Secret...???

Aug 03, 2011

So many people have asked what is my "secret" was or "how are you doing it" and I sit here trying to put into words what I am doing and I guess what it boils down to is the fact I had to come to a point in my life where I knew I had to change my lifestyle for good.

Both my husband and I realized this in sept of 2009, it saddens me so that he is not able to continue on with me...I think having seen him fight for health and life and lost... is enough that I know I will never go back to my old lifestyle and ways of eating...life is too precious to not be healthy. His story can be read here under Curtis' wish.

There is alot of change one must do... behavioural, mentally, diet wise, exercise.. the whole nine yards and one I still sometimes struggle with. Until a person come to terms with this fact, there probably very little anyone can say until it happens. Many times I had tried dieting, lost then gained back. It is a cycle one gets caught in.

So many people in the world today are looking for the “secret” to losing weight. A quick fix to lose some pounds fast, hence why there are so many diet plans and fad diets and reality shows on the go. Surely when someone has a substantial weight loss there must be a secret to it eh? It is like an unattainable goal so many searches for and rarely find.

If you are overweight, guaranteed you have tried a diet or two in your lifetime and have gained back, if not more than you lost. So, is it the diets that do not work, or what is it that keeps us yo yoing in diet land. I believe it is the fact of change for good. So many when going on diets, return back to their old ways of eating. It’s not that the diets did not work for them, it’s the fact of a lifestyle change for good to maintain that weight loss.

The end of Sept 2009 I went on a 1500 cal diabetic diet. That is a lot of food…still had restriction and knowing the diet and able to fit things into the plan helped a lot. Many who enter the diabetic clinic receive the training, but like us all until we are faced that we have to adhere to it, it’s just another diet. The end of February 2011 I had my consult with Dr Ellsmere. I weighed 430.1, I had lost 120lbs up to then. Dr Ellsmere had asked me that day "How committed are you to this?" It kind of threw me, I had lost already 120 pounds, I felt I was committed, but after going home, reading and assessing things, I realized there was more I could do.

I then went on 1200 calories (diabetic diet) and started walking. Ahhhh walking… yes I believe there in lies the key to weight loss and maintenance. I had to make a commitment to exercise daily FOR LIFE.

I started walking only a little at a time and gradually added a few minutes here and there. I also walked 5/7 days a week. Into the second week since I only had to walk 5 days out of 7 I had got myself into a habit of saying…ahh not today, tomorrow… I immediately said NO!!! FRIGG THIS!! Knowing myself, the procrastinator I was, I started walking everyday, rain or shine and have done so since. I now HAVE TO get out for my walk, it is a habit now.

Knowing the Surgeon I seen wanted WLS to get down to 250 to have my hernia repair I read up on their Weight Loss Program and the VSG. With reading their info and seeing what I was eating I fine-tuned what my intake was. Everything I have eaten since April can be seen on myfitnesspal. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/food/diary/nsblue

*I am on 1200 calories and I mark EVERYTHING and log it daily that passes my lips.

 *I take a multi vitamin daily.

*I drink NO pop NO alcohol NO caffeine (coffee) Chew NO gum NO chips, bars candy donuts cake etc etc 

*I drink a minimum of 8 cups of water daily.

*I get at least 60-80 grams of protein in daily. 

*I keep sugar content to a low of no more than 8grams per 100 cal… now mind you some fruits do have high sugar content so one has to choose wisely.

*I limit my carbs; potato, rice, pasta, breads etc. I have chose to eat snack bread instead of sliced bread; just a personal choice made. The more carbs you have the more “hunger “ you will get believe it or not. With what I eat now.. I am satisfied and am NOT hungry… and most times have to remind myself to eat.

*I eat a lot of salads and veggies, few fruits, lots of protein.

*Salt/sodium is something you have to restrict; it is something that is not your friend when dieting.

*I make sure to get my sleep. Our bodies while sleeping restores and in fact burns calories while it rests. Therefore, sleep is very important in weight loss. If you wake up with that “tinny” taste in your mouth…that is your body in ketosis… burning that fat ;)

*I walk DAILY. And have a pedometer to make sure I get at the least 10000 steps in. I am now getting 10000 to 18000 in.

*I find support wherever I can and keep accountable with pictures, story, weight loss etc with friends on-line and off.

*I use weights. Lifting weights helps tone and burn calories too.

*Work on behavioral changes. In changing your lifestyle, one has to examine themselves and pin point those behaviors, which are not so good and figure what plan you have to come up with to help change them.

*read anything I can find that might help me on my journey.

*have done a liquid diet (stage3) trial 2 times, Once for 3 weeks and again for 2. Have done one week of the WLP Limited choice 1200 cal diet.

*have fought through and experienced the famous "stalls" and now know I can weather through whatever comes.
 

It is a lot of work but I feel so worth it. I am now no longer on blood pressure medication. My blood sugars range in the 4’s and 5’s and my insulin WAS 90u in the AM & 80u in the PM and NOW is 11u in the AM to 3u in the PM. My cholesterol is excellent. Changing ones lifestyle improves health and the outcome of feeling so much energy is SO worth it.

If you need a lifestyle change, I hope it doesn't take losing a loved one and watching them try to hold onto the very health that is so precious. Do it now..and enjoy what time you have healthy and happy together while you have a chance.

IF I CAN DO IT… ANYONE CAN DO IT… IT STARTS WITH YOU!!

It is 3 months away til I have my "one on one" with the Weight Loss Team. Not sure what I will weigh then, perhaps will even be down to my goal for my hernia repair... who knows.... but I will keep doing what I have been doing and whatever weight comes off, will... I am on a "life" plan and if NS WLP finds time to fit in for WLS then it will happen.

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