So I just got my results back from my annual physical...they hadn't done a blood test since 1999, so they did one this time and mailed me the results.
My triglycerides are high. Yikes. I'm way too young for this! I do, however, have some weight to lose, and diabetes and heart disease run in my family...
Besides the fact that weight loss is not easy in general, I am really afraid to begin another weight loss program. I tend to obsess when I do this - to the point where I experimented with laxatives and diet pills in high school. I was able to stop doing this on my own - but every time I have tried to lose and start becoming obsessed, my kneejerk reaction is to quit altogether. My rationale has been, "Better to have some weight to lose than to develop an eating disorder!" I have been happy with myself lately, and even started to think of myself as gorgeous...
But now I am faced with the medical and scientific reality that I DO need to cut back on my sugars (in other words, carbs - I don't eat a lot of sweet stuff, but I am a big-time carb lover!) and I DO need to take off some weight!!
Any suggestions and especially prayers would be appreciated. $$ is really tight, so joining Weight Watchers or even buying a weight loss book is pretty much out of the question...thanks in advance!
I want to encourage you - stay away from the whole anti-carb thing. It's about balance and health above all else - plain and simple, and you need to actually plan for some carbs. I cannot even believe I wasted a moment's time in the past on the whole no-carb thing. Ugh! I could not have kept up with that for more than 2 days, and truthfully I didn't! (Mashed potatoes is my #1 favorite food. I can't not have them - I know this - so I have to work with it.) I eat mashed potatoes about 5 times a week, no kidding. But I plan for it. I eat them with no-fat gravy, both at home & in restaurants. I am a carb lover too, and I still eat them, but in balance. I have a ton of fruits & veggies a day. In fact, while I'm writing this to you right now I am having my afternoon snack. Non-fat Vanilla yogurt with granola and fruit thrown into a pretty glass with "Cool Whip Free" on top. Wonderful!
I know you have a membership at Curves. Keep it up. Go even when everything in you doesn't want to. I go to the gym five days a week. If I can't for some reason, I do a work out at home. (Usually Leslie Sansone's walk off the pounds - kickboxing is my favorite) I don't do Wednesdays & Sundays because it's just too hectic with church, but the other days I do. Even when I'm away, say at district council or something, I use the hotel gym. My normal workout is 45 minutes on the elliptical machine and 15 minutes of weight training, mostly for my arms and abs. I'm blessed in that the development I live in has a gym as part of the perk of living here - it's free and convenient. I would encourage you to take advantage of your Curves membership at least 5 days a week if at all possible. Do it on the way to or the way home from work.
Find new things to eat that you dont' even know you like yet. Go down the veggie aisle and try everything there over the next few months. I make a ton of fresh veggies for dinner including asparagus, zucchini, brussels sprouts, etc. etc. My son Dustin ate a whole bowl full of asparagus one night and thought it was green beans until I told him otherwise. He loved it. I stir fry them in a wok with a little bit of olive oil (1-2 tsp) and some salt and garlic. Delicious! You can basically eat those until you are blue in the face if you are hungry - you will not gain weight. You can't overdose on veggies. A lady in my WW class was eating bowls of spinach (just to fill up, she was so hungry) and she asked the teacher if she was overdoing it. Our teacher just said, "Nobody here ever got fat from spinach. Eat as much as you want." With veggies, I eat unlimited except for starchy ones.
If you don't already have a grill make it next on your list to get when you have some money. We grill most of our food. We have a little basket we use on our grill for fish, shrimp, etc It's great. We eat chicken and seafood most of the time. Usually sirloin once a week as well.
Watch out for salads. They are not automatically low fat. For me they are a treat. I dont' like fat free dressing, so allow myself a regular one about once a week. What I do is order a huge salad in a restaurant that has mostly low fat ingredients or no fat. Then I use one serving of dressing (regular) and mix it up good. For me on WW, that is only about 4 pts for the dressing. My favorite is Southwest Salad at Crispers. Although that salad is about 10 pts. on WW by the time you add everything, but I account for it and treat myself to it now and again. Be careful not to do salads everyday though and think you are staying lowfat. Many things on the salad bars are not low fat.
I eat lots of soups (non creamy). Most are low fat. Instead of late night snacking, if I am working late and absolutely famished again, I will eat a cup of chicken noodle soup, with a few reduced fat crackers. (Ritz are my favorite) Or I will have a few reduced fat ritz, and a piece of 2% cheese. Also among my favorites are any kind of low fat icecream or frozen yogurt. When I go to an ice cream place that has the "mix -ins" I do the low fat, and then get fruit thrown in.
Have you tried the new Diet Coke with Splenda? Definitely worth a try. Most of your favorite things come in a low fat version. Seek it out. Remake your favorite recipes.
Remember, it's not about a race to lose weight....dont' hurry. It is a lifestyle change. It's taken me almost 7 months to lose the weight I have, and I'm still going. I am not in a rush, nor do I get upset when the scale says I've only lost a pound a week, or even 4/10ths of a pound or such. It all adds up! It doesn't matter how long it takes, I'm in it for the long haul. This is my life now. And I don't do ANYTHING I can't live with the rest of my life. (i.e., I can't do without potatoes for life, so I'm not doing without them now. I include them. I know I would quit eventually if i didn't.)
Special ministry events (banquets, etc. parties) seem to come along every week. I plan for them. If I have an evening event, I eat every 3 hours during the day as I normally do, but very low calorie things.
Hope these things help to encourage you. Ask me anytime...I am always finding out new things and seeking out tips as well!!! BTW, not sure if you saw it but Oprah had a show on last week about top weight loss tips & snacks. It was great.
LOL at the "no carbs" thing! I have always deemed myself the "Anti-Dr. Atkins" because I would never just give up an entire food group, nor would I replace said food group with a bunch of fatty meats...
DH and I are working on gradually replacing our simple carbs with more complex ones (i.e. whole grain bread instead of white, etc.) - just because we've found the complex carbs fill us up for a longer period of time. But completely give up potatoes, rice, bread, or pasta? NO WAY!! Plus the other deal with Atkins, South Beach and the like is that you don't get to eat much fruit. Huh? Fruit is GOOD for you. And as you said with the spinach, I didn't get to this point by eating too many apples and oranges!
I am very familiar with the Weight Watchers points system - I actually joined for a short time a couple of years ago - and as far as "programs" go, I feel like it's the best out there...especially for pastors, lol, because a lot of times we don't have control over what we are served, but we can certainly control how much of it we eat! So I still have most of the stuff, including the slide rule and a counting bracelet that a friend made for me, and what I don't have I can find online - I may try to go back and count points again.
I know I need to get a grip, and that it's all about portion control and balance. But my formative years were the late 80's/early 90's, when the whole "low fat" craze was in full swing and everyone was counting fat grams and doing aerobics in those ridiculous Jane Fonda leotards!
It's also scary, since my grandpa dropped dead two years ago from a heart attack brought on by his diabetes, which developed as a result of poor eating habits (and too much drinking over the years, so I guess I'm safe there!). Everyone in my family who has died has done so due to similar issues. So this was a major wake-up call for me to get my act together!
But anyway, I'll take a deep breath and come up with a reasonable plan! I can do this. I am the most determined, goal-oriented fighter (that last one is actually from a prophetic word that was spoken over me!) that I know!! And I'll look on the bright side...just by working out 2-3 times a week at Curves and switching to diet soda, I've lost 15 pounds since last July.
Talk to you all later...heading out tomorrow morning for my long weekend...the first vacation I've had in about three years!!
So I still have most of the stuff, including the slide rule and a counting bracelet that a friend made for me, and what I don't have I can find online - I may try to go back and count points again.
