Where do I begin? First I was a skinny kid staying thin into most of my adult life until I hit 40. I gradually gained weight through the years beginning at age 25 with about 1 pound every year or so. I was okay with what seemed to be a natural progression my body was taking until I quit smoking-rapidly gaining as never before.
I have always eaten well, cooking and preparing foods from good ingredients. I seldom ate fast food, hate frozen foods, not a big sweets eater and I generally don't over eat. My regime was that I ate 3 meals a day rarely ate past 7 p.m. as a normal course. Don't need Activia. My body was functioning like a thin person so why was I fat and not thin anymore? I was eating as always or at least I thought so.
It seemed to all cumulate at one time, age, menopause, quitting smoking which resulted in gaining 15 pounds. Then it was surgical menopause a few years later which tacked on another few pounds. Having understood some of the reasons that both contributed to a gradual and rapid weight gain I embarked on remedying the problem.
I am one of those people who can abstain from something or follow a specific guideline because I want to give my all so it will work. My mindset is if I follow exactly as prescribed then the results would happen. What a crock of horse hockey. I followed everything the weight gurus say to do. This was my biggest mistake. You have heard it all but to reiterate drink plenty of water, eat whole balanced foods in small portions cut out fats and starches, exercise 3-4 times a week with at least 2 of those times adding weight-bearing exercises. I did that and nothing-at least nothing that made a difference happened.
First it was walking 3 miles a day with walking poles or power walking for years. The results were unseen health benefits and a slightly slimmer waistline but no weight change other than a few pounds. While walking I quit eating bread and drinking diet soda. I am not a big sweets eater so abstaining from this wasn't a problem. I have never binged nor had any of those cravings people who are overweight seem to have. After a few years I was only a few pounds thinner-all that walking with 5 or so fewer pounds to show for it.
Then I decided to stop walking for several months. Surprisingly only a change of a few pounds occurred so after more research thought maybe I needed to add weight training to an exercise program. Once again I wholeheartedly followed a regime with a personal trainer working out 3-4 times a week. I ate no more than 1300 calories a day-tiny meals sized against playing cards, my fist and a measuring cup. This I did for over 2 years. Guess what I gained weight. I was told that muscle weighed more than fat. Am I nuts but it screws with one's mindset to exercise to lose weight but gain instead? Listen all you personal trainers I wanted to go down in size not become Mrs. Sculpted Body-like that was ever a reality.
At the same time I went to a nutritionist who told me my diet was good but to cut out pumpkin seeds as she deemed this one aspect contributing so I did this-while exercising with a personal trainer-while taking Phentermine as well. So all along it was the pumpkin seeds. I haven't eaten them since and guess what? Now don't burn any brain cells coming up with the answer here. The reality was I 13 pounds heavier than when I first started-having lost 7 pounds with all the expert help and advice. If I had lost 15 or 20 pounds I would have kept up with it but the dismal results combined with an increased foot problem (plantar fasciitis) made continuing seem pointless. I followed all the advice so then I thought maybe I was just going to have to accept that my body was where it wanted it to be.
I finally realized that traditional diets and methods seem to focus on people who have a history of gaining and losing. Outside of the rapid gain at the time I quit smoking everything else could be attributed to age. So I said enough to everything. No more avoiding certain foods I like. I will never spend one dime on exercise plans, useless machinery that collects dust or resort to eating foods I don't like. I think people's biggest disappointment is all the hype of any product is not about what it does for you but how it increases the seller's bank account.
Just a note, I truly believe that exercising is beneficial to one's overall health but, for me, didn't work as part of a weight loss regime. Walking is good for overall health benefits but you may not lose more than a few pounds.
Then this year I broke my leg but it wasn't the broken leg that caused the change it was the doctor. I still continue to have pain as a result of the fracture. He told me I should consider losing weight which may lessen the pain as well as reduce my changes for other diseases to occur. Really, you don't say? Diet and exercise, nah you be funnin' me. I related all the things I have done for the last several years in my attempt to lose weight. I then added if he had a better idea than I was all ears.
Then as simply as one could say something he said "Don't eat." I said, "What, are you crazy?" That goes against what everyone says to do.
He continued with don't eat for several days or only randomly. Go on a liquid diet. He noted people sustain themselves on a liquid diet for life. I said life wasn't all that as it was but I should drink broth for the rest of my life? He suggested diet pill and prescribed Phentermine, which I said while he was writing add a prescription for a gun because if a liquid diet is my only option, I might as well shoot myself. He laughed.
He said to skip meals or fast and cut down my portions from what I normally ate by half. I said I only consumed about 1200 to 1500 calories a day, which was what the "gurus" said I should do. He said maybe the experts are wrong. Maybe what my body needed was different than what others did. If eating 1300 calories a day I couldn't lose weight then maybe 1000 calories a day or less. What a revelation. Finally someone said something to me that made sense or at the very least was totally different. So why not try because this wasn't going to cost me more than a few pills.
Here is how I began for 2 days I skipped breakfast and lunch only having dinner. For dinner I cut my portions a little at first then more to about now half of what I used to eat. I did cut out fats such as potato chips. Initially I took the diet pills daily for about 3 weeks but now I only take them occasionally-meaning a few times a week.
I eat all the things I love to eat including such foods as bread, cheese and olives. I eat much less and skip meals. I also combined breakfast and lunch into one mid-morning meal. I don't exercise or drink water beyond being thirsty. I started to avoid really cold foods as this is supposed to be counterproductive to losing weight. While I modified my portions I still eat all the foods I enjoy. I would rather eat less of what I like than more of a food that I don't care for. Since I like the same foods and eat them often I now know how many calories each contain. Every day I mentally calculate so by the end of the day I omit a food if I have exceeded my allotment. I think I achieve the 1000 calories a day but don't actually add it up.
I lost 13 lbs in 2 months. When I was young I ate less and only when hungry. I think making this radical change jumpstarted something for me. I change it up each day some days I eat 3 times and others once. I still watch my portions but when I make something I really like to eat I do just that. I think the routine became its own bailiwick for me.
The experts should design a food routine around a person's preferences not some useless standard that works half of the time. Telling me to eat turkey on whole wheat with low fat cheese just plain sucks I don't like it and don't want to eat it. I would rather eat less of what I like than more of another. If you have health concerns then some foods might have to be avoided entirely. I had no psychological attachment to food. I found foods I liked to eat and ate them as I always did. My body changed in time but I needed to make adjustments to its needs.
A simple statement led to a simply philosophy that was cook from scratch, keep portions small, fast or skip meals. Eliminate junk food from your diet. Keep moving or light exercise. I don't know if this new formula will work forever but it's doable and one can't argue with the results. All this writing has made me hungry. I think I will have some bread, cheese and olives. No low-fat or reduced this. After all, food should be enjoyed but we don't have to stuff our faces with it.
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