FINDING Resolution

It’s the resolution time of year … the season when every other commercial is on taxes, quitting smoking or (you guessed it) losing weight.

 

If you only need to drop a few pounds, it’s a good time to go for it. But for those people, like me, who allowed weight to become a real problem, you need more than a diet.

 

You need to change.

 

I’ve been trying to change for the past 2 years. In the process, I’ve lost 80 pounds and that’s good. But I wouldn’t say I have the problem licked.

 

My New Year’s Resolutions are

1. to drop the remaining 30 pounds,
2. to keep exercising,
3. and to work on not eating unless I’m actually hungry … not bored, depressed or all the other emotional reasons I turn to food.

Should I Make a Big FAT Change?

Change sucks.

Well, let me rephrase that. Change, that I didn’t choose, sucks. Change, that was forced on me, sucks. But change I want, yeah, that’s an improvement.

My current weight loss plan is not working like it did in the beginning. I have 2 choices: Accept weighing 30 more pounds than the charts consider healthy. OR change what I’m doing till it starts working.

I really don’t care how much I weigh, but I do care how I feel. I feel great, now. 75 pounds less is wonderful! Will another 35 pound make a difference?

FRIDAY Double FEATURE Videos

NEW – Adopt a terrorist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2kitYUbHBM

CLASSIC – Did You Know: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL9Wu2kWwSY   Really interesting video about how fast our lives are changing.

A Big FAT Yippee & Weight Loss Math

After a six-week plateau, I lost a pound. 16 ounces isn’t much to get excited about, but I hope that it’s a sign the weight loss dull-drums are over. So how do I keep from making the same mistake again?

Weight Loss Math:

• Calories eaten > calories used = weight gain
• Calories eaten < calories used = weight loss
• Calories eaten = calories used = plateau

I’m not running a weight loss race. I’d end up out of breath, sick of it and celebrate with Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie. (M-m-m)  I’m doing this the slow, old-fashioned way, because that’s how I put it on. It gives me time to learn and adjust. Fast weight loss leads to the yo-yo effect. Do it quick, so you can be done with it and go back to the way you were before.

The way I was before is why I got fat.

So why did I plateau? Because the amount of calories I ate equaled the amount I used. Ideally, this happens at your goal weight. But here in the real world, it can happen at any point (or in my case, points).

My last winter plateau was a combination of mochas and beer. When my kids were growing up, I didn’t keep much alcohol in the house. Why have it around, when not everybody can drink it? It seemed unfair. When they went to college, I thought,"Why not?” At that point, I was cutting back without specifically counting calories and, of course, working the treadmill. To break the plateau, I started checking calories … and discovered beer is something I can live without.

And then, there were mochas – brainchild of an evil genius. Coffee was no calories. Coffee + Milk + Sugar + Chocolate + Whipped Cream = 400 calories. It was a 4th meal!

So this time, why did I plateau? I got off course. The first part of the summer, I was fine.  Beth was cooking larger meals than I’d been eating, but I was gardening and more active.  It balanced. After vacation, I shortened my treadmill time and sometimes dropped it. It caught up with me.

This proves I cannot diet. I have to change. Diets are short-term solutions to a long-term problem. I don’t want to be healthy for a little while. I want it all the time.

How I lost (am losing) the FAT

So far I’ve lost 72 pounds, I’m 53 pounds from goal.

I get ask a lot, “what diet are you following?” I am not dieting. I’m changing.

Diets are short-term fixes to a long-term problem. I ate more than I needed … not just for a few weeks or months, but for the past 20-ish years. I can’t undo that over night.

People have the capacity for great change – every one of us. But very few really want to. It’s easier to sit on the sofa and complain. Blame the fast food industry. Whine about genetics or invent a glandular condition. That won’t get you anywhere.

You have to change. Stop eating more than you need. Get off your ass and exercise.

That’s all I’m doing