WeightLossthoughts.com - A Weight Loss Blog

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.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I wish I could show you a picture of me. In fact, I’d planned to do so, but my camera and my computer are being uncooperative. So, I’ll post the picture when I get everything up and running.

For now, let me tell you about me. My name is Debra Stang. I’m a medical social worker and a novelist and freelance writer. I’m 5′6″ and weigh 294 pounds. Yep, you read that right. Not 194. Not even 249. 294.

I wouldn’t mind my weight if we were only talking about looks. In fact, there are many fat women I find extremely attractive. But the truth is, being fat is harming my health and stopping me from doing the things I want to do with my life.

My blood pressure is high. My cholesterol is high. I’m diabetic. My feet are swelling. I can’t even gather up a load of laundry or walk half a block without huffing and puffing like a steam engine. I don’t fit into some chairs or airline seats. My doctor has told me that at my current weight, I could easily suffer a heart attack or stroke and die…or worse yet, spend the rest of my life incapacitated. I believe her.

But enough of “poor me,” because I’ve decided to do something about it. Over the next two years, my goal is to lose half my body weight to get down to a weight of around 145. I can’t afford chefs to cook my meals for me. I can’t afford weight loss surgery. So I’m going to have to do it the old fashioned way–that means some big lifestyle changes.

Along the way, I plan on reading books about dieting and talking to doctors and nutritionists–I’ll share their wisdom here. I’ll talk about what works and what doesn’t and each month–camera willing–I’ll post a new picture of myself and my current weight.

I suspect many of you reading this are in the same boat as I am. So let’s start this long journey together, you and I, fighting an uphill battle to health and fitness.