Success! The road to a healthier me.

In February of 2012 I was at the doctor’s and my blood pressure kept setting of the alarm on the machine, they put me on a scale and I found out I weighed 207lbs. This shocked me, I knew I was overweight but I did not know I had gotten that heavy. They put me on blood pressure medication at that time. I was 35 years old and thought I was too young to need blood pressure medication, this scared me. I stopped drinking alcohol hoping this would help my situation and I started trying to cut back on what I was eating. September of 2012 I stopped smoking as well. I had difficulty doing any physical task for any length of time; my blood pressure would just go up and up while I was trying to. I couldn’t mow the lawn or shovel the walk. In September of 2013 I found out my cholesterol was borderline; they told me I didn’t need medication yet but I needed to watch my diet and start exercising. I signed up with a gym and discovered I was down to 180lbs. I attended the gym regularly until I started a new job and started having trouble fitting it into my schedule. My husband signed up with MFP in May of 2014 and lost quite a bit of weight that month so I signed on in June. Since then I have logged everyday with the exception of a cruise we took in August. I have only been over calories one day and that was Thanksgiving, I was over by 36 calories and it still annoys me. In August of 2014 I was able to come of my blood pressure medication. In December I hit a plateau and had to start exercising so I started going to my local recreation facility and using their fitness center. I try to go down there four times a week but sometimes I only make it three times. In January I got a Fitbit and started tracking steps. It is now April and I have hit my goal weight of 120lbs.
When people ask how I did it I tell them the following things. First I have honestly tracked everything that has gone into my mouth. If it goes into my mouth it goes into my diary. I weigh and measure everything; I am no good at guessing about portions, I need to be certain. I allowed MFP to set my diet goals, I don’t know enough about these things to figure it out for myself. MFP never steered me wrong, I consistently lost weight aiming for their goals. I don’t have cheat days; I stay under calories every single day. I do allow myself little treats just about every day so I don’t need to cheat. I have found lower calorie options. I do not believe in fad diets (sorry beachbody people), I don’t believe they are sustainable. I believe this has to be a lifestyle change that I can commit to for the rest of my life. I eat normal everyday food. I do not eat back my work out calories. I believe we all underestimate the calories in our food and overestimate the calories we burn. I want to leave myself room for error. Workout calories are just bonus calories towards my weekly deficit. I walk a lot; I make sure I get a minimum of 10000 steps every day. When I started I had my goal as 7000 because I work a desk job so I wasn’t sure if I could achieve 10000. I found if I committed 10000 wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. I walk for half an hour every morning, half an hour over my lunch break and half an hour after supper. That gives me about 9000 right there so I only need to make up another 1000. These are some of the things I did to get healthy, I am sure there are others but they are many and this covers the basics of it.
I am not perfect, none of us are. My overeating is like a tiny monster that lives inside of me, it is an obsession that always cries for more. I have not had the luxury of giving myself any leeway. If I do, that little monster gets bigger and stronger and cries for more. I had to commit 100% to my program in order to keep the monster under control. That meant not playing games and tricking myself into believing I could play the games to eat more. I kept things very black and white with no grey areas. I had to keep it simple so the monster stayed at bay. I believe I will be a life-long member of MFP because I don’t think the monster will ever leave me completely.
If you are starting out I suggest that you find friends who are successful, the ones that have lost substantial amounts of weight. Get a fitness tracker and get active. I’m not saying you need to go to the gym every day, I am saying get moving. Be honest with yourself, log everything accurately. I have heard it said whether you do or not your body will keep an accurate log of what you eat. There is no easy answer, it is work. For me it was calories in versus calories out. I had to burn more calories than I consumed and sometimes that meant I was hungry. However being hungry was worth it! I am strong, healthy and I look great! Know it is possible and you can do it!