in the turkey, getting most everything ready and then I did an hour of Zumba and an hour of spin.  Thank goodness I was meeting friends at the gym, because I would have easily blown it off!

I thought it was interesting- nearly everyone in my family, as I had thought would happen, ate in moderation.  When I passed on the pie (more on that in a minute), no one said a word.  Even my nephew is turning into Mr. Buff!  It was nice.

As for the pie, someone took home the extra pumpkin.... so I ended up buying one today!!  It just didn't seem right to have a Thanksgiving weekend without any pumpkin pie!!

Yesterday, I had my leftover dinner and I probably could have scaled back a bit on it.  I used up my extra Weight Watcher points and even dipped into my exercise points allowance.  Oops.  That's a lot of eating.  And to be honest, I don't think I actually got everything that i ate.  I think starting on Monday, I'm going to have to start measuring.  It could have been worse or maybe not quite so bad-- I have no idea.  And most of the extra points went to alcohol.

Today it took a lot to get me to go to a spin class.  I wasn't feeling it.  Not even a little.  I went.  I wear a heart rate monitor, so I know when I'm pushing it.   I was most definitely not pushing it.

And my mind started to wonder.

I was really jealous of the fit people on the treadmills.  They weren't killing it.  They were maintaing.

I can not wait until I'm maintaining.

As I've said, I'm taking this very slowly on purpose.  Little changes.

But for fitness the thing is, the more you do, the more youhave to push to get the same results.  That's what's happening.  If I want to keep each hour of exercise to 500-600 calories burned, I'm going to have to keep pushing.

And I just want to be maintaining.  It looks like a lot less work.

So I was tired, stuffed, a little whiny and not looking forward to tomorrow's weigh in.

Here we are 3 months into it. I'm getting bored. This is where I have to push through. 

I would really like to hit at least 10 pounds lost before the holidays!!  I am okay with slow, but this seems irritatingly so.  I keep wondering how all these people lost 60 pounds in 6 months.  I'm nowhere close to making that happen.


I think I might end up blogging a bit more to get over the hump. I can do this. I will do this. I'm committed to a year of this- tracking, pushing the exercise, blogging... and then, we'll see.  It'll be what it is. 

And that's all I've got today.

The Power of Friends

So this week the scale stuck, but I ate before weighed in which I normally don't do.  Not to make excuses, but with tiny movements on the scale week to week, every little bit matters.

Anyhow, this week was all about Thanksgiving (I'm anticipating a 62 point meal- 29 points a day is my norm.  If I stay within the my points all week, I should be good).  Our meeting leader also discussed how to deal with food pushers-- the people who are constantly telling you to take another bite, have another drink, etc, etc.

As he spoke, I immediately thought of people I had known over the years that clearly fit the bill.  My favorite was a former colleague who was drop dead gorgeous.  I had lost 30 pounds in between the kids and her response (in a whiny tone) "If you lose weight then you'll be smart AND pretty and that's not fair!"

Great.  Way to have my back, sister.

But now, it's very different.  My mother-in-law has recently lost a large amount of weight (I don't know if she wants me to share how much!).  My husband has lost 125 pounds and is still going strong.  Three of my best girlfriends- Shelley, Ellen and Lisa are going to Weight Watcher's meetings now with me.  At work, my assistant with the evil supercharged metabolism is supportive.  My office mate is supportive- she is a stick, but her husband has lost about 50 pounds this past year.  In my book group, quite a few women are WW devotees and have lost a lot of weight and kept it off.


In fact, I cannot think of anyone who doesn't support me.


I think I know more people who have gotten fit, lost weight or are in the process in the past 2 years than I ever have in my life.


I know Americans are supposedly getting fatter, but around me everyone is shrinking. Even better, these friends are being incredibly supportive.


A good friend I saw last week tried to get me to have a glass of wine last week when we went out, then stopped herself and said "I'm sorry.  I know you're being good.  Good for you!"

Much better than my former colleague.


My husband and I have had issues when one of us is committed and the other isn't - we now joke about it.  One of us will say "Want some ice cream?"  The other responds "No..."  The non-dieter says "C'mon..." and the other eventually caves.  Not any longer.  No dieting, just changing habits.  Together.


I have no intention of scaling back on Thanksgiving.  I added up the points already.  It's a lot.  If this is truly NOT a diet, then Thanksgiving is not going to scare me.  I am going to eat more than I normally would.  Period.  I love this holiday.  I love all the food.  It is one day.  I will have wine.  I will have pie.  I will love every bite.

What I won't do is have seconds. Or thirds.  I won't continue to eat like every day is a holiday all weekend. 

What's even better is that I can count on my friends and family to back me up on my choices.