Your Three Top Ways Of Beating Fat!!

Sounds like attitude is an important component of the success

Hi, I have received a few emails asking if I would share something about myself. I did not want to bore people but if I may, here is a brief summary of my thoughts about my own weight management experience. Hope it is of some minor interest:

During one of my darker, more frustrating moments in my life, I calculated that I have probably gained lost and regained 800 lbs during my 55 years of life.

I am reminded of the joke when the smoker says to the doctor..."I am great at quitting smoking... I have done it dozens of times". So....I am a serial weight looser which brought me to the door-step of MFP two years ago....and even then I remained on the roller-coaster of weight gain/loss. It was only after a visit with one particular specialist who gave me a clear sense of what might be happening in my body and how I was destroying my life with my weight problems and more importantly the harsh ups and downs of gaining and loosing weight I forced myself to wake up.
Once I got my head around the fact that I was insulin resistant and my poor, weathered metabolism had become "tired" of the truckloads of insulin required to manage the sugar in my blood, the real possibility of diabetes loomed: to say nothing of the uncomfortable, implicit byproducts of being obese (poor posture, limited physical agility, rapid ageing, terrible self-esteem, depressed thoughts, constant hunger, shame etc).
Despite the scientists who promulgate the evidence-based knowledge in a number of these forums preaching the simple concept of "calorie deficieny" (eating less then the body needs), I found that what I ate, when I ate and how much I ate was equally if not more important than calorie counting and exercising. I basically nuked sugary foods, pastries, chips, chocolate, fast foods and even diet cokes and pretend healthy foods (macro's etc) and just focused on protein-rich foods:eggs, chicken, lamb, some cheeses and lots of vegetables. I limited fruits, nuts and all starches as well as wheat products (with the exception of the occasional gluten-free slice of bread with heaps of butter). I started cooking with coconut oil only and consumed lots of water (2 to 3 litres a day).
In three months, I have lost 12 kg (30 lbs approx) during the past 3 months and this is my first time that weight loss has been consistent and honest. I am not starving myself, utilising protein shakes, Jenny Craiging it, relying on diet pills and appetite suppressents, or any of the other dozens of "tricks" available (and attractive) to desperate obese souls.

Just eating differently and enjoying moderate and consistent exercise. Simple but effective. And I know I will finally reach to my coveted 85 kg dream . I know I can do it this time as I have internalised the process and am not engaging my previous resentful, half-hearted ways. I used to think that I was entitled to eat whatever I wanted. What a strange way of thinking. Food is not an entitlement, it is a necessity and what we get to do as thinking entities is to make choices and distinctions between what we would like to eat and what is good for our bodies. What we think sometimes is not helpful and going with useful information and tried and tested strategies takes our own subjective wants and needs out of the equation. Not easy to do but possible.
The brain has the capacity to change the way it thinks about food, eating and physical movement in a profound way. However it takes time to entrench new neuropathways in our thought processes. If we don't stick to the changes consistently every day and do what needs to be done like it or not, the "elasticity" of weight gain and loss becomes the reality for so many of us. I guess this is why fad diets are so unhelpful to most individuals.
Thank you for letting me piggy back my story onto yours. Isn't it wonderful to discover what we are capable of and how we can continue to learn, develop and improve ourselves?? Let's keep thinking and feeling inspiring thoughts and emotions.
S