WeightLossthoughts.com - A Weight Loss Blog

In the good old days–or should I say, bad old days?–I used to bake wonderful, gooey chocolate cakes or bring home boxes of cookies or fudge. With my sweet tooth, they survived about six minutes after I got them out of the oven or into the door. Actually, that’s probably an exaggeration. Some of them might have made it a whole 48 hours. But you get the idea.

As part of my dieting plan, I have banned sweets from the house. Oh, I’ll occasionally pick up a dessert at a drive-through and snarf that down. I have no intention of giving up chocolate entirely. But that’s one dessert from time to time, not an entire box full of forbidden sweets sitting in my kitchen tempting me.

And even though I’m being pretty liberal with the non-sweet foods I eat, I’m still holding my own weight-wise. In fact, I should finish this month a couple of pounds ahead of my goal of 6-7 pounds lost per month.

Of course, I know eventually I’ll have to address the quantity and type of non-sweet food that I eat, but for the moment, taming the sugar monster is enough.  

As anyone who’s been following this blog knows, I’m not fond of physical activity. That’s an understatement. I actually hate it.

In fact, I hate it so much that I’ve managed to remove most healthy activity from my life. For instance:

• I don’t clean my own apartment anymore. I have a cleaning service that does that.
• I do most of my shopping online, so no need to walk in the mall or the strip mall.
• I microwave most of my meals so I don’t cook.
• When I shop, I park as close to the entrance as possible.
• I drive everywhere, even if it’s just to the library across the street.

Hmmmm…is anyone starting to see a pattern here? I somehow manage not to do the daily tasks and chores that burn calories in the average person. It’s a very convenient way to live, but not a great way to be healthy. So tomorrow–another of my baby steps. I’m going to cut my cleaning service down to once a month and do the rest of the cleaning myself. That ought to get me started moving again.

Either that, or I’ll end up living in filth. At the moment, either scenario is perfectly possible.

BTW, thanks to everyone who has dropped by to read and leave encouraging comments. It helps to know I have people on my side wanting me to succeed. I can’t wait to post that last picture with me at a svelte (for me, anyway) 150 pounds.

I’m a hospice social worker. Several days ago, a confused client I see in a nursing home asked me for a cigarette. Knowing that smoking was strictly forbidden in the facility, I handed him my ink pen instead. He “smoked” it happily for several moments, then handed it back to me, leaned back against his pillows and said with a smile, ”That was great.”

He no longer craved the nicotine, but smoking had become a habit, something to do with his hands and mouth.

I’ve figured out that that’s partly what food is to me. When I’m stressed, when I’m tired, when I’m working at my computer, when I’m reading in my easy chair, I’m used to having something to munch on. Food has become my security blanket, if you will.

Today, I took a few minutes and came up with ten alternate activities to do the next time I get the munchies. Most of them are G-Rated.

1. Walk on my treadmill.

2. Play with silly putty or a slinky

3. Chew gum

4. Drink water

5. Catch up with paying bills

6. Clean house

7. Polish fingernails

8. Play with my cats

9. Call a friend who won’t encourage me to eat.

10. Have really great sex (Hey, I said most of these were G-Rated!) 

If you have any other ideas, or if I’ve left out your favorite method for keeping your fingers away from the fromage and your hands off the ham, please leave me a comment and let me know what I’ve missed.

Well, I’m off to do an activity to distract me from thoughts of food. Naturally, I won’t say which activity.

I weighed myself this weekend and found that I’d lost 7 pounds from when I started my diet in August. So…I’m a little ahead on my goal for the month and still have about two weeks to go. 

I know weight loss slows down after the first few weeks, but it still feels like I’m off to a roaring start. Yea!

I bit the bullet and saw my doctor yesterday to talk about weight loss. It wasn’t easy. Even though all diets start with those famous words, “Be sure to consult your doctor before…” I doubt that many people do it.

A lot of the visit confirmed what I already knew–that I need to make some radical lifestyle changes and I need to make them quickly to preserve my health.

My doctor did offer a couple of pieces of excellent advice, though. First of all, she recommended that I join a weight loss program for support and information about learning how to eat right after years of eating wrong. She suggested Weight Watchers, and since I respect her opinion, that’s the one I’ll try. I’ll let you all know how it goes.

Second, she gave me permission NOT to exercise. Well, not to exercise much at first, anyway. She listened sympathetically as I told her my tales of woe–not being able to stand to walk on the treadmill, barely being able to walk a few steps without getting short of breath and sweating like I’d just finished a marathon.

Then she confirmed that some of the weight will have to come off before I’ll be able to do much in the way of exercise, but that diet alone should help with the first few pounds and after that I probably will feel more like walking.

Then she told me not to push myself too hard. If I’m only comfortable walking for one minute, start out walking for half a minute, and if I need to, increase by 30 second increments each week. Her theory was that if I push myself past the point of exhaustion and learn to hate exercise, I’ll never want to do it, but if I keep it manageable, I may learn to adapt.

She also advised against weight loss pills. She said that in her experience, they help get the weight off fast…but after a few months, the pills stop working, and the weight comes right back on again. She said that if I’m really going for long-term, permanent weight loss, I’ll leave the pills alone. That was a little disappointing. I guess I’d still hoped there would be a magic bullet. But, no such luck.   

I was pleased that her attitude was very supportive and friendly and not in the least condemning. Even though I’ve known and trusted this doctor for years, I’d had nightmares that she would laugh at me or lecture me when it came to this particular issue, but instead she treated it with the same thoughtful care with which she has addressed all of my other medical problems. I felt very heard and respected.

Well, I’m off to sign up with Weight Watchers and then walk on my treadmill for half a minute. I’ll let you know how that goes!  

Because I’m diabetic, I was thrilled to come across Glucerna Weight Loss Shakes. When I tasted them, I was even more thrilled. They actually tasted like chocolate instead of cow dung like some other weight loss shakes that will remain nameless.

My thrills ended, however, when I took a good look at the nutritional information. Each Glucerna Weight Loss Shake contains 290 calories (ironically, that’s 90 calories more than the Glucerna shakes designed to help people gain weight). On top of that, they contain a shocking 39 carbs.

They also use fructose as their main source of glucose. Fructose, as I’m learning from my reading about nutrition, does not create the feeling of satiety that other types of glucose do, so you’re hungry again almost right away.  

Finally, the price is not right. Four cans will set you back about eleven dollars. If you drink one shake a day, you’re looking at a price tag of about $20 per week. If you drink two shakes a day, you’ll be paying about $40 per week.  

I wrote a letter to the company asking about these concerns and received a very pleasant and prompt response. They state that Glucerna is good for diabetics because it keeps the blood sugar levels from spiking (through the use of fructose). The shakes are intended to substitute for a meal, hence the higher calorie and carb count.

My only problem with this is that Slim Fast shakes are intended for the same purpose, and they come with 180 calories and 26 carbs.

So, Glucerna definitely has taste going for it. The manufacturers (who also produce Ensure, by the way) seem to be nice people who truly believe in their product. But Glucerna doesn’t satisfy my hunger, and considering that I usually need to eat again just a couple of hours after drinking the weight loss shake, the calorie and carb content is unacceptably high as far as I’m concerned. I can’t recommend it.  

I feel so virtuous, so pure, so…so much like a damn rabbit.

I had a salad for dinner. My body, which is used to something more substantial like steak and potatoes, hasn’t quite forgiven me for the change yet, but I think I could get into this salad thing. First, lettuce, celery, carrots, and their cousins are all low cal, a good thing if you’re trying to get the weight off.

Second, they take a little while to eat. Think about it. I can scarf a steak down in under five minutes, but chewing all those individual little lettuce leaves took work…and time. By the time I finished the last bite, my body was sending me signals that it had had enough to eat, thank you.

Third, even a kitchen moron like me can make a salad. Throw a handful of lettuce into a bowl. Add a few refinements like like carrots, peas, celery, walnuts, raisins, or peppers. Perhaps an itsy, bitsy handful of grated cheese or sliced meat. A dash of your favorite salad dressing–but only a dash, you don’t want to give the thing more calories than a Big Mac–and serve.

There. I’ve done it once. Now I just need to keep doing it. My goal for the week is to eat a salad in place of one of my usual meals every day this week. My nose is twitching in anticipation already.

I’m not a numbers person, but today, floored by a migraine headache and bored silly because I couldn’t read, I decided to do some playing around with my calculator. My goal is to lose 150 pounds in two years. That comes out to 6.25 pounds per month, or about 1.6 pounds per week, give or take. In order to do that, I’ll have to find some way to cut 800 calories per day from my diet. Ouch.

Well, not that much of an “ouch” really, since I’m already eating far too many calories than are good for me.

I usually skip breakfast and eat fast food (MacDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s) for lunch and semi-fast (KFC, Boston Market) for dinner. Does anybody see a few places here where I could probably cut calories

Obviously, my first step is going to have to be starting to home cook more meals to get control over the calories. Problem: I’m not a good cook. You hear people joke about how they can’t boil an egg? The last time I tried to boil an egg, the water evaporated and the egg ended up hard as cement. Also, on my current salary I don’t see gourmet baking lessons in my future, so perhaps I’ll compromise and buy microwave dinners from Weight Watchers, Healthy Choice, etc. As for lunch, I can take a salad or a nutritional bar to work. Maybe a salad and a nutritional bar since the experts say it’s good to eat small meals throughout the day.

Breakfast…I suppose I shouldn’t skip it. At least, all the diet books say you shouldn’t. Maybe a can of Glucerna weight loss shake or a bowl of cereal.

Well, my migraine isn’t any better, but I’m feeling less panicked about this whole idea of dieting. I’ll have to make some definite changes, but the numbers aren’t too terrifying. I can do this. I can.

I had my first migraine headache today. Actually, I had it on Friday and it lasted through the weekend until a nice emergency room doctor gave me a large shot of morphine this morning. I can feel it creeping back now.

My reactions are mixed. On the one hand, it was nice to finally have a health problem that wasn’t the fault of my weight. (At least, I don’t think obesity can cause migraines.) On the other hand, once the pain started getting under control, I wanted comfort food. And for me, comfort food does not entail salad.

I’m supposed to see my personal doctor tomorrow morning (got my appointment bumped up from the 15th–yea!), so I’m going to ask her for weight loss advice at the same time we’re going over migraine prevention tips. I’ll let you all know if she has any words of wisdom.

Speaking of words of wisdom, I’m asking you, my readers, for a few as well. When you are watching what you eat, how do you nurture yourself? In other words, how do you nurture yourself and comfort yourself when snarfing a huge piece of chocolate cake or a thick slab of country fried steak smothered in sausage gravy is out of the question? I can usually self-soothe fairly well with reading, but of course that doesn’t feel terrific when you have a migraine, either. Any other ideas? Anyone?

I haven’t been doing so well this week, folks. My walking and sit-ups have just kind of fallen by the wayside. Part of that is being physically sick–headache, cough, just ugh. But part of it is a kind of rebellion. I’m still not 100% ready to change. I would say I’m in preparation stage. What, you ask, does that mean? Read on!

Over the years, researchers have identified five stages of change.

1. Precontemplation. The soul in the precontemplation phase is blithely unaware that a problem exists–or at least refuses to admit it to themselves or to anyone else. Three hundred pounds? Big deal! Buy an extra seat on that airplane and get on with life.

2. Contemplation. In the contemplation stage we begin to admit to ourselves–and sometimes to others–that a problem does exist. I’m definitely there. I fully own up to the fact that I’m not happy with the strain the extra weight puts on my body. I want to be able to walk up a flight of stairs again, or walk more than half a block without huffing and puffing, or sit down in a chair without worrying that it will crack under my weight.

3. Preparation. Preparation is just what it sounds like. We’re preparing to change. In my case, that means I went to the grocery store and bought celery and lettuce…I just haven’t eaten much of it yet. Preparation is circling the wagons, gathering all of our forces together before the big moment…

4. Action. Hell’s a popping as things finally get going. During the action change, we make those changes we’ve been thinking about making. If I were in the action stage of change, I’d be walking on the darn treadmill and doing the situps. I’d also be eating more of the salad.

5. Maintenance. This is the long term part of change and probably the hardest stage to maintain. It doesn’t have the heady activity of action. While you may get positive strokes for losing weight, very rarely does anybody give you positive strokes for maintaining a healthy weight. You’re kind of on your own, kid. Perhaps for that reason, it’s normal for people to slip (relapse) and recover regularly during this stage. Sometimes the relapse takes you all the way back to square one (such as when you gain back all the weight you’ve lost), and you have to start the stages of change all over again.

So…I’m preparing. I’ve got the right foods in the house. I’ve banished most of the wrong foods. I recently bought the book You on a Diet and am getting ready to read it. I’m gathering my muscles like a cat getting ready for a high leap. Now I just have to make the changes.

Keep tuning in to see how I do…