I Lost 70 pounds! How I did it, and how I feel now.

I was at work the other day and my good friend and colleague came
over to me and exclaimed, "I can't believe how thin you are getting,
you look so great!  I saw an old picture of you the other day, and you
have really come a long way."  I asked her to send me the picture because I deleted it, along with all my other pictures. (Which were rare because, I did not like to have my picture taken.)  (Yes, Morgan and Madisyn, you were right.) I am posting it here, because I think it is important to be honest with myself.  It's good to recognize that this wasn't a happy or healthy me. I am being real here.  I decided last year, to make real resolutions.  It was late January that I joined weight watchers.  I walked into that Saturday morning meeting at 730 am and I was angry!  I did not want to be there.  I was sad too, because I really did not want to feel deprived of food. I am a food addict.  Like any other addict, letting go is scary, and hard.  "Loosing weight is hard, being fat is hard, pick your hard!"  After the meeting a woman, (now a good friend to me), came over and said, "Hi, I'm Sherry, welcome." This really made a big impact on me.  I found a group of people that are super supportive, open and real.  I am just like all of them.  Our issues with food are so similar that we can relate to each others struggles.

 I went home and figured out the weight watchers (ww) app.  It is really easy and great!  I bought healthy food and I started to make small changes.  There were times when I thought I would quit, it was hard.  Connect was a huge impact for me.  Connect, if you're not familiar with ww, is an online sort of "facebook."  People share their stories of struggle and success.   It is incredibly relatable.  Times when I thought, "I want to eat," I could get on there and get some inspiration, or motivation.  I also found a recommendation for a book called, " It was Me All Along."  One of the best books I've read and really made a difference to me in this journey.  Something I read in the book was a story about a time when this woman was in Over Eaters Anonymous and she was feeling out of control and ready to binge and the sponsor she called said, "can you just wait until tomorrow and we can revisit this tomorrow?"  Okay, that hit me.  Like, whatever is getting to me, making me want to eat out of control, can I just put it aside until tomorrow.  Yeah, like we all know, sometimes what scares us in the dark of night, isn't so scary in the morning.

I was loosing weight steadily, until June and July of 2017 when I hit a roadblock.  I got the shingles at the end of May that affected my cranial and trigeminal nerves.  I suffered vertigo and severe migraines.  I couldn't move.  I couldn't drive myself.  I was at a stand still with my weight loss and it was scary and frustrating.  Anyone who has ever battled with weight loss knows that gaining weight back and the thought of it is extremely frightening.  My husband recognized this and he said, "you aren't doing anything.  You aren't working or moving, because you're sick and once you start moving again, it will come off." I also had two women consistently texting me from my ww group.  Them checking in routinely and my husbands support really helped me get through that tough time.

I came across a video by James Smith.   He has a blog and he is a big fitness guy from Australia.  He did a video about women and weight loss.  It's called "The Unspoken Elements of Female Fat Loss."  You can find it on Facebook.  I watched that video 3-4 times.  I also shared it on my Facebook page several times.  The key take away for me was, "women who increase protein in their diet and add resistance training, do much better with weight loss and they keep it off longer."   I had an aha moment.  I couldn't run or walk far really, but I could sit on my weight machine and lift weights.  I started small.  I do not intend to be a body builder.  I just want to loose weight and tone and have some strength as I edge into my 50's.  I also concentrated on eating fewer carbs and more protein.  After about two weeks of this, I started noticing the weight coming off faster.  I was onto something.

I continued to improve in my health and since I signed up for the "Flying Pig" half marathon, I started to walk on the treadmill.  In October, I added some light running to my routine.  My weight continued to fall.  Now, with weight watchers, I never did feel deprived of anything.  If I knew we were going somewhere, I would eat less throughout the week so I could enjoy a beer or two or eat a piece of cake.  This new ww program is livable.  It is something I could and really have to do forever.  I have to go and be accountable, just like someone in AA.  I'm in WW.  I am an addict.  Like Randall from "This is Us" says, "We all have our stuff."

So my weight loss breaks down like this:
Feb 2017- 13.6
Mar - 8.4
April- 11.4
May- 8.4
June- 4.6
July- 0.2
Aug -4.0
Sept- 5.0
Oct-  0.8
Nov-5.6
Dec- (+ .8) this is when the plan changed and Christmas!!
Jan 2018- -8.8 (I had the flu and lost 4.4 pounds the week after, since this beginning of this post, I have gained back some of that in January, but I know I will get it off.)

Now, if you add this up and it doesn't come to 70, I probably made a mistake somewhere.  There are definitely some ups and downs, but I am happy with the consistency of it.  The less I have to lose, the harder it is.  I am really looking at the food I eat.  I am buying more organic foods and cutting out processed foods.  I am eating meatless meals two days a week.  I am eating beans, that's right folks, beans!  If you know me, you know this is huge.  I don't eat kidney beans and I never will.  But, I tried and like garbanzo beans and broad beans and black beans.  I am trying new recipes,  like I made a fantastic Taco soup, that everyone in the house loves.  I am eating more fruits and veggies.  I read a book recently called "Medical Medium" and it's a real eye opener about food and things we should eat, like lemons and celery daily, and things we should never eat, including eggs!  GASP!! I know shocker, they are a source of tumors and cysts.  I highly recommend this book as well as a short movie called "Forks over Knives."

Now onto what my routine is:
I follow weight watchers and track my food daily.  (Even if I am over, I track)
I exercise 4 days or more a week. This consists of walking/ running on the treadmill, until the weather improves for at least 35-60 minutes.
I lift weights 3 times a week (A 90 year old women said this, "Strong arms and legs is what gets you on and off the toilet when you are 90 years old!")  If that doesn't motivate you, I don't know what will.
I do planks daily,  I hate them, but I swear those suckers work!!
I stretch three days a week, especially my back, I should probably do this more often.
I have signed up to walk the Flying Pig half and I will also do the Queen Bee half. ( I do this to keep me moving and motivated, also, the Queen Bee is a ton of fun, and so is the Pig!)

I do not deprive myself, I believe that leads to overindulgence.  If I want something, I plan for it, so that I eat healthy most of the week and splurge a little on the weekends.  I am also able to do so many more things that I couldn't do before.  I went kayaking for the first time ever and loved it!  I also did some serious hiking and zip-lining! 

I have a goal to meet my weight loss goal by my 50th birthday.  So about 15 more pounds to loose.

 So there it is, the raw truth!  I am not perfect in this and I will probably always struggle.  A woman at ww last weekend said this, "we have been gifted this one body,  it's a sacred thing really, and it's the only one we get.  Think about that every time you put something in your mouth."

I would love your feedback, comment below.  Follow me next month as the zero spend challenge extends into February and I share the rules that we follow and sometimes break.  I will share our spending and saving.