Yesterday, I was posed that question by someone who's been trying to lose weight and is working out like crazy, but seeing minimal results.
Have I been successful because of Weight Watchers? Cycling? or Something Else?
My instant answer is I am successful because I tried. Because I wanted to be. But let's be honest, I desperately needed the tools provided by Weight Watchers to be successful. I would have never been successful without it. Weight Watchers all the way. Cycling just allows me to eat REALLY bad stuff on occasion (such as the golden pastrami burger at the busy bee- Yowzas).
The next question was do I pay for weight watchers? Yes, it's $20 a month after the introductory period. and it is VERY worth that $20. Very. I went from a size 12 to a 4. (Though in honesty, my clothes range in size from 4-6, depending on brand, style, and fit.) I am loving being a size 4. I refuse to ever stop being a size 4. :-)
Then, is it hard to stay on track? No. It was easy until summer hit. Then my routine changed and I got lazy/had excuses, and I'm pretty close to my goal, so I've gotten more lax and am taking it less seriously than I was. WW has an app for smartphones (which I don't have), but I think it would be super awesome if I did. I love that you can input recipes and it will give a points value. They also have a database of foods like cheese etc. so even if you don't know the exact nutrition facts for the cheese in your deli sandwich, you can still calculate the points for it.
But do you feel like you're starving or robbing yourself of things you love? No. Never. Not at all. I still eat pizza and cake and whatever else I want. I'm just smarter and more informed about it. We go out to eat way too much, and I'm still losing weight. A lot of it is listening to my body, and thinking about it. I "feel" hungry, but is it because I'm bored, or sad, or stressed, or tired? Do I really need to eat, or am I still full from the last time I ate? I have definitely had to change my eating habits and I've learned to like different foods, but I know that I can still have "bad stuff" (I don't really like to label things "good" or "bad" more like, sometimes foods, rarely foods, and as much as you want foods.) if I want it. I just choose not to want the "bad stuff" most of the time. Or I know different brands/ways of eating it that makes it not quite as bad as it could be, or the mainstream. Honestly, I don't really miss eating the way I used to eat. I don't feel deprived at all. If I want something, I eat it (like the 37 point sandwich I had a few Fridays ago). I just make up for it later (by not eating dinner, because I was till stuffed from my super-sandwich, or by riding my bike to work the next day. It was totally delicious and worth it, by the way.) For me, if I don't see it, I don't think about it and I don't miss it. However, I do suffer from food-envy. If you're eating an ice cream bar, I want one too (so I choose a WW or Skinny Cow one). I can successfully avoid the donuts at staff meetings when I've eaten before-hand. I cannot avoid the donuts when I'm hungry, and they're sitting in the office calling to me for 8 hours.
Honestly, maybe the secret to weight loss is mindful eating. Be aware of what you're eating (it has That many calories?!) and why. If you know you have trouble eating junk food, and that junk food will be available, come up with a plan (like being so super stuffed (on fruits and veggies) that the sound of a donut is not appetizing, or having my WW or Skinny Cow options).
My question to him/her was: Are you using your fancy scale? Maybe you're gaining muscle weight? Is the body composition changing, even if the weight remains the same? I highly recommend that everyone get a fancy scale. There is much more to health than your weight. For example, many obese people actually suffer from malnutrition because they're eating all the wrong things and they're bodies are not getting what it needs. And then there's me:
I have lost over 30 lbs. I weigh under 135. My healthy weight range is 120-150. My BMI is 22.3 (healthy is between 18.5-24.9) In April I had 95 lbs of muscle... I'm down to 92. So, I guess it's not a huge drop considering I've lost 15 lbs since April. I don't have enough good cholesterol and the ratio of good cholesterol to total cholesterol could be better. My blood pressure is also too close to borderline for my comfort. I STILL am 30% body fat (Healthy 21-31%) , so yes, still healthy, but a little too close to the borderline for my comfort. 30% of my weight is roughly 40lbs of body fat. Where the hell is it all? My face is much thinner than I'd like it to be. I've lost what little boobs I had... But I still have my thunderthighs. I had thought that maybe I was "destined" to have thunderthighs, since I'm very near my goal weight and still have them... but seeing that 30% tells me that I still have some work to do. I have spent the day researching how to build muscle mass. It requires weight training, which I have 0 motivation to do alone. It's boring. Give me my bike, please? Did you know that having more muscles protects against osteoporosis? My bones aren't quite as dense as they should be (5lbs, vs 5.3). It's also hard for me to put 4 points into a protein shake... but I'm probably going to start drinking more and more of them again. I'm going to experiment with working out every single day, and see if my muscle mass starts going up...
Also, while I'm giving weight loss advice: Don't do it alone. Being able to talk to others about food ideas, struggles, and tracking your progress with thier's is really good. Weight is contagious. Seriously. The behaviors and habits of the people around you become your own. If your family eats garbage, you're more likely to eat garbage. If one family member starts a diet, the others are likely going to start eating healthier too, even if they're not counting calories, or points or anything else. Look at the families of the people on Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, they lose weight too. My husband has lost over 10 lbs, without "trying" or concentrating on it to the same extent that I have. :-)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Is there a universal answer to weightloss?
So, I get a lot of questions about what my secret for weight loss is, or advice, etc. For the post part, it's "just buckle down and do it." Because that's what most of the problem is. People are stuck in the wanting to lose weight stage, without wanting to do anything to change it... Uh... Yeah.
But once you're out of that stage, there are TONS of tiny things to learn and remember to help along the way... To increase your success and to keep you motivated. These are my oft-repeated tips in a nutshell:
Expect to lose 1-2 lbs per week (or roughly 5 lbs per month). If you lose more than that consistently WW will actually increase your points target so you lose the weight in a safer manner.
The most important things are to remember that it's a marathon and not a sprint, and that it's a lifestyle change, not a diet. Even if you only lose .5 lbs in a certain week, every .5 adds up. and the longer you take to lose it, the more ingrained the habits will be, and the longer the weight will stay off. So if I have a milkshake or hot dog or something, I'm living and enjoying my life, and I'll be more successful in the long-run because I won't go off my "diet." Also, it might be beneficial to compare your new habits, with the old ones. So instead of beating yourself up over having some pizza, realize that you ate fewer pieces than maybe you would have in the past, and that's progress.
You have to track everything. It's actually pretty easy because you can just google food items or restaurants if you don't have the nutrition info handy. WW also has points values in their database for lots of stuff. It will teach you so much about food that you may not have known before. It definitely did for me. I didn't pay attention to what I ate at all.
Another great thing was that I had another friend that was doing WW, and my mom was too. None of us "joined together," but it was good to be able to ask for advice on food/brag about progress. I think that having other people around is a great motivator.
I've also noticed a pattern that every 100 calorie pack I've looked the points up on is 3 points. It's not 100% firm that 33 calories is 1 point, but it's a useful tool if I'm away from my computer and wondering the points of something.
At the same time, who am I to give YOU advice on your weight loss? What works for me, might not be what works for you. Or, the difficulties that I have might not be the difficulties that you have...
But once you're out of that stage, there are TONS of tiny things to learn and remember to help along the way... To increase your success and to keep you motivated. These are my oft-repeated tips in a nutshell:
Expect to lose 1-2 lbs per week (or roughly 5 lbs per month). If you lose more than that consistently WW will actually increase your points target so you lose the weight in a safer manner.
The most important things are to remember that it's a marathon and not a sprint, and that it's a lifestyle change, not a diet. Even if you only lose .5 lbs in a certain week, every .5 adds up. and the longer you take to lose it, the more ingrained the habits will be, and the longer the weight will stay off. So if I have a milkshake or hot dog or something, I'm living and enjoying my life, and I'll be more successful in the long-run because I won't go off my "diet." Also, it might be beneficial to compare your new habits, with the old ones. So instead of beating yourself up over having some pizza, realize that you ate fewer pieces than maybe you would have in the past, and that's progress.
You have to track everything. It's actually pretty easy because you can just google food items or restaurants if you don't have the nutrition info handy. WW also has points values in their database for lots of stuff. It will teach you so much about food that you may not have known before. It definitely did for me. I didn't pay attention to what I ate at all.
Another great thing was that I had another friend that was doing WW, and my mom was too. None of us "joined together," but it was good to be able to ask for advice on food/brag about progress. I think that having other people around is a great motivator.
I've also noticed a pattern that every 100 calorie pack I've looked the points up on is 3 points. It's not 100% firm that 33 calories is 1 point, but it's a useful tool if I'm away from my computer and wondering the points of something.
At the same time, who am I to give YOU advice on your weight loss? What works for me, might not be what works for you. Or, the difficulties that I have might not be the difficulties that you have...
Thursday, July 14, 2011
When to ask for help
No man is an island. Social support is the key to human survival. Studies have shown time and again how important other people are to our lives.
Months ago, I had to sit my husband down and have a talk with him about my feelings about how he eats. I think I've written about it before, so I'll be brief. I felt really deprived when I was watching the way he was eating. He was putting temptation in front of me, and I'm really bad at abstaining from junk when I have easy-access. I had to tell him that I needed his support to lose my weight, and that his eating habits were making it really hard for me, and that it was also putting added strain on our relationship. Since then, I've been trying to redirect him to get him to lose "Mike": our baby that he's carrying. Because he looks like he's pregnant, and Mike talks. It's kinda funny. You can never force someone to do anything, they have to make the decisions for themselves, but you can give them enough encouragement, that eventually they make the decision. My husband is finally there. He said that Mike is going to be gone by Christmas. Then he said by August. I am doubtful about August, but Christmas is nice. He's already lost 10 lbs, without counting points, but by snacking less in the middle of the night.
We've been watching the Tour de France, which is really encouraging for our cycling, because it makes us want to ride more and harder and faster. Which I love. We haven't done an organized ride since May. :-( I gotta get back in the saddle. I haven't ridden in 7 days. :-(
A coworker of mine joined WW a few months ago, and for the first few weeks, she did really well, even getting to her pre-pregnancy weight. But after that milestone, she started gaining weight again. Her life is really hectic right now (divorce), so that's making it even harder. Additionally, half of our coworkers are Islanders. Islanders EAT. They eat and they make enough for everybody. They force you to take their food. It is a LOT of peer/cultural pressure to EAT. One of her best friends is an Islander. So they eat. How can you turn down free-food? Especially when your stress and depression says, "It'll make you feel better?" We've started running laps around the building again, and I rode it with my odometer to determine how many laps to a mile (about 7). When we run, we have the privacy to talk about our stress and our issues. She also asked me to text her every morning to remind her to track her points and what she eats. Right now she says she's barely eating though.
Another woman I know (who is a compulsive/emotional eater and over 350 lbs) has decided to lose weight too. She's started reading the labels of her foods. She's reading the blog for help and inspiration. and she told her boss. Who now makes her take walks around the building on her breaks. and takes the salt shaker away from her when they take lunch breaks. She reports that the more people she tells, the better she's doing. Because they're there to help her. To push, and motivate, and hold her accountable. I am a lot more likely to jog around the building when I have a partner, then when I'm alone. I feel less silly. and we both know we should do it so we force both of us to do it. Instead of it having to be me alone motivating myself. It also gives this woman a great sense of pride because she has people checking in on her. Instead of beating herself up and calling herself names and being depressed about where she is, she has people saying to her "Good job! Great decisions! I'm so proud of you." and she has people that she can talk to, and brag to about how well she's doing. It has done so much for her self-esteem. To take control of her life, to be self-sufficient. She had the opportunity in April to work with a personal trainer for free, and she didn't. :-( But she's taking the help she can get now. Better late than never.
Months ago, I had to sit my husband down and have a talk with him about my feelings about how he eats. I think I've written about it before, so I'll be brief. I felt really deprived when I was watching the way he was eating. He was putting temptation in front of me, and I'm really bad at abstaining from junk when I have easy-access. I had to tell him that I needed his support to lose my weight, and that his eating habits were making it really hard for me, and that it was also putting added strain on our relationship. Since then, I've been trying to redirect him to get him to lose "Mike": our baby that he's carrying. Because he looks like he's pregnant, and Mike talks. It's kinda funny. You can never force someone to do anything, they have to make the decisions for themselves, but you can give them enough encouragement, that eventually they make the decision. My husband is finally there. He said that Mike is going to be gone by Christmas. Then he said by August. I am doubtful about August, but Christmas is nice. He's already lost 10 lbs, without counting points, but by snacking less in the middle of the night.
We've been watching the Tour de France, which is really encouraging for our cycling, because it makes us want to ride more and harder and faster. Which I love. We haven't done an organized ride since May. :-( I gotta get back in the saddle. I haven't ridden in 7 days. :-(
A coworker of mine joined WW a few months ago, and for the first few weeks, she did really well, even getting to her pre-pregnancy weight. But after that milestone, she started gaining weight again. Her life is really hectic right now (divorce), so that's making it even harder. Additionally, half of our coworkers are Islanders. Islanders EAT. They eat and they make enough for everybody. They force you to take their food. It is a LOT of peer/cultural pressure to EAT. One of her best friends is an Islander. So they eat. How can you turn down free-food? Especially when your stress and depression says, "It'll make you feel better?" We've started running laps around the building again, and I rode it with my odometer to determine how many laps to a mile (about 7). When we run, we have the privacy to talk about our stress and our issues. She also asked me to text her every morning to remind her to track her points and what she eats. Right now she says she's barely eating though.
Another woman I know (who is a compulsive/emotional eater and over 350 lbs) has decided to lose weight too. She's started reading the labels of her foods. She's reading the blog for help and inspiration. and she told her boss. Who now makes her take walks around the building on her breaks. and takes the salt shaker away from her when they take lunch breaks. She reports that the more people she tells, the better she's doing. Because they're there to help her. To push, and motivate, and hold her accountable. I am a lot more likely to jog around the building when I have a partner, then when I'm alone. I feel less silly. and we both know we should do it so we force both of us to do it. Instead of it having to be me alone motivating myself. It also gives this woman a great sense of pride because she has people checking in on her. Instead of beating herself up and calling herself names and being depressed about where she is, she has people saying to her "Good job! Great decisions! I'm so proud of you." and she has people that she can talk to, and brag to about how well she's doing. It has done so much for her self-esteem. To take control of her life, to be self-sufficient. She had the opportunity in April to work with a personal trainer for free, and she didn't. :-( But she's taking the help she can get now. Better late than never.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Another reminder why there's more to health than weight
We had our health fair at work yesterday. They did blood draws, etc. We also took an online health assessment survey. Apparently I am too stressed, and my nutrition is bad. Still. Really, my nutrition is bad? Grrr. I'm just not as consistent as I should be. I prefer fruits to veggies. Some days I don't eat any, and some days they're all I eat. and I still love my sweets. Can't get rid of my sweets. As I have changed my eating habits, I have become VERY particular and picky about what I eat. I prefer this brand/type of frozen veggies or meals to that one. and I get grumpy if I'm stuck with the wrong brand. :-(
Coincidentally, Thursdays are my weigh in days, so yesterday I weighed in and I've lost a total of 30 lbs! Yay! 30 lbs! 30 was my original weight loss goal. I think I'm going to lose 5-10 more pounds. After I got home, we went on a bike ride too. My health fair said that I'm still not getting enough exercise, or the right kind of exercise. My HDL levels are extremely low. My overall cholesterol is good, but I have very little of the good kind of cholesterol (like, I have less than half of what I should have.) But there's an easy way to fix that, keep my heart-rate in the target range when I work out (my heart rate typically goes EXTREMELY high when I work out.) and I need to get more healthy fats (like flax seed or fish oil, and I have supplements of both of those, I just haven't been taking them).
I am getting acupuncture done next weekend and I've never done it before. So we'll see how that goes. and hopefully by next year, I can get my numbers even lower!
When I had my screening, a coworker was like, "you're the healthiest you've ever been, aren't you?" Which is pretty much true. and then he pointed out that I'm the only person in the company who is at a healthy weight. (Which isn't true. There's 2-4 other people who don't appear to be overweight... but when there are 20ish others who are CLEARLY overweight... Yeah. Very unhealthy workplace unfortunately. :-( ) Just because I'm the healthiest I've ever been, doesn't mean I'm done with taking care of my health. It doesn't mean that there isn't more progress to be made. and just because I may be healthier than my peers, doesn't mean that I'm not still unhealthy in some respects.
Coincidentally, Thursdays are my weigh in days, so yesterday I weighed in and I've lost a total of 30 lbs! Yay! 30 lbs! 30 was my original weight loss goal. I think I'm going to lose 5-10 more pounds. After I got home, we went on a bike ride too. My health fair said that I'm still not getting enough exercise, or the right kind of exercise. My HDL levels are extremely low. My overall cholesterol is good, but I have very little of the good kind of cholesterol (like, I have less than half of what I should have.) But there's an easy way to fix that, keep my heart-rate in the target range when I work out (my heart rate typically goes EXTREMELY high when I work out.) and I need to get more healthy fats (like flax seed or fish oil, and I have supplements of both of those, I just haven't been taking them).
I am getting acupuncture done next weekend and I've never done it before. So we'll see how that goes. and hopefully by next year, I can get my numbers even lower!
When I had my screening, a coworker was like, "you're the healthiest you've ever been, aren't you?" Which is pretty much true. and then he pointed out that I'm the only person in the company who is at a healthy weight. (Which isn't true. There's 2-4 other people who don't appear to be overweight... but when there are 20ish others who are CLEARLY overweight... Yeah. Very unhealthy workplace unfortunately. :-( ) Just because I'm the healthiest I've ever been, doesn't mean I'm done with taking care of my health. It doesn't mean that there isn't more progress to be made. and just because I may be healthier than my peers, doesn't mean that I'm not still unhealthy in some respects.
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