Me? With a plan? Yes, me, with a plan.
I am at the end of my very fat rope. I can't stay this way.
Maybe I am grasping straws, but this feels like it's the last thing I can do. I am going to do HCG. It's a pregnancy hormone that, when used with a very low calorie diet (VLCD @500cals), helps to burn off the abnormal fat (See Pounds and Inches by Dr. Simeon's), instead of the healthy fat that the body needs, but will be burned off first when using low cal/exercise program.
My launch date is still in limbo, mainly because I am waiting for the $$$ and still have to order the HCG. But, probably be the second week of February 2012.
I am gearing up mentally right now. Thinking about all the places I am going to go to to do my two "load" days (load- eat as much fatty food that you can get down without throwing up, then eating some more! A total bonus score for the calorically challenged!). Then, I am planning 40 days (+/-) of VLCD. There are only certain foods that can be eaten. 100g of meat (chicken, beef, veal, non oily fish, shrimp, lobster, crab) twice a day, and certain vegetables (leafy lettuces, spinach, chard, beet greens, cucumbers, tomato, onions) twice a day. No sugar. Very limited carbs (2 Melba toast or 2 grisini bread sticks). At least 1/2 gal water (gallon is better) and all coffee and tea you can choke down (no sweetener). For a allowed sweetener, I will be getting some Stevia in the Raw.
So, I will be doing the VLCD for 40-ish days, then 21 days in Phase 3, where you start adding more calories but no carbs or sugar, yes to healthy fats. This is a time to "stabilize", stay within 2 pounds of my last drop weight (ldw). And, then on to Phase 4 to maintain, for 21 days. Then, it's back to the beginning to start the whole thing all over again!
I am hoping for a 40 lb drop in my first round and 30 ish lb drop in R2 and then a 30 lb drop in R3. If I can get to 200 lbs, I will be a happy human. It's going to take a better part of a year to do this, but I would like to see a Christmas where I am not a big fat cow of a woman. That would be the best gift of all!
I am in this for the long haul. Again, I can't go on and on being fat, using excuse after excuse to stay fat. I want to live life. Right now my life is nothing more than living to eat. I use food for comfort, love, boredom, loneliness, and just because I can't think of anything better to do. I have a life time of bad habits to change. All on me, no excuses.
I have really come to terms with my problem. I am an addict, not food as a whole, but sugar and carbs. Breads are my downfall. Bread, doughnuts, cakes, cookies, tortillas, toast, French Toast, pancakes (which I don't really like unless they are drowning in butter, egg, and syrup). I am actively bidding bye bye to these foods. Soon, I will have Rob Wolf's book The Paleo Diet in my hot, little hands, and possibly the Primal Blueprint, and I will learn all I need to know about "caveman" eating, or, as I like to call it, just off the Ark eating. It's taking a "hunter/gatherer" approach to eating. Noah and his family didn't hop off the Ark and head over to the Qwik Mart for bread, milk and cheese! There were plants and animals to eat, in the beginning. No bread, at first, 'cause there probably wasn't any grain ready to harvest and grind.
Our society didn't start getting fat until after industrialization and then in the 50's, after WWII, to make a "woman's life easier". TV dinners, processed milk, margarine, hot dogs, soy products (which were used as a casing for mortars during the war), Twinkies, boxed cereal, processed, processed, processed. Which started making America fatter, and fatter, and fatter. We have even forgotten that there was a time when people ate bacon, eggs, ham, butter, raw milk, avocado, lard, steak, chicken skins, bacon grease, and were HEALTHY. Vegetarians were few and far between, but they ate eggs, cheese, milk and honey. Now we have Vegans, who only eat grass, lettuce and all things processed. They are sickly. Only through the miracle of modern medicine do these people, and all us fat people stay alive. Try to find a doctor that knows anything about nutrition. Heck, try a find a nutritionist who knows anything beyond what the Pharmaceutical companies tell them. More processed, fake foods, and more pills. All this equals more profit.
Knowledge is power. Ignorance is no longer bliss, it can kill you, or at least leave you sick and stupid, and fodder for the medical community to experiment on. Not a good place to be.
I will be posting my journey with HCG. What I am doing, eating, and losing (or "releasing" as the hcg folks like to say). This is going to be a fun ride!
Showing posts with label A Plan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label A Plan. Show all posts
Monday, January 16, 2012
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Excerpt-More of what I am doing...
OK ladies, here we go. Your first step is easy: Devote time to God. We already know that we can't lose any weight on our own, if we could, we wouldn't be overweight in the first place. Pray and read the Bible. When you pray, let God know that He needs to be on call. We all have control issues, none of us have any control, what we have is the illusion of control. We have to let go of the reins, we are slowly killing ourselves with a fork. If we give our control issues to God, and let Him tell you when you are hungry. God created a wonderful system to let us know when we're hungry. We can override it anytime we want, but why? Overriding the system is what got us where we are.
What does "hungry" feel like? If you focus inward, bring your attention down to your stomach, if you have just eaten, you can feel the fullness. Your stomach, in it's natural position is as big as your fist. Make a fist, see? That is how big your stomach really is. God made it so that it stretches, why? So it doesn't explode if you eat and drink too much. Now, people have actually exploded their stomachs, not a pretty sight. You die. No mystery, the acid in your stomach burns out everything else. Stomach acid is equal to battery acid. Got it? Why am I starting here? Because we can eat, whether we want to or not. If we become aware of our stomachs, then it becomes easier to recognize when you are really hungry. You have felt hungry, it starts as a slow burn (your stomach releasing acid to begin the digestion process), now, it's important to realize you might not really be hungry, so focus on your stomach. Drink a glass of water, it will cool the burn and settle your tummy down. The plus side of water is it never interfere with true hunger. If your stomach is rumbling, you are hungry, that is a sure sign. Especially, if you haven't eaten for a while!
Now comes the real hard part, our emotions. I don't know about you ladies, I am always "hungry". I drive past a fast food restaurant, and I think about my favorite item that establishment serves. I am having a bad day, I want to eat something sweet to "treat" myself to something good. My beloved, not realizing, would offer sweets (candy bar, ice cream, mocha coffee) to make me feel better. Wait, today was great, something good happened, I should....celebrate! I should have a "treat" because today is .....special. I am bored, what to do, what to do, wander around, wander into the kitchen, oh, chips, bbq, munch, munch, munch, no that's not what I want. Hmm, there are some leftovers, oh, here is leftover spaghetti, there is at least 3 servings here, I was going to give it to the kids for lunch. I will make them something different, come on microwave too slow. Well, I ate all that spaghetti, but that's not what I want, how about..... Have you ever done this (you don't have to answer), I have. I have wandered through my kitchen, snacking, tasting, eating leftovers, pulling stuff from the freezer. Why? I am bored. I can't find anything better to do than eat. Emotions and the next culprit, habits. When I come home from the grocery store, my mind is racing about what am I going to make FIRST, first, not what I should eat, period. What I should eat first! Habit. These are the biggest of our problems. Emotional eating. Habitual eating. These have to be given to the Lord. I actually have a confession. Tonight, at dinner, I wasn't paying attention. I should have waited for dinner, but out of HABIT, I sat with the family, loaded my plate (habit), poured the dressing on my salad (habit), crumbled up 5 crackers (habit). Then started right in, after 2 bites, I realized that I was already full, did I stop eating? No, I just wanted a little more salad, a bite more of pork sandwich, and just one more bbq chip. Didn't follow my own advice. Now I am sitting here feeling blotted, and embarrassed at relying on myself. After grace, I didn't even give God the courtesy to be proactive and stop and ask forgiveness. I grabbed the reins from the Lord Himself! I have no excuse, I was lax. I took my eyes off the prize. Bad day aside, because I was paying attention, I managed to bake a cake and not lick the bowl or spoon! I let myself get distracted, by emotions, and bam! right back to old habits. It's going to happen ladies, our emotions are powerful, but if we rely on God, invite him to manage your life. He'll take good care of you, as He always has, but there is a pay off at the end, our payoff is in weight loss!
Where to start? What to do? Start NOW by focusing on your stomach. Have you eaten? Are you full? Have you not eaten all day and are hungry? If you have eaten, but it was a while ago, feel the feeling of how your stomach feels (feeling anything? Some things are just hard to describe). Is it quiet? Comfortable? That's where we want to be. Are you full? Stuffed yourself (like I just did), feeling blotted? You don't want to be here, your stomach is stretched! Is your stomach growling with a burn? Drink a glass of water, feel it go down. Is your stomach growling 10 minutes later? You are hungry eat.
To eat. Eat what you want. Don't get silly, ladies, no, you can't just eat ice cream and cake! But have what you feel like. We have been doing hot dogs and burgers alot, it feels like summer. Have that, let's say a hot dog. Put one or two condiments, my normal routine is to put on every condiment in the fridge, now I am down to ketchup and mustard. Why, turns out that when you are eating slowly, food has taste. Don't count, I am not a lawyer, so don't be legal. Chew. Chew thoroughly. Taste the food (the lesson I learned!). Now, stop, put down the hot dog, fork, or whatever. Wait. Feel the food going down. Focus is the key. If you need a distraction, offer to go get someone a drink, or sip some water, not wash your food down, but sip the water AFTER you have swallowed. Have a bite of something else, you want the best part of the salad, you know the middle, where the dressing is pooled. Have that, enjoy it.
Where am I going with this? As I told Anna, we have to learn to eat like skinny people. Watch them sometimes.
They pick at their food. They stop eating, sometimes for what seems like forever, then start again, having a bite or two, then stop again. They ALWAYS leave food on their plate. Their plate looks like a bomb went off on it. It actually looks like they stirred the food into a big mess, and didn't eat a thing. Why? They are in tune with their stomachs. They eat when they are hungry, and stop when they are done, not necessarily full, but not hungry anymore. It's the same with people who have had their stomach stapled or cut out, but this way saves you $30,000! Your stomach will naturally shrink back to it's real size. Look at your fist again. Focus on your stomach. Focus, eat what you want, eat slowly, stop when your stomach is satisfied, but not full.
When not to eat: When you are on a emotional roller coaster. If you are turning to food out of habit. It's OK to not eat with the family. Sit with them, sip a non calorie drink (whatever you like, but water is best), and enjoy your family.
Exercise: exercise will take care of itself. You have to eat x amount of calories to keep the weight on. I personally need 3,000 to 3,500 calories a day to stay at 300 lbs. Since I have not been taking in that much, I have managed to lose 10 lbs in just over a week. No exercise, no starvation (although in an emotional click it felt like it). Why? because I am not taking in enough calories to stay at 300 lbs. This great, quick weight loss will not last, my body, and yours will adjust. That's when exercise will become key. That doesn't mean you have Carte Blanche to sit around. Do get out and walk. I will put my exercise step in front of the TV and watch a movie and step. That isn't because I want to exercise, what I don't want to do is graze. I am focusing on my stomach, it's not hungry, in fact, it's settled and quiet, but emotionally, I am bored, I want to eat "just for something to do". So, I watch the movie and step. After about a half hour, I am feeling good, tired, but good, I am paying attention! I am using logic (hard for us as women sometimes!) to overcome a logical problem.
How much you ladies want to post is up to you, for those who aren't willing, please send me a friend request, and I will add you! I post just about every day. For me, I need the accountability, if you need the accountable part, but don't want to post publicly, I will respond to private messages, and keep confidences. I know the embarrassment of being fat. I share so openly, because you can't make this stuff up. You, all of you, especially those who are 100 lbs over weight think we are alone in our daily battles. I have to move my belly to wash, I know. I have split my pants in public (just over a week ago!). I have to squeeze to get into a booth at a restaurant, and barely can get into a movie theater seat. Seat belts that won't go all the way around to buckle, been there! If you think you are alone, you're not. I am there right with you. Please know that I love each and everyone of you! You all are a blessing to me. You encourage me so much!
In love and faithfulness in God Almighty, Rusty
What does "hungry" feel like? If you focus inward, bring your attention down to your stomach, if you have just eaten, you can feel the fullness. Your stomach, in it's natural position is as big as your fist. Make a fist, see? That is how big your stomach really is. God made it so that it stretches, why? So it doesn't explode if you eat and drink too much. Now, people have actually exploded their stomachs, not a pretty sight. You die. No mystery, the acid in your stomach burns out everything else. Stomach acid is equal to battery acid. Got it? Why am I starting here? Because we can eat, whether we want to or not. If we become aware of our stomachs, then it becomes easier to recognize when you are really hungry. You have felt hungry, it starts as a slow burn (your stomach releasing acid to begin the digestion process), now, it's important to realize you might not really be hungry, so focus on your stomach. Drink a glass of water, it will cool the burn and settle your tummy down. The plus side of water is it never interfere with true hunger. If your stomach is rumbling, you are hungry, that is a sure sign. Especially, if you haven't eaten for a while!
Now comes the real hard part, our emotions. I don't know about you ladies, I am always "hungry". I drive past a fast food restaurant, and I think about my favorite item that establishment serves. I am having a bad day, I want to eat something sweet to "treat" myself to something good. My beloved, not realizing, would offer sweets (candy bar, ice cream, mocha coffee) to make me feel better. Wait, today was great, something good happened, I should....celebrate! I should have a "treat" because today is .....special. I am bored, what to do, what to do, wander around, wander into the kitchen, oh, chips, bbq, munch, munch, munch, no that's not what I want. Hmm, there are some leftovers, oh, here is leftover spaghetti, there is at least 3 servings here, I was going to give it to the kids for lunch. I will make them something different, come on microwave too slow. Well, I ate all that spaghetti, but that's not what I want, how about..... Have you ever done this (you don't have to answer), I have. I have wandered through my kitchen, snacking, tasting, eating leftovers, pulling stuff from the freezer. Why? I am bored. I can't find anything better to do than eat. Emotions and the next culprit, habits. When I come home from the grocery store, my mind is racing about what am I going to make FIRST, first, not what I should eat, period. What I should eat first! Habit. These are the biggest of our problems. Emotional eating. Habitual eating. These have to be given to the Lord. I actually have a confession. Tonight, at dinner, I wasn't paying attention. I should have waited for dinner, but out of HABIT, I sat with the family, loaded my plate (habit), poured the dressing on my salad (habit), crumbled up 5 crackers (habit). Then started right in, after 2 bites, I realized that I was already full, did I stop eating? No, I just wanted a little more salad, a bite more of pork sandwich, and just one more bbq chip. Didn't follow my own advice. Now I am sitting here feeling blotted, and embarrassed at relying on myself. After grace, I didn't even give God the courtesy to be proactive and stop and ask forgiveness. I grabbed the reins from the Lord Himself! I have no excuse, I was lax. I took my eyes off the prize. Bad day aside, because I was paying attention, I managed to bake a cake and not lick the bowl or spoon! I let myself get distracted, by emotions, and bam! right back to old habits. It's going to happen ladies, our emotions are powerful, but if we rely on God, invite him to manage your life. He'll take good care of you, as He always has, but there is a pay off at the end, our payoff is in weight loss!
Where to start? What to do? Start NOW by focusing on your stomach. Have you eaten? Are you full? Have you not eaten all day and are hungry? If you have eaten, but it was a while ago, feel the feeling of how your stomach feels (feeling anything? Some things are just hard to describe). Is it quiet? Comfortable? That's where we want to be. Are you full? Stuffed yourself (like I just did), feeling blotted? You don't want to be here, your stomach is stretched! Is your stomach growling with a burn? Drink a glass of water, feel it go down. Is your stomach growling 10 minutes later? You are hungry eat.
To eat. Eat what you want. Don't get silly, ladies, no, you can't just eat ice cream and cake! But have what you feel like. We have been doing hot dogs and burgers alot, it feels like summer. Have that, let's say a hot dog. Put one or two condiments, my normal routine is to put on every condiment in the fridge, now I am down to ketchup and mustard. Why, turns out that when you are eating slowly, food has taste. Don't count, I am not a lawyer, so don't be legal. Chew. Chew thoroughly. Taste the food (the lesson I learned!). Now, stop, put down the hot dog, fork, or whatever. Wait. Feel the food going down. Focus is the key. If you need a distraction, offer to go get someone a drink, or sip some water, not wash your food down, but sip the water AFTER you have swallowed. Have a bite of something else, you want the best part of the salad, you know the middle, where the dressing is pooled. Have that, enjoy it.
Where am I going with this? As I told Anna, we have to learn to eat like skinny people. Watch them sometimes.
They pick at their food. They stop eating, sometimes for what seems like forever, then start again, having a bite or two, then stop again. They ALWAYS leave food on their plate. Their plate looks like a bomb went off on it. It actually looks like they stirred the food into a big mess, and didn't eat a thing. Why? They are in tune with their stomachs. They eat when they are hungry, and stop when they are done, not necessarily full, but not hungry anymore. It's the same with people who have had their stomach stapled or cut out, but this way saves you $30,000! Your stomach will naturally shrink back to it's real size. Look at your fist again. Focus on your stomach. Focus, eat what you want, eat slowly, stop when your stomach is satisfied, but not full.
When not to eat: When you are on a emotional roller coaster. If you are turning to food out of habit. It's OK to not eat with the family. Sit with them, sip a non calorie drink (whatever you like, but water is best), and enjoy your family.
Exercise: exercise will take care of itself. You have to eat x amount of calories to keep the weight on. I personally need 3,000 to 3,500 calories a day to stay at 300 lbs. Since I have not been taking in that much, I have managed to lose 10 lbs in just over a week. No exercise, no starvation (although in an emotional click it felt like it). Why? because I am not taking in enough calories to stay at 300 lbs. This great, quick weight loss will not last, my body, and yours will adjust. That's when exercise will become key. That doesn't mean you have Carte Blanche to sit around. Do get out and walk. I will put my exercise step in front of the TV and watch a movie and step. That isn't because I want to exercise, what I don't want to do is graze. I am focusing on my stomach, it's not hungry, in fact, it's settled and quiet, but emotionally, I am bored, I want to eat "just for something to do". So, I watch the movie and step. After about a half hour, I am feeling good, tired, but good, I am paying attention! I am using logic (hard for us as women sometimes!) to overcome a logical problem.
How much you ladies want to post is up to you, for those who aren't willing, please send me a friend request, and I will add you! I post just about every day. For me, I need the accountability, if you need the accountable part, but don't want to post publicly, I will respond to private messages, and keep confidences. I know the embarrassment of being fat. I share so openly, because you can't make this stuff up. You, all of you, especially those who are 100 lbs over weight think we are alone in our daily battles. I have to move my belly to wash, I know. I have split my pants in public (just over a week ago!). I have to squeeze to get into a booth at a restaurant, and barely can get into a movie theater seat. Seat belts that won't go all the way around to buckle, been there! If you think you are alone, you're not. I am there right with you. Please know that I love each and everyone of you! You all are a blessing to me. You encourage me so much!
In love and faithfulness in God Almighty, Rusty
Excerpt from another site-This is what I am doing...
Alm! I am so glad you are joining us! There is no trick, no gimmick. God designed our bodies to function in a certain way. Society tells us to function differently. Weight loss gurus will tell us "eat this, not that", exercise 2 hours a day, take this pill, drink that shake, deal with your emotional problems. All that is well and good. For people who have 10 lbs to lose, all that works great. When someone is "morbidly obese" (I hate that term!), like me, stuff like that doesn't work. Now, I can only speak for me, I am not a doctor, or a nutritionist. Instead, I am a wife, a mother, a woman who doesn't want to be fat anymore!
You are like me, Alm, you've done all the diets, you've read all the literature, you've exercised until you thought your heart would explode! And nothing! I am going back to basics. How did God design my body. He set up our tummy's to tell us when we are hungry. You feel that slow burn, that rumble, and if you focus, you will feel the emptiness in your stomach. Our enemy is our emotions. I am a voracious emotional eater, emotions good, emotions bad, if I have a feeling, I want to "medicate it" with food. Emotions do have their place, but it isn't in the kitchen. This is basic physics.
Step by step of what I am doing.
I wake up, after prayer (and coffee, which I drink black, no sugar, I never take in any calories in my beverages, 'cause that can throw off the whole thing). I take inventory. I focus inward. Not on how I am feeling, but on my stomach. If it's calm and quiet, I am not hungry.
Breakfast time may come and go. I feed the kids, while I am cooking, I keep my attention on my stomach. If I am still not hungry, I don't eat. Yes, it looks good, oh, how good that bacon smells. I can feel a reaction, am I hungry? Hmm. Then I drink a glass of water (if you are really hungry, water won't block the hunger pangs, you may get "slooshy" but if you are truly hungry, it won't stop the grumbles. After about 10 minutes, I will know if it is truly hunger, not just habit and love of food.
When I do realize that what I feel is hunger, I eat. I eat what I feel like. I put my portion on my plate, picking at it, finding all the best bites. I take time with chewing (who knew food had taste!), I will push my plate away a few times while I am eating, attending to the baby, getting a glass of water, whatever I can to not just suck down the food rapidly (I have always eaten too fast). After 3 bites, I start the stomach check again. Remember, rule of thumb is that your stomach, unstretched is no bigger than your fist. Even with my gargantuan "man" hands, my fist isn't all that big. I couldn't hold a piece of pizza in my hand without it oozing out. So I may have a few more bites, focusing on my stomach, am I starting to feel the food? Yes, time to stop. I always leave food on my plate. I am having to train myself to stop being a Gold Member of the Clean Plate Club.
Watch thin, ok, skinny people eat. They pick at their food. They don't hold their fork. They will get up and walk away, and come back later. They forget that they were even eating. They eat the parts they like best. This is what I am doing. Since I don't do this naturally, I do it conscientiously. I am changing my thinking about food. Hyper vigilance is a must. Becoming lax could lead to a "scarf" session! Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to signal your stomach that it's full, once you feel that food is getting to your stomach, that will be just the first bites. Your stomach is nearing full, or at least fulfilled just a few bites in. If you stop, the bites you took, are still in transit, so it will take just a few minutes then your brain will go STOP. The best thing is, you already have stopped. Your brain says "cool", feeling good.
Now, all this is really easy. Eat smaller portions, stop after a few bites, leave food on your plate. Easy peasy! But, as usual, the devil is in the details. Emotional eating. If you are like me, you eat because you are bored. You eat, to celebrate. You eat 'cause someone hijacked your parking space. You eat because your child did well at a spelling bee! Pick any emotion, and you will find food attached to it! Good and bad! So, you have to distinguish between real, rumbly tummy, hunger, from I am bored and just want to eat out of habit. We can't fill our heart with food. Cheesecake really doesn't make you feel better. Emotions are a heart/head issue, not a food issue. When we have an emotional episode, we feel the need to fill our hearts. Because we are chronic overeaters, we have been trying to feel good with food, but again, food doesn't fill the heart, it fills the stomach, then it fills our thighs! To conquer this, you have to turn to the only one that can truly fill our hearts. This is the time to begin a real running dialogue with the Lord. Cry out to Him. You can tell yourself "no" (I do it all the time. Thinking I need a munchy, then I will say, out loud, Lord help me! Then like a bad child, I tell myself NO!). Since we are conditioned with the word "no", saying it out loud does work. You may feel silly, but it will stop the impulse to grab at a bag of chips! Take inventory. Are you hungry? If you are not sure, drink a big glass of water. If you are not hungry, the slooshy feeling will not be so pronounced, if you are really hungry, feel for the signs, that slow burning, the rumbles, this will last for about 10 minutes. Now, are you close to a meal time? Then wait. If you aren't, then eat something, following the Skinny People Rules. Yesterday I got hungry at about 9 am, I got on the scale, and found out I reached my goal! I was so happy, now, because I don't want to feed the emotional monkey, I had to wait to eat, to confirm that I was truly hungry, which I was, but because I was so happy, I had to calm down. So, I drank my coffee, and chilled out. By 10, I knew I had to eat something, figuring, that lunch was a scant 2 hours away, I choose a banana. As I ate it, I would take a bite, lay it down, moved the laundry around, came back, took another bite, blogged, took another bite.....see the pattern?
Now, this is what has worked for me, but, a few things have worked, even if for only a week or 2. I don't eat by a clock, except in certain cases, like I don't eat after 7 pm. If I pass on dinner for lack of hunger, then I start feeling the hunger pangs at 7:45, well, I am just out of luck. Breakfast is only 12 hours away, I have plenty of "fuel" on my belly to hold me over. Maybe it will be a breakfast? Maybe not. I let my body tell me when right, not my head, not my heart, and not a clock.
Sorry for the novel! I am so passionate about this, mainly because it is working. Since I am taking in a lot less calories, I am losing weight like crazy here in the beginning. This will naturally level out, I have a huge excess of energy that my body is using right now in the form of fat. I don't run to the fridge anymore. I don't snack, ever. I don't need to. Either I am hungry (true hunger) and eat, or don't. As for exercise, I am not too concerned about adding loads of exercise. It takes 3000-3500 calories to keep me at 300 lbs. I am not sure, but I figure I am eating about half that (I stopped worrying about how many calories food contains, since it doesn't matter this way), which translates into losing a pound every 2.5 days (3500 = 1 lb). All that, without exercising, because I still have to move and breath and chase kids! When I am bored and watching TV, I will bring out my "step" and do that, instead of cruising around the kitchen looking to graze. Once I start to plateau, I will have to change up and add a regimen of exercise, but, right now I am just enjoying the ride!
When to start? Start now! If you've eaten, great, don't eat again until you're hungry, that may be at lunch, or dinner, or not until tomorrow morning. You want to feel physical hunger, not eating because everyone else is. No tasting, snacking or worrying about passing out, 'cause you won't. Sit with the family, and drink an unsweetened/fake sugar tea, or water. No caloric intake with your beverages! Start learning your emotional triggers, you eating that's habitual, get in touch with your body, the biology of it, the whys and whatfors. I made sure I let my husband (my skinny husband) in on what I was doing, because to those who love us, we appear to be trying to starve ourselves, which is as far from the truth as you can get! We eat what we need, not when we want. Getting back to basics. If you are hungry, eat. That's the only rule. If you don't know what true hunger is, learn, listen to your tummy, it will tell you! If you know you are being emotional, don't eat, even if you were having hunger pangs. You are training your heart and head to listen to your stomach, not feeding an emotional need, but a true physical one! Pray. Tell the Lord what you are doing. Ask for His strength, especially during those emotional episodes. Abba Father wants us to be healthy. He wants us to trust the system that He created for us. He wants us to worship Him, not food. Turn to Him, not food. This reality is what set me on this path. I was putting food before the Father, thankfully, with Him all things are possible. I asked forgiveness for idolizing food, and moved on. No condemnation, thank you Lord Jesus, for your gift of salvation! Jesus paid this debt for me on the cross!
Alm, again, sorry about the novel. I am so glad you are here with me, and Joy and a few others. We can learn, we can become the healthy people God intended us to be! You will be in my daily prayers!
In love and faithfulness, Rusty
You are like me, Alm, you've done all the diets, you've read all the literature, you've exercised until you thought your heart would explode! And nothing! I am going back to basics. How did God design my body. He set up our tummy's to tell us when we are hungry. You feel that slow burn, that rumble, and if you focus, you will feel the emptiness in your stomach. Our enemy is our emotions. I am a voracious emotional eater, emotions good, emotions bad, if I have a feeling, I want to "medicate it" with food. Emotions do have their place, but it isn't in the kitchen. This is basic physics.
Step by step of what I am doing.
I wake up, after prayer (and coffee, which I drink black, no sugar, I never take in any calories in my beverages, 'cause that can throw off the whole thing). I take inventory. I focus inward. Not on how I am feeling, but on my stomach. If it's calm and quiet, I am not hungry.
Breakfast time may come and go. I feed the kids, while I am cooking, I keep my attention on my stomach. If I am still not hungry, I don't eat. Yes, it looks good, oh, how good that bacon smells. I can feel a reaction, am I hungry? Hmm. Then I drink a glass of water (if you are really hungry, water won't block the hunger pangs, you may get "slooshy" but if you are truly hungry, it won't stop the grumbles. After about 10 minutes, I will know if it is truly hunger, not just habit and love of food.
When I do realize that what I feel is hunger, I eat. I eat what I feel like. I put my portion on my plate, picking at it, finding all the best bites. I take time with chewing (who knew food had taste!), I will push my plate away a few times while I am eating, attending to the baby, getting a glass of water, whatever I can to not just suck down the food rapidly (I have always eaten too fast). After 3 bites, I start the stomach check again. Remember, rule of thumb is that your stomach, unstretched is no bigger than your fist. Even with my gargantuan "man" hands, my fist isn't all that big. I couldn't hold a piece of pizza in my hand without it oozing out. So I may have a few more bites, focusing on my stomach, am I starting to feel the food? Yes, time to stop. I always leave food on my plate. I am having to train myself to stop being a Gold Member of the Clean Plate Club.
Watch thin, ok, skinny people eat. They pick at their food. They don't hold their fork. They will get up and walk away, and come back later. They forget that they were even eating. They eat the parts they like best. This is what I am doing. Since I don't do this naturally, I do it conscientiously. I am changing my thinking about food. Hyper vigilance is a must. Becoming lax could lead to a "scarf" session! Remember, it takes about 20 minutes for your brain to signal your stomach that it's full, once you feel that food is getting to your stomach, that will be just the first bites. Your stomach is nearing full, or at least fulfilled just a few bites in. If you stop, the bites you took, are still in transit, so it will take just a few minutes then your brain will go STOP. The best thing is, you already have stopped. Your brain says "cool", feeling good.
Now, all this is really easy. Eat smaller portions, stop after a few bites, leave food on your plate. Easy peasy! But, as usual, the devil is in the details. Emotional eating. If you are like me, you eat because you are bored. You eat, to celebrate. You eat 'cause someone hijacked your parking space. You eat because your child did well at a spelling bee! Pick any emotion, and you will find food attached to it! Good and bad! So, you have to distinguish between real, rumbly tummy, hunger, from I am bored and just want to eat out of habit. We can't fill our heart with food. Cheesecake really doesn't make you feel better. Emotions are a heart/head issue, not a food issue. When we have an emotional episode, we feel the need to fill our hearts. Because we are chronic overeaters, we have been trying to feel good with food, but again, food doesn't fill the heart, it fills the stomach, then it fills our thighs! To conquer this, you have to turn to the only one that can truly fill our hearts. This is the time to begin a real running dialogue with the Lord. Cry out to Him. You can tell yourself "no" (I do it all the time. Thinking I need a munchy, then I will say, out loud, Lord help me! Then like a bad child, I tell myself NO!). Since we are conditioned with the word "no", saying it out loud does work. You may feel silly, but it will stop the impulse to grab at a bag of chips! Take inventory. Are you hungry? If you are not sure, drink a big glass of water. If you are not hungry, the slooshy feeling will not be so pronounced, if you are really hungry, feel for the signs, that slow burning, the rumbles, this will last for about 10 minutes. Now, are you close to a meal time? Then wait. If you aren't, then eat something, following the Skinny People Rules. Yesterday I got hungry at about 9 am, I got on the scale, and found out I reached my goal! I was so happy, now, because I don't want to feed the emotional monkey, I had to wait to eat, to confirm that I was truly hungry, which I was, but because I was so happy, I had to calm down. So, I drank my coffee, and chilled out. By 10, I knew I had to eat something, figuring, that lunch was a scant 2 hours away, I choose a banana. As I ate it, I would take a bite, lay it down, moved the laundry around, came back, took another bite, blogged, took another bite.....see the pattern?
Now, this is what has worked for me, but, a few things have worked, even if for only a week or 2. I don't eat by a clock, except in certain cases, like I don't eat after 7 pm. If I pass on dinner for lack of hunger, then I start feeling the hunger pangs at 7:45, well, I am just out of luck. Breakfast is only 12 hours away, I have plenty of "fuel" on my belly to hold me over. Maybe it will be a breakfast? Maybe not. I let my body tell me when right, not my head, not my heart, and not a clock.
Sorry for the novel! I am so passionate about this, mainly because it is working. Since I am taking in a lot less calories, I am losing weight like crazy here in the beginning. This will naturally level out, I have a huge excess of energy that my body is using right now in the form of fat. I don't run to the fridge anymore. I don't snack, ever. I don't need to. Either I am hungry (true hunger) and eat, or don't. As for exercise, I am not too concerned about adding loads of exercise. It takes 3000-3500 calories to keep me at 300 lbs. I am not sure, but I figure I am eating about half that (I stopped worrying about how many calories food contains, since it doesn't matter this way), which translates into losing a pound every 2.5 days (3500 = 1 lb). All that, without exercising, because I still have to move and breath and chase kids! When I am bored and watching TV, I will bring out my "step" and do that, instead of cruising around the kitchen looking to graze. Once I start to plateau, I will have to change up and add a regimen of exercise, but, right now I am just enjoying the ride!
When to start? Start now! If you've eaten, great, don't eat again until you're hungry, that may be at lunch, or dinner, or not until tomorrow morning. You want to feel physical hunger, not eating because everyone else is. No tasting, snacking or worrying about passing out, 'cause you won't. Sit with the family, and drink an unsweetened/fake sugar tea, or water. No caloric intake with your beverages! Start learning your emotional triggers, you eating that's habitual, get in touch with your body, the biology of it, the whys and whatfors. I made sure I let my husband (my skinny husband) in on what I was doing, because to those who love us, we appear to be trying to starve ourselves, which is as far from the truth as you can get! We eat what we need, not when we want. Getting back to basics. If you are hungry, eat. That's the only rule. If you don't know what true hunger is, learn, listen to your tummy, it will tell you! If you know you are being emotional, don't eat, even if you were having hunger pangs. You are training your heart and head to listen to your stomach, not feeding an emotional need, but a true physical one! Pray. Tell the Lord what you are doing. Ask for His strength, especially during those emotional episodes. Abba Father wants us to be healthy. He wants us to trust the system that He created for us. He wants us to worship Him, not food. Turn to Him, not food. This reality is what set me on this path. I was putting food before the Father, thankfully, with Him all things are possible. I asked forgiveness for idolizing food, and moved on. No condemnation, thank you Lord Jesus, for your gift of salvation! Jesus paid this debt for me on the cross!
Alm, again, sorry about the novel. I am so glad you are here with me, and Joy and a few others. We can learn, we can become the healthy people God intended us to be! You will be in my daily prayers!
In love and faithfulness, Rusty
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