We made a joke at work today. It had to do with something I learned along the way in my quest for a healthy ME weight. I want to share what I think are the most important things that I have learned. These tidbits come from research, from the classroom, from seminars and web searches. My lessons were both formal and informal - professor directed and self directed. They were learned through my MPH program and through my LIFE program.
In the end, I am an experiment of one and I know what worked for me.
The last time I lost weight was in 1999 and I lost it in an unhealthy way. It took a while after that to get it together, wrap my mind around science and maintain my weight in a way that was both mentally and physically health promoting.
I have been in a good place since probably 2004.
I was an active small child. I struggled with self esteem and then weight probably from 1983 to that last great "diet" in 1999. I cannot find words to tell you how self confident, productive, energetic, creative and determined I am though you might discern it from my posts. I CAN tell you with conviction that those things about me are due to my treating my body with respect and fueling it in a way that will increase my ability to successfully handle stress, illness, disease, accident and genetics.
Until 1999, I lost weight by stopping eating. Sometimes I exercised and sometimes I didn't. I liked very much to eat until my belly was swelled and full to bursting. I am agog at the amount of bread and pasta I used to consume... butter, oils, fats and sauces. Craziness. When I began to maintain the 1999 weight loss I was exercising three days a week. I have NOT stopped - I have never stopped this time and I won't. Over time, I increased intensity and days of exercise and I also INCREASED the amount of food I eat. Now I exercise most days of the week, but the activity level is varied.
There are just three things that I think you need to know and or do:
Change WHAT you eat
Change HOW you eat
Exercise
WHAT: Choose foods that are low in energy density and high in nutrient density.... you know this.. it is volumetrics... and I even made videos for you.. no excuses!
HOW:Eat these smaller meals much more often. I no longer eat until my belly is so full that I am useless. (by the way, more heart attacks occur on Thanksgiving Day in America than any other day). Eat breakfast, and pre lunch and lunch and pre dinner, and dinner and then some. Seriously.. take your 1500-2500 calories and divide them UP.
This may have been the hardest change for me those many years ago. I didn't want to stop eating. I would go ALL day with just coffee and cigarettes so I could fill my belly from six until eight and then SLEEP. This is where the work story comes in. I have learned that I have to get up from the table. I plan a meal, eat it, and am done. How can I do this? I know that I am going to eat again in two or three hours... all the day long, until I go to bed. Eating every few hours throughout the day is probably the most important change you can make for your metabolism and endocrine systems.
Plan your meals! There is no office, family or social pressure that will get me to eat crap. I will not join in to feel good for a few minutes only to feel bad for the other 23 hours of the day. Now what I do not encourage for you is my rigidness. You would do well to do this 5 out of 7 days a week. I do it every day because that is what works for ME. I very much fear the unhappy girl of the past.
Here is the National Weight Loss Registry Link: This will give you evidenced based messages on how people lost weight and kept it off. Review your own history.. there is a lot there to learn as well.
http://www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm
And the joke was:
"Back away from the table and no one will get fat"
[there are some, albeit a select few, that have not struggled with food issues such as these...so if that is you and your weight AND your blood work are health promoting.. then, do carry on!]
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