Back in May I started weight loss involuntarily after a very stressful life event meant I couldn’t eat for a few weeks. But when I started to feel better I realized I had a jump start on a weight loss journey and decided to keep it going in a healthier way.
I don’t know my starting weight because I hasn’t weighed myself in ages, but my highest recorded weight at the doctor’s office was 278. I’m pretty sure I was close to that weight when I started out, and maybe about 260 when I decided to keep it going.
My goal weight is 200. This morning I’m at 201.8.
I downloaded the Lose it app and started tracking all my calories as best I could. I deliberately decided I’m not going to be “obsessive” about it so I don’t weigh my food or create my own recipes - I just find the closest thing in the database and do the best I can. I know that weighing food will results in much more accurate calorie count, and kudos to everybody who has the headspace for that! But for me, I need to maintain a more relaxed attitude or I get into a bad mental health space.
I already had a pretty good diet because I am a good home cook, so I just focused on portion control (my bugaboo) and trying to get enough protein. Also trying to have my go-to high calorie snacks in the house at all. I don’t usually eat junk food, but I do go for high calorie snacks like a couple ounces of cheese, a handful of nuts, and some dried fruit. It’s not that nuts or fancy cheese are bad for me - it’s that that snack plate has about 600 calories! So now I eat a cup of unsweetened yogurt with frozen berries (150 cals) or some baby carrots with hummus (80-100), or even a few slices of salami if I’m craving something salty and fatty (60-100).
That’s about it for my diet rules. I can eat whatever I want and I’m not even very strict about daily calorie goals - as long as I’m staying under maintenance by even a little. But I’ve really upped my exercise a lot.
When I say I exercise a lot, I mean for ME. I was almost 300 pounds, with severely fucked up knees and other joints. A one mile walk was a major big deal. So I started walking in 10 minute increments, between appointments. I made sure I got in a mile of dedicated walking every day but I didn’t have to do it all at once. I aim for 11,000 steps overall daily, exercise and regular activity together. I hit it about half the time, but I find that setting a high goal keeps me active. The days I don’t make 11k, I usually make 10.
Since it was summer when I started, and I live in a place with a nice lake, I did a lot of swimming. Swimming is great for really fat people with joint issues, like me. No pain and no sweat!! Now that it’s winter I really miss swimming. After I lost thirty or forty pounds, I upped the exercise again. I started doing yoga for twenty or thirty minutes almost every day (shout out to Yoga with Adriene on YouTube). Or some short body weight workouts. And I started doing HIIT on my treadmill. Only ten minutes at first, but it helped a lot. Now I’m up to 15 minutes at a time.
I get discouraged. I’ve been through some REALLY long plateaus where I was doing everything the same but not losing any weight. One lasted 8 weeks. During those times I try to focus on NSV - non-scale victories! And there’s always something. Maybe it’s a skirt I couldn’t wear before that now I can. Maybe it’s a compliment from a friend. I tell you what it was a great day when I could make love in the missionary position with my husband again!! Maybe it’s just “I’m not as tired as I used to be.”
I only have two pounds left to get to my goal. That might be next week or it might take a month to get a weight where I can reliably have a weight that starts with a “1.” But I’m gonna make it.
Good luck everybody! If this fat old broad could do it, you can too.
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