I was one of those "skinny" people. I didn't matter what I ate, I could not for the life of me gain weight. In high school and in college my mom would joke that I looked like a Dachau survivor.
I never complained about my weight. I didn't want to be one of those skinny people who complains that they are "fat" - which I knew I was not. I had a beautiful very classy size 2-4 wardrobe.
I didn't particularly exercise - I was active and occasionally started some regimen. I even joined a gym at one point. But I never had a weight goal or anything like that.
When I turned 30 or even before then, but that's when I noticed it the most, my metabolism changed. I started putting on pounds. Not a lot, mind you, but some. Each year at my check-up I'd hear "You're getting closer to that max weight for your height."
I never dieted in the past, having no need or motivation. I couldn't eat if I wasn't hungry. I often left food on my plate. It was like I just couldn't even swallow food if my stomach was remotely full. Somewhere along the line I got over that.
My father had done Adkins for quite a few years before he moved out here to South Bend. One Christmas I was reading the South Beach Diet book at my mother-in-law's house and I thought it kind of made sense. I had my dad start cooking low-carb (easy for him as an Adkins-minded person) and I even joined South Beach on line.
I don't remember keeping track of my weight, but I do know that if I did loose any weight it wasn't much and it didn't stay off long.
I jumped from a size 2-4 to a size 8-10. Granted an 8 does not look bad on me, but I certainly wasn't used to the hips I'd developed (nor the belly that was looking like I'd recently been pregnant.)
In January I was in Albuquerque and my mother-in-law and (now) sister-in-law and I went shopping and not one of us found a single thing that we liked or that fit. It was depressing.
In May my neighbor asked me if I wanted to start walking in the mornings. I said "sure!" And we started. We walk every morning for 30-40 minutes around our neighborhood. If the weather is not nice we do a Leslie Sansone video. I bought a scale.
In July my office started an initiative called "Get Fit for Life" which was sort of an awareness thing to make people think about the food they eat and the activity they do. I kept track - even did a daily dairy of my food intake a few days.
My problem was that even though I was kind of proud of myself for stepping up the activity and being mindful of food choices, I wasn't loosing any weight. Not a single pound. My scale said 159 for the LONGEST time and if it didn't say that it said something within a pound of that. I did not want to breach the 160 mark.
My mother-in-law (after our disastrous shopping trip in January) joined Weight Watchers. When I saw her in May she looked great and in July she was down-right skinny (size 4's were falling off her!)
When I got home from our Albuquerque vacation, I decided to give it a try. I found a meeting, went and joined all on the first of August.
Now, 5 weeks later I have lost 7 pounds. I realize it's not a lot - but I'm only trying to loose 20, so that's like 1/3 of the way there.
My favorite part is keeping track. I like to track things. So now I get to go online after every meal and input what I ate and find out how many points I used. Only one week (the [in]famous Petersen Reunion) did I exceed my points for the week (by a lot, and mostly due to alcohol intake). That week I only gained .2 lbs.
I like looking for recipies and trying new things (Turkey Italian Sausage is very good!) I like feeling like I've created a well-rounded meal. I like checking off the number of vegetables/fruits that I've eaten in a day (I have trouble getting to 5 everyday). I like checking off how much water I drink (I have trouble getting to 6 cups every day).
They asked us at the meeting today why we are losing weight - what reason right now makes losing weight important. In all honesty (besides the pat answers of wanting to be healthier and more energized) I want to fit in my clothes comfortably and I want to not cringe every time I see a picture of myself.
I feel I need to trim the excess in my life. Not just food. We have too much of everything. Last week I went through all my clothes and got rid of 4 bags determined to keep A) only stuff that fit in my closet and B) only stuff I really like and feel good in. I kept going to the master bath and got rid of two bags of little bottles of hand lotion and almost empty shampoo containers and make-up built up over the past 6 years. I went through my jewelry and put each necklace together with it's matching earrings. Got rid of any single earrings. Polished that which was very tarnished.
Now I can easily find something to wear in the morning but I can also find jewelry, shoes and a purse to match.
I hope that I am able to continue my trend and move to my scrap booking stuff - getting rid of everything that I'm not currently working on.
Limits and Boundaries. Limits and Boundaries. If I don't have any for myself, how on EARTH will I pass them on to my impressionable children?
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