Moving Forward

As time moves on, I have been thinking about moving forward.  With 130 lbs gone, I am feeling confident and happy with the results. 

I am hoping now to lose the rest of the weight with healthy Paleo eating.  I have confidence in knowing my own boundries.  Making choices of when to eat and what to eat has become habit.  There are plenty of times that I think "oh, that doughnut on TV looks delicious!", but that's as far as it goes.  Is it delicious?  Absolutely!  Soft, gooey, sweet, but not for me. 

I like feeling secure enough in myself.  If I am at a place that I have no choices, I just default to fasting and grabbing an Iced Tea.  Where?  Taco Bell has nothing I can eat!  Incredible, but true.  Chinese food is another.  Wonderful stuff, but nothing that I can eat, bummer.  I do love Walnut Prawns (mmmmm mayonaisse), but not for me.  I have discussed this with the family, because our tradition is to have Chinese on Christmas Eve.  This year Christmas Eve is on a Monday, as usual "closed" day for Chinese restaurants, so the fam may be out of luck this year.  I will see if a popular local restaurant will be open, but I doubt it.

I am also very calm and secure in my food choices for the holidays.  Thanksgiving and Christmas are very Paleo friendly!  With just a few adjustments, I can even serve stuffing and pie.  The Colonel has asked for a Paleo ized  apple pie.  Again, other than the amount of needed sugar, and changing up the crust, apple pie is fairly Paleo (OK, not really, but I am not a fan of pie anyway!)  So I will be researching apple pie, or just default to a coco/almond flour pie crust.

This road had been long, but so fruitful!  I am thankful to God the Father.  I am thankful to my husband.  I am thankful that I have finally matured enough to walk this path!

Everyday, I  go on the hCG Forum and read stories and questions from those who are trying hCG for the first time.  Some just want to lose 20 ish pounds, some just 10 or so, but it's the men and women who want to move out of being morbidly obese that I am truly interested in.  Being 200, 300, 400 lbs and more.  I am always hopeful for them, and try to be as supportive as possible, with a bit of tough love.  It is so hard to buck the system, the same system that says they must lose weight, but will not give them the correct tools to do so.

What really makes me sad is the young people, who just want to be like their friends.  Being able to suck down pizza and hamburgers with fries, and not be fat.  I try to encourage Paleo/Primal eating, or even just take bread out of their diet.  It isn't fair, but then again, neither is life in general.

I see people my age (45) who are embarrassed to eat out in front of others, because of the restrictive nature of the hCG protocol or P/P eating protocol.  They don't want to explain.  They don't want to listen to someone who has NEVER been fat (and I mean FAT) who says that hCG is dangerous, and they have a "friend" who lost 10 lbs just ate 3 meals a day, with two fruit snacks.  And if their "friend" could do it, so could you...  What a crock!

It takes time for the obese person to figure out their issues with food.  Every person has their own triggers.  Every person reacts differently.  Not every fat person sits around eating candy bars.  Some load up on "healthy" foods like whole wheat bread and tortillas.  They eat salad 6 times a day, with fat free dressing.  They limit portions.  They follow the USDA guidelines.  They workout 5 times a week for an hour each time.  They stay fat.  They get fatter.  They are at a loss as to what they are doing wrong.  I was "they" not too long ago.  I spoke to the doctors, who all told me that following the guidelines the USDA put forth are the way to go.  hCG won't work.  Paleo eating is dangerous, and you need to eat whole grains.  Did you know that Lucky Charms are "whole grains"?  So are Cocoa Puffs.  So are frosted Mini Wheats.  So are Trix.  So are Apple Jacks, Cheerios, Cap't Crunch.  With your "whole grain" breakfast, you should have a slice of whole wheat toast with "heart smart" margarine, a glass of orange juice, and non fat milk on your cereal.  If you are deep in the arms of the USDA, that all seems perfectly reasonable.  Once you learn and educate yourself, you realize that's just a recipe for having high cholesterol and becoming (or adding to) obese.  Yes, the true "heart attack on a plate". 

It is hard to change.  Sometimes it's baby steps.  Sometimes it's radical.  All the time it's being able to think for yourself.  As a recovering fatty, I have tried it all, and invented other ways of losing weight.  Here's what I know:  Following the "advice" of nutritional "experts" can lead to health problems, obesity, and eventually death.  This is all experts whether it be conventional wisdom, vegetarians/vegan or even Paleo/Primal.  You have to tailor a way of eating that works for you.  You have to understand how the body uses food for energy.  In other words, you have to learn to eat to live.  Our society lives to eat, drink and be merry, and to follow up the Klingon axiom, for tomorrow we all (will, not may) die.

For those of us who have been down Obesity Road, we are just making ourselves suffer a long and painful death, and are committing suicide by fork.  Once we learn there are reasons to live besides making ourselves feel better with food, we can truly live a life that only has food to keep us alive, and can truly celebrate life!