I know I could up with a nicer way to say what is fact, but sometimes you just want to be brutally honest with yourself. If this was a blog about something other than food/diet/weight then I would certainly not write my first post about my body.
One of the perks of getting older is that your larger sense of yourself is not derived from your physicality. When I reflect on who I am, I think of my relationships, my talents, my interests, my beliefs... and pretty low on that list is my weight.
However, it is still there. My body does affect all of me. Therefore it is important. Something I like to forget sometimes, which gets me into the trouble I'm in right now.
Like a lot of you, I've had a lifetime of weight fluctuations. I started to gain weight with my first child and so began the roller coaster weight ride.
I am a Weight Watchers Life-time member. That means that after I lost my goal weight (40 lbs) I maintained it for a few months. I actually maintained much longer than that in large part because I started to teach WW meetings. That is very motivating!
When I moved across country (actually, moved to the US from Canada), having just had my 5th child, I stopped teaching WW and focused on my growing family and craft business.
The last 16 years are a bit of a blur. But during that time I lost my 'baby' weight, but of course, gained it back and got to an all-time high in 2005. Lost 25 lbs from there and swore to myself that would never happen again. I never lost the rest of the weight, but was happy to just not be 'that heavy' again.
Sadly, yes, I did get that heavy again. In fact, just this past year.
I could write a book about why that happened. But I can condense into one word: Balance. I'm just really, really bad at this. I tend to throw myself into things so fully, that it takes over my life and the balance I need. It's a constant weakness that I'm working on. Bottom line is my body is very low on my priority list. It shouldn't be, but it has been.
Being overweight and older, however, proves much harder than being young and overweight. My weight started to affect my health. Whoa! Now that is something I cannot have. When it starts affecting the rest of my life, I get annoyed.
Getting mad can sometimes be a good thing and can propel you to action.
It was time to get the thought (need to lose weight) out of my head and into my life.
I've been mad at me for a good year now, so why has it taken this long to do something about it? Here's the dilemma. Losing weight is work. Hard work. I just wanted to do something that solved the 'gain it back' problem. If I was going to do this and I wanted it to stay off...For-EVER.
One day, a student of mine, Jeannine, walked into my classroom and looked awesome! "Jeannine, have you lost weight, you look great". I asked her how she did it, what she was doing and she graciously shared her plan.
She called is Metabolism Miracle.
Metabolism? Miracle? Wow, I like both of those words and I most certainly like them together!
I know that fit people like to think that fat people are fat because they eat too much and don't move enough. I completely understand that and it doesn't upset me. I learned long ago to not take it personally. It's a bit of a lonely place to be, but I've gotten used to it.
I know what I eat. I know what I buy in the grocery store. I know what I order in restaurants. I know I should not weigh this much. I don't buy junk food, in fact, very little processed foods period. I love to cook, and I am quite health conscious, so I buy whole foods and cook. I love fresh veggies and fruit and eat a lot of them. There are no cookies, chips or ice cream in my house and surprisingly, even when there is, I have little desire to eat them.
I don't drink pop or juice. I never have. I drink water, lots of it. I love it. I drink milk occasionally.
I don't drink alcohol.
When we eat fast food, and we rarely do, I get the junior burger and split the fries with my husband. At Cafe Rio, I get the Tostada salad instead of the reg. salad because it's smaller. I don't eat the tortilla.
I never eat more than 2 slices of pizza that we rarely order. But I do like to dip my Papa john's crust into the garlic butter.
I don't crave carbs like some people report. I crave savory food, food that is tasty and well prepared. I much prefer a savory dish to dessert. I realize I may be alone in this. Most people love sweets. Don't get me wrong, I'll eat them. If someone has made a fresh batch of brownies or chocolate chip cookies, fresh from the oven, that is pretty irresistible to me. So, we just don't make them that much. I never do. It's my husband or kids.
I do love a great bread though. My husband is somewhat of a bread guru and makes the best rustic bread. I could eat that with butter for the rest of my life.
Lastly, chocolate. This is, most certainly, my Achilles heel. I love it. Has to be dark and it's amazing how you can rationalize the health benefits of dark chocolate. Not a lot. Just a square or two. Fortunately, that satisfies me.
Despite having a good knowledge of portion control, I know it's off, not by a lot, but definitely not lose-weight portions. But certainly, maintain-weight portions.
I have friends and family who indulge in all the things I don't who are not overweight. Some don't exercise at all. I know you know someone like this.
It doesn't (didn't) make sense. And it frustrated me. I want an answer and I got one.
Metabolism Miracle.
Goal? On May 22nd, my post will read '50 and fit'.
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