Some thoughts on losing weight

i am pretty much an expert on losing weight.   gaining back the weight, also.

like i said when we first began this  biggest loser experiment,  i’ve lost and gained the same 40-45 pounds multiple times during my life.

i would lose it over 2-3 months.   i had a couple of favorite diets that would always work for me.   i would get fed up with my clothes fitting too tight and feeling crappy all the time,  so i would bite the bullet and dive head first into one of my favorite diets.   i would start working out again.   and the weight would come off.

and then over the course of the next year or two,  i would go back to my old eating habits and the weight would always come back.   same thing every time.   because of my wonderful body type,  nobody ever really notices weight gain or weight loss too much.   so this has always been a very private battle.

the past couple of years have been tough.   i found myself giving up.   for the first time in my life,  i was having conversations with myself about resigning…about accepting that i was never going to be strong and healthy and…young…again.   i was battling depression.   it was beginning to affect every area of my life.

i had lost motivation.   my knees were hurting more than ever.   the steroid shots and anti-inflammatory medication was not working the way it had in the past.   the doctor talked to me about knee replacements.  ugh.   the herniated disc in my back began to flair up more frequently.   the doctor used the word degeneration. double ugh.   arthritis in every joint.

i can’t even dunk a basketball.   never could, but i just thought i’d tell you.

i was tired all the time.   it was getting harder and harder to concentrate when i studied.   i really missed playing sports.  i mean i really started to miss it and began struggling with the fact that i may never play…anything…again.   in spite of all the great things  about growing older and wiser,  i was stuck on the negatives.   something had to change.

i admitted two things.

first, i couldn’t keep doing things the same way.   my weight loss – weight gain patterns were unhealthy and ultimately they were failures.   i couldn’t do the same things and expect different results.   only an idiot would do that.

so,  i’m an idiot.

second, i knew i couldn’t do this alone.   i had always taken pride…yeah, that nasty little thing…in being able to lose weight whenever i wanted to,  without anything but my own will power.   that’s the problem with pride and will power:   sooner or later,  you will fall.   every time.   and i did.   every time.

that’s where the padre’s biggest loser idea came from.   i thought if i included others in my journey…and made it our journey…i would have some honest and healthy accountability.   it couldn’t hurt.

so here’s where i’m at.   after 10 weeks,  i have lost 15 pounds.   15 pounds!   in the past,  if i hadn’t lost 15 pounds in the first three weeks,  i would have quit.   this time it’s different.   here are some things that are different for me this time around:

my weight loss goal is to lose an average of 1-2 pounds per week…not 8-10.   i’ve learned (through reading and experience) that slow weight loss is the only real way to keep weight off in the long run.   slow, methodical, a-little-bit-at-a-time weight loss.

i don’t get disappointed if i don’t lose any weight in a particular week.   i’m a tortoise, not a hare.   this is a marathon, not a sprint.   a huuuuge change of perspective for me.

i don’t diet.   i just eat differently.   i’ve learned to make healthier food taste better.   go figure.   wanda and i are loosely following the abs diet. you should check it out.  a simple, eating plan.  i’m always full and always satisfied.  i still eat all my favorite foods.  here are some of my eating rules:

1. i eat oatmeal for breakfast 4-5 days a week.   raisin bran or cheerios the other days.

2. i eat six times a day.   i always eat between breakfast, lunch and dinner.   apples,  bananas,  string cheese,  cashews, almonds, clif bars, yogurt, etc…

3. i don’t count calories.

4. i eat until i’m full.   i seldom overeat.

5. i only weigh once a week.

6. high, high fiber meals.   beans, whole grain pastas, eggs, roasted vegetables, avocados, leaner cuts of meat.

7. no late night meals.

8. lots of smoothies.  my usual snack at night…or a bowl of cereal.

9. 9-grain whole wheat sandwiches from subway or the grilled chicken from whataburger are my favorite fast foods.

10. i’ve cut out my two favorite trigger foods: chips and salsa…and chocolate chip cookies.  but i can still get my mexican food fix by a bowl of beans with a side of chicken or taco meat from bueno…with lots of pico, onions, jalapenos and salsa or a burrito bowl from chipotle with double beans and a side of guacamole  or a couple of chicken tacos or breakfast tacos from fuzzy’s.   not bad.

11. an added benefit to the abs diet is the requirement of going off the eating plan for one meal a week.  no joke.  one meal a week we eat anything we want…pizza, buffalo wings, hamburger and fries, chips and queso, whatever.   it’s a necessity to jump start the weight loss metabolism to keep burning fat and not muscle…and we really look forward to it and make plans for it all week!

12. i drink tea and water and a lot less diet coke…but i still drink a little.

so there’s some of my journey.   what about you?   anybody want to write a guest post about your weight loss experience…good or bad?   we’re in this together.   anything we can do to help each other is money.

anybody new want to join the padre’s biggest loser? there’s always room for more!

#biggestloser #diet #weightloss