WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY

This quote struck a bell with me because until I found my special weight loss journey, it was exactly how I felt. Up until I made my decision to take a life long journey for my health and started to see actual results, I never knew the feeling of the release of that weight. And, I might add, I am not talking about just the release of pounds. That is a big release but there is so much more involved.

    Up until the time that I made my decision, I was feeling like nothing would ever work and this is just how I would be for the rest of my life. It seems that I had tried everything. I was the typical yo-yo dieter.

Finally, after much research I found a healthy plan for me. It is not a diet. It is a lifestyle. It is the way that most people eat who do not have a weight problem. It was a big decision.

Yes, losing weight is hard but for me being fat was harder on me. My joints, my energy, my attitude - none of which were in a good place to be so I had a BIG decision to make.

My journey had to be healthy. After doing my own research several things kept coming up over and over again.

• Calories matter most for weight loss. To be honest, I don't do well with counting those calories. I just want to be in a calorie deficit so that I can lose weight. I found my journey that gives me that.
• Protein and fiber are important - It helps to read up on which ones are better for you and how much you can eat to keep you in a calorie deficit.
• High volume eating helps - for me this means eating healthy food with low calories often throughout the day. Basically eating in spaced out time frames so that I don't get hungry and grab something that I should not have.
• Exercise is not as important as you may think for weight loss. It is healthy to get up and move. Yes. But hard core exercise was not the answer for me. My recumbent bike works perfectly. 

• When I chose other "diets" it was true that I lost. Remember that 'cabbage' diet. But just as soon as you go back to normal eating, or whatever one believes to be normal, the weight will creep back on. If it can't be maintained then the results won't be maintained. And who could live on cabbage forever?
• Weighing myself once a day or even once a week may not be the best approach for me. My weight fluctuates so much that weighing monthly is my new way of checking out how I am doing. Truly, I can tell more in my clothes and how they fit than what the scales say. I have noticed that I feel happier and my emotions are not tied to that number on those scales.

• Getting back on track after 'slip-ups' and thinking long term is a MUST. I had a good plan for the holiday season. Something that I thought would work for me. Then, I became ill with what finally was diagnosed as a bacterial sinusitis and ear infection. I was placed on a very strong antibiotic. I had positively no appetite. No energy and spent 5 days in bed sleeping and resting. When I did eat and drink, it was a half a mug of chicken noodle soup and ginger ale plus some water. One would think that when I did start to feel better that weight loss would have happened. NOPE! It took me a while to get back on track. My first light meal consisted of a grilled cheese sandwich with the soup. I then made my goal to get myself back on track on New Year's Day. I won't say it was easy. Getting back into drinking my 8 cups of water each day has been harder this time around. My small meals were working but having the energy to make salads to go with my protein took a little more effort. I am proud to say that I am now back on target. With my motivation, getting enough sleep and seeing my energy levels returning to where they were is what has helped to work for me. 
• The big thing to remember is what works for me might not work for you. We are all individuals so it is important for each one of us to find what will work for us.