August 15, 2007 12:06 PM
Even my toes are thinner!
I have to say the final stretch is somewhat harder than the beginning. I really find myself wishing I could eat what I like when I like. But I am determined to reach my goal of losing 100 pounds.
When I started my diet in February 2006, at 252 I weighed almost twice what I should have weighed. I lost 75 pounds or 30% of my weight by September.
After maintaining my weight for nine months, starting agin last month, I needed to lose just 25 more pounds but I'm finding it harder as the scale seems to have slowed down enormormously.
I have lost 10 more pounds, so now just 15 to go.
But it is amazing - even my toes are thinner now. And I am determined to be healthy the rest of my life.
Articles like this one help:
Obese? that's because you eat too much.
This article - and picture - captures a lot of my thoughts about how we keep accommodating people who are developing alarming health problems - like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, foot and skin diseases - all because they are overweight. It makes no sense to keep pushing pills to treat these illnesses on patients who basically need to be told to stop eating more than their bodies need.
And who is making money? The entire food industry and the drug industry as well. Just think what Michael Moore could do if he embarked on a serious diet and exposed how the lack of individual responsibility has made us all have to pay more for health insurance. shouldn't we all be trying our best to become as healthy as we can?
I am so grateful every time someone tells me that I've inspired them to start a diet. Because it's a journey full of spiritual and emotional lessons that you just can't experience any other way. I personally would never go the gastric bypass route because I would not want to surrender to limits imposed from the outside. I needed to learn how to make decisions and set my own limits, then stick to them.
15 pounds to go....And then I might decide on another 15, we'll see.
Just thought I'd fill you in on how it's going.
Comments
Wonderful! Thanks for the update....willpower and discipline are "catchy"...
Good luck on the last 15.
Posted by: Marie | August 15, 2007 12:44 PM
Hi Barbara!
Good for you on your weight loss!! That's awesome! I know how hard the last few pounds can be. I had my first child two years ago at 38 and am struggling to lose 15 more pounds of baby weight. I seem to have no willpower lately and am grabbing every piece of chocolate in sight. It doesn't help that I work in a doctor's office where the patients bring us homemade treats like rumcake and heavenly hash. But no one is holding a gun to my head...Anyway, I will lift you up in prayer for those last few pounds and ask if when you think about it, please pray for me as well. I need to be led by the Spirit whose fruit is SELF CONTROL(Galations 5:22). May we give God the glory in our trimmed down bodies!! Thanks!!
Posted by: Libby | August 15, 2007 2:13 PM
Barbara, Thank you for the encouragement to change my life.... I have been doing "The Lord's Table" and knew that the problem I am having is with portion size. Your articles have been wonderful and so helpful! Thank you so much! You are truly an inspiration! Thanks for the update, too! I was wondering how it was going for you!
Alicia
Posted by: Alicia | August 15, 2007 2:33 PM
Keep up the good work, and finish STRONG!
You might have seen this and mentioned it already in a post, I just forget- the movie Supersize Me was very, very convicting for me. I don't order too much from Mickey D's anymore. It isn't a movie for the whole family, but there is a lot of redeeming value to adults seeing it.
Posted by: Valerie@Consider It Done | August 15, 2007 2:40 PM
Oh so true. Congratulations on the weight loss. The funny part about the picture above is that the person is drinking diet coke.
Posted by: Amy | August 15, 2007 2:43 PM
You might find this blog interesting....
http://fanaticcook.blogspot.com/
It's about weight loss, nutrition, food safety,....a variety of things to do with health.
Posted by: Lavender Blue | August 15, 2007 3:03 PM
Hooray for you, Barbara! I need to lose about that much too, but don't have your courage to go public about it. You are the inspiration I need to get going and lose!
Posted by: Leticia | August 15, 2007 3:11 PM
you're an inspiration. congratulations on your weight-loss so far - and on deciding to continue on till you meet your goal!
Posted by: emily | August 15, 2007 3:27 PM
Good for you, Barbara!
Posted by: KatieButler | August 15, 2007 9:16 PM
I so admire your determination and would like to join you for the home stretch. Like other posters, I, too, have about that much (about 11 lbs.) to lose to get back to my pre-baby weight. I was pregnant, then nursing, then pregnant AND nursing, then just pregnant, then just nursing, and now am weaning (inasmuch as the baby is eating some solids, but I'm not forcing the issue). So now I finally have no excuse not to lose the pounds....except exhaustion and lack of time. Does anyone in a similar situation have some suggestions that don't involve ceasing to sleep altogether or treadmilling it with a toddler underfoot?
Posted by: Marisa | August 15, 2007 10:17 PM
Barbara- Good for you! You can do it!
Posted by: Lauren | August 15, 2007 10:35 PM
Some suggestions for Marisa that don't involve losing more sleep (totally understand that one!):
1) Make a meal plan for the week. A healthy one. Take yourself into the kitchen whenever you have a free moment to pre-chop something, so that you can just dump pre-chopped containers of this and that into the pan when cooking time comes. Or, even better, get it all into the crock-pot before lunch, and then you can ignore it.
2) Take the kids to the park (if possible, walk to the park), and then play with them there! (Bring/drink lots of water, if your weather is anything like ours has been -- hideously hot/humid!)
3) When you really need a work-out, spend a while scrubbing at the most stuck-on gunk in your house -- for me, it's usually something in the vicinity of the bathtub. You'd be amazed how much of a workout scrubbing can be! Switch which hand you're scrubbing with, so you get a workout on both sides. For a good lower-body workout, try cleaning out the basement/garage/attic -- lifting all those heavy boxes of junk/trash properly, by bending at the knees.
Also, a general suggestion: There's a lot of people who say that they've tried dieting before, and just didn't lose any weight -- or else couldn't keep it off. In many cases, this is a matter of willpower and/or a lack of understanding of a proper balance of calorie intake and activity level. However, in my case, it was also a matter of biology. I was diagnosed last fall with insulin resistance, something that had never shown up in a one-hour glucose test but did show up on a three-hour glucose test. Once I was on medication for that and was given dietary guidelines specific to my condition, weight loss became possible -- willpower was still necessary, but it was possible where it hadn't been before. If willpower has truly been applied to a weight loss problem and hasn't worked, I think doctors should be consulted to find out what else might be going on -- not to apply patches to fix all the problems of the obesity, but to help the person figure out why willpower alone isn't helping them lose weight. I'd been saying for years things like, "I've tried to lose weight, and it just doesn't work;" finally, I found a doctor who believed me.
Newt
Posted by: Newt Sherwin | August 16, 2007 8:58 AM
Barbara--I started the Fat Flush diet because of you!! I've been on it 3.5 weeks and I've lost 15 pounds, but I didn't start exercising until last week. Nonetheless, I already feel considerably better after getting off my *Diet Coke* and sugary snacks, but I think I've figured out I have a wheat sensitivity, which is a huge discovery for me. (Love that cranberry water, by the way!)
I am so glad you are sharing your journey with us. Keep up the good work!!
Posted by: Jill S | August 16, 2007 9:17 AM
Way to go, Mrs. Barbara!
I've been really struggling the last few months with my desire to lose weight and my desire to eat chocolate. It's been worse since we're back in the States and in a place where it isn't easy to get much exercise- I miss my two flights of stairs and my safe and easy walking/shopping/playing places.
This is just the encouragement I need. I'm already in the process of joining Curves with my mom and have been working through the emotional issues that have been wearing me out lately. Now maybe God can work in me to have the strength to say 'no' to extra treats and choose healthier things to cook and feed my family.
Posted by: Cheri | August 16, 2007 2:46 PM
Barbara!
You're inspirational!
You're beautiful!
While reaching my 45th birthday this year, I am realizing that I need to work harder at what I'm putting into my mouth. If I lost 10 lbs, I would be very happy at that weight. I know that doesn't sound like much and I'm thankful that for all of these years, I've been naturally at an idea weight, but the metabolism seems slower as the years go by. Thanks for sharing so honestly.
Jody
Posted by: Jody | August 16, 2007 5:10 PM
lol. I am fat because I eat too much.
I don't think it was until just recently that I was able to admit it. Your weigh loss journey has been a real inspiration to me.
My goal weight is above the "ideal" on the charts, though it is where I am healthy and comfortable at (and where my hubby likes me!), still that's about 70 pounds away and a daunting thought indeed, especially since I'm in the midst of my childbearing years. sigh
Eat less, move more. :D
Posted by: Margaret | August 16, 2007 9:24 PM
