9 months into it and 80lbs down so far.

tintinsaab wrote: »

You look great. Well done. I would love to hear more about how you changed your diet to achieve these great results.

As far as diet, I eased my way into it at the beginning. I was so used to heaping portions of food every time I consumed something (and I still have this desire at times, especially at supper and in the evenings) I set to .5lb/week. I didn't even look at my macros at first, I was only watching the calories. I didn't yet own a digital kitchen scale, so I made use of whatever measuring spoons and cups I owned, plus my Mom’s old weight watcher’s scale, which I was never sure if it was really calibrated quite right.

I met with a nutrition coach and wellness nurse, who helped guide me into the next phase, which was looking harder at my macros and my activity level. I originally had them set to watch cholesterol, fat, sugar, protein, and sodium. I am on meds for cholesterol and high blood pressure, which are pretty well under control now (and was not pre-diabetic, even though it runs in the family) so I changed a few macros. Because of my colitis I started watching my fiber instead of my cholesterol, which rarely even hits 200mg/day. And instead of watching sugar, I watched overall carbs. (Although, MFP PTB take note, if they start labelling added sugar, I would like an extra slot to start monitoring that.) My nurse has me set to 40g or less a day on fat and 2000 or less on sodium. I have to say that is a struggle for me, and I still rarely get those right. Definitely my current nutrition challenge! I eat a moderate to high amount of carbs, and I count them the net way, subtracting fiber, hoping to keep the number to 200g or so. I haven't cut out sugar or white flour, although I have cut way down. Ditto for cheese, soda, lemonade etc. I have learned to love herbal tea.

I did bump up to a 2lb/wk setting for quite a while when I got the hang of things, and usually lost 8-10lbs a month unless I was in one of my 3 week stalls. But right now I am set to 1lb per week on MFP, which has me down to 1300 daily cals at that level. Since I get hangry, I just try to get enough activity in that so that I can stay most days between 1400-1600 cals. (I am hoping that this is close to what my TDEE will be at goal weight. *fingers crossed*)

As much as anything else I do food-wise, prelogging is a huge part of my success. Just as I am terrible judge of portions and need a kitchen scale, I am a terrible judge of how my cals and nutrition will play out over a day or week without writing it all down ahead of time. That’s not to say I don’t have any flexibility. If hubby brings home good chocolate and I want it, (and I always do,) the dessert yogurt and whatever other evening snacks come off the list so I can squeeze the chocolate in. And if I am a little over on cals that night because of it, I don’t sweat it. I just rein things in the next day. I am a big believer in looking at my nutrition and calories from a weekly perspective.

So a good menu for me looks like this: (I substitute teach. On non-subbing days, I sleep in a bit more and call my 10 am snack breakfast.)

5 am breakfast: Banana with natural peanut butter

10 am snack: Apple (With nuts if it’s not a workday)

Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly on oatmeal bread, or a big field green salad and a deli flat chicken or turkey sandwich with mustard or guacamole.

3 pm snack: Dry Fiber one cereal (with nuts if I didn’t have some earlier in the day)

Supper: Lemon Rosemary chicken, half a baked sweet potato with a teaspoon (5g) of Smart Balance, and a sprinkle of pre-measured salt, and half my plate filled with roasted broccoli, on which the rest of the pre-measured salt goes.

Dessert/evening snacks: Strawberry Greek yogurt with grapenuts mixed in (the serving size on both depends on how many cals/macros I have left from the day,) 3-5 sugar-free hard candies and/or diet hot cocoa with flavored creamer.

Drinks: Herbal tea and Stevia as desired throughout the day, along with lots and lots of water. (I used to avoid drinking much as I have bladder issues, but losing weight and going through physical therapy to get my pelvic muscles in shape has allowed me to drink more. And be more active again.)

Since activity level really has made a difference for me in how I feel and how I have been able to lose weight, I will mention a little about that. In the beginning, I started walking in July and trying to just get through a 15 minute beginner Zumba that I modified for my knees. Hubby got me a Fitbit in late August, and it was such an eye opener for me! Just like I was grossly underestimating my food intake, I was massively overestimating my activity level. I am still doing beginner level Zumba and aerobics, but can do them for longer stretches now. I can walk farther and with more energy. And maybe most importantly in some ways, I am just moving in general a lot more. If I don’t like the way my FitBit dash or MFP numbers are looking, I start pacing the house, or I jog in front of the TV during a fave show. I’ll even bust out a few salsa moves while waiting for a pot to boil while cooking. It’s all helped!

I still struggle with the old impulse eating urges, although the purge urges have not reared their ugly heads so far. I am hoping those got packed away with my need for a perfect body. I am trying new things and new foods, even if I haven’t cared for them in the past. (When I was younger I was hyper rigid about what I would and would not eat or do. Going grey and getting older helped me to let go of what I clung on to so long in my youth. I had to let go of the need to have the perfect super model body under my clothes.)

I am taking my bipolar meds and using my CPAP and trying to do the things I need to do to take care of myself. My parents died young. Dad before 65 and Mom before 60, both of heart attacks. I don’t want that, so I do what I have to do so I can have a _good_ long life after being a sad and angry couch potato for years and years. I do worry a bit about backsliding, like I have so many times before. (Especially when the bipolar turns back towards depression.) But because of my lifestyle changes, I have more energy. I can do more. I feel better about myself. And I love not being the largest woman in the room any more, which was happening to me more and more frequently.

So to help make sure I don't lose what I have worked so hard for, I keep a top 10 reasons list handy to help me remember why I want to be healthy:

1) To live long enough to finish raising my boys.

2) To live long enough to meet my grandchildren.

3) So I will never fall through another camp chair. In public, at an outdoor concert. :^(

4) So it's easier and less embarrassing to get up from the floor.

5) Because 300lbs got wayyy too close. (Ditto size 5X.)

6) To get off of some of these meds.

7) So I will feel better, and feel better about myself!

8) So I can maybe go on a hike with hubby. (If he slows down.)

9) Because living life on a couch or in front of a computer is no life at all.

10) So I can run faster than the zombies!