Raising (Technically Lowering) the Bar

springlering62

I sincerely hope this motivates someone who may be looking at MFP for the first time. If you’d asked me nearly four months ago, if I’d be sitting where I am now, I would have laughed in your face. It hasn’t been hard, it’s actually been a pleasure learning new things about myself and my capabilities. If I can do this, you can do it, I promise you, but you have to commit yourself. This is not a diet. Diets are temporary. This is a total change of lifestyle, and you can do it, too. I am you, just probably shyer and heavier.

So, on September 5th I went in for my annual physical, and left with the usual dietary suggestion handout, and a brand new prescription for thyroid meds. I picked it up on the way home, read the handout (which resembled Bilbo’s contract- the one that unrolled out from his hands onto the floor) , and was horrified. Why would anyone want to put this stuff into their body? I called the doctor’s office the next morning, and said,”Can you give me 90 days and retest me before I commit to this stuff?”

I began at 216 pounds. Several weeks in, the dietician I consulted suggested MFP, which has been a godsend. (BTW, two sessions with the dietician was worth every penny. Take a written list of everything you’ve eaten so she can scan through it quickly, and a list of every stinking question you can think of. Repeat for next session.)

On my weekly weigh in today, I have now passed forty pounds shed. I was shooting for 169 (I forget why- it was some threshold or other at the time). Now I figure I really need to raise (lower?!!!) the bar, since I should be there within a month.

All the tests a couple of weeks ago came back terrific. No longer need thyroid, no longer pre diabetic. My doctor was ecstatic. I guess it’s very satisfying to them when a patient finally follows their advice.

The GERD, which was the unholy, controlling, demonic bane of my life- like having Satan living in my throat and jabbing at it with his pitchfork- disappeared within a week of getting the crap out of my diet. The aches and pains are starting to go away, too.

I can not only do “knee to nose” and plow poses in yoga now, I’m suddenly (well not so suddenly lol) able to get body parts off the ground in arm balances that eluded me in the past. It’s not pretty to look at, but I’ve got a few limbs in the air! I’m having a weird time coping that I’m no longer that “fat chick” who has to prove herself. I treated myself to some new workout tops today, since my old ones had reached my knees. Buh-bye XXLs. I bought M!!!! (*insert happy dance*)

I have been pretty active for the past few years, but am also a mindless (as opposed to mindful) eater. I could easily down a giant bag of M&Ms and a family sized bag of chips a day and still be prowling the house for something else. A lot else. I made your average binger look like a dainty eater, like Scarlett O’Hara after her corset had been tightened,

Now, I very rarely eat sugar, bread or dairy. We used to eat out several times a week, but not at all now unless we are traveling. I bet I’ve eaten more vegetables since September than in the past decade. I’ve learned to make almond milk and have it down to a science. When I permitted myself to eat goodies at a weeks worth of Christmas parties, I rejoiced that, even with the (probably thousands 😬) extra calories, I still lost a pound that week. I guess I was more mindful about it. Instead of binging, I gave the giant box from the cookie exchange to the kids next door. There’s a candy bar in the fridge that’s been there for two months, as a deliberate temptation. Who is this woman?!

I emptied my closet a couple of weeks ago, and realized this morning, I can dump even more baggy clothes. Yeah I feel guilty and wasteful, but holding big clothes back “just in case” invites negativity and back sliding. It’s like rationalizing failure in advance. Cleaning clothes closet and dresser prompted me to clear out the other closets and cupboards as well.

I started a neighborhood walking group to take advantage of a lovely new path that opened a couple of blocks away, and am hitting 15-20,000 steps several days a week. I am very, very fortunate my town, including my favorite yoga studio, are walkable. I am retired, so have the luxury of six or seven yoga and pilates classes a week, and one of my volunteer gigs involves sidewalking special needs kids riding horses to make sure they don’t fall off. I love doing it + bonus mileage! Win/Win!!!!

Food is cleaner, closets and cupboards cleaner, I’ve left a few friends and family behind who weren’t positive influences,so I find my attitude, what I give and receive, is cleaner. My husband is loving the home cooked meals, although a few have been a bit more experimental than he’s probably happy with! And we have more disposable money now that we aren’t eating out umpteen times a week.

It’s only forty pounds, and I’m still overweight. (But no longer obese!!!!!) I want to be in the ranks of some of you big rollers in the next year. I am humbled by many of your stories. I know it’s unrealistic to think I can keep losing at this rate. We leave on a major trip in seventeen weeks, on the trip of a lifetime we’ve decided to repeat,. My goal for that date is sixty pounds total. That’s nineteen to lose in seventeen weeks. I think it’s doable. My new goal is that the people we travelled with last year don’t even recognize me. And my new goal for the year will be 75. That’s 35 to loose in the upcoming year. I expect, and accept, that if it trickles down to half or quarter of a pound a week, that’s healthy and wise. Wow, oh wow. I can’t believe that even with that, I’m over half way there, it just seems to strange. My mind hasn’t caught up with this yet.

Bring on 2019!

Health, prosperity, happiness, and determination to all of you!