MY 100 POUND JOURNEY

bbrandi82 wrote: »

Tonight is date night. Any tips on how to choose healthier options at a Chinese restaurant? I would like to keep it lower carb and high protein, but there's so much sauce on food items.
I have kept to my commitment of 30 minutes of exercise 3 days this week and it feels great to keep promises to myself. I know this will be lifelong because I'm willing to be honest with myself.

3rdtimelosesit wrote: »

Here we are starting 2024....it's a new beginning. A time to forget the past and look toward the future. It's a blank slate on which we get to write the chapters for our new story. What will your storyline read like?? For me it's going to be a #1 hit!! Welcome to all the new members of our group.

2023 was my yo-yo year. But at the end I did manage to keep off 7% of the weight that I had dropped since May 2022. So not a complete failure but not as successful as I had planned. At the end of 2023 I had lost my motivation and partially tosssed in the towel. But as I stepped into 2024 I realized that things were not a gloomy as I was making it out to be in my own mind. Those self depreciating thoughts were a product of the onset of my winter depression. I have suffered from depression for over 30 years and take medication for it. But I've discovered that the amount of vitamin D I get from being outdoors does affect depression. And we all know we hibernate during the cold winter months as we age. So time to up my vitamin D doseage for a few months. I learn more each passing year as to what affects my eating and weight. I have no problem during the day but have terrible issues with late night eating. And once I start it can turn into an all out binge fest. So it's best to nip it in the bud before it gets started.

So with all this new knowlege I am arming myself with new strategies. Up the vitamin D, go to bed earlier to eliminate the late night visits to the fridge, up the fluid intake and make a plan for getting body movement that is fun and not seen as a chore. What that is exactly is yet to be determined but for the month of January it's going to be walking around the corridor of my local hockey arena watching my team practise. I can cheer them from the upper deck. I feel if I change things up each month it won't seem so much like exercise. And of course as the months pass and the weather warms up getting outdoors will be welcomed. And my downtown core and mall shopping is with 1/2 hr walking.

When I started my journey May 2022 I was looking at what seemed like an insurmountable amount of weight to drop. I was at my highest weight ever.....333 lbs. I got below 299 a couple of times but it happened right around Christmas. Sugar is a binge trigger for me and denying those buttertarts and pecan bars just didn't happen. Once I started it seemed so hard to stop. So I didn't.....till my daughter came to dinner and I sent all those goodies home with her...lol

I have suffered from severe body pain these past 3 years with sciatic problems, periformis mucle pain, extremely painful tight hip flexors limiting my walking, severe knee pain from previous surgery, shoulder pain from 2 rotators surgeries and slipped vertebrae. With the help of a great chiropractor I have overcome all of these issues along with the usual body pain caused by natural aging. 2024 will be the year to take back my love of kayaking, biking and swimming.

I now from experience that this will be a hard journey in the coming year but if I have a plan and do my best to follow it, I'm setting myself up for success. I started out having to drop 158 lbs which was an overwhelming to look at. I've broken that number into 10lb. increments so it doesn't look so daunting. Now this number is down to 135 lbs....still huge but not as daunting as when I started. I hope to drop 60 lbs this year.....if I achieve more than that I'll consider it a bonus. And then I'm looking at 2025 another 60 lbs. That leaves 15 lbs for 2026. At the end of that drop I will have dropped 52% of my total body weight. I'm not sure how I'll handle that in the end as I currently find thinking about losing 1/2 my body size as unachievable. So it's best not to think of the end game but in the separate parts of the journey. If we look at the smaller picture we won't get so scared and overwhelmed. So here's to the next 10 lb. drop. (I try not to say lost as something lost is something we try to find. I have found it way too often. Change of mind set here).

Happy losing to everyone in the coming year!

7freshflowers wrote: »

Yay! Evelyn! I’m so happy to have you back in 2024. You’ve been with me since MY 100 POUND JOURNEY first began, more than two years ago. It just wouldn’t be the same without you. ❤️

I suffer with occasional bouts of depression also. Thanks for the good advice. I too, need to “ Up the vitamin D, go to bed earlier, and up the fluid intake.” I also need to increase my iodine intake because I have hypothyroidism. I refuse to take those drugs the doctor prescribed. Medicine, is a nice word for dangerous drugs. ☠️ I’m positive if I continue to do all these things, it will increase my weight loss this year.

7freshflowers wrote: »

I’ve discovered that a high carb diet seems to work best for me and gives me more energy.
🍌 🥔 🍠 🌽 🫛 🥖 🫘

Every time I go low-carb, I eventually start craving carbs, and go nuts, eating everything in sight. 🍰 🍫 🍦

Carbs fuel my brain. 🧠

I LOVE Garbanzo beans. The Goya brand is the best. I open a can, rinse them well, and eat them like popcorn. 😋