Hermiones Mom's Journal, 04 March 2016

So HCB's great posts have made me start to think about beginning to put down my thoughts about making this journey, especially because there have been so many new people who started the journey lately.

I'm not anywhere close to done -- still 27 pounds to go. But I am far enough along that I feel very secure in what I'm doing, and I'm pretty convinced that I can continue to do this for the rest of my life.

So it seems like this is a good time to organize my thoughts and share with all of you. Please believe me -- I'm no genius about this stuff, and I probably know a lot less about the technical/scientific aspects of weightloss, diet, and exercise. These are just observations about how things work for me. And maybe they will help some of the newbies on FS.

1. What matters most is staying on the path and reaching your destination -- how fast you get there is not nearly as important as we think it is. I realize that there are circumstances in which people need to lose weight quickly, for example, I've known people who needed to have knee or hip surgery, but were told they had to lose weight first, so the weight loss was urgent. But most of us land here because we have battled weight all our lives, and we've tried dozens of different solutions, but still we're struggling. When I stopped worrying about "when" and started focusing more on the "why" and "how," when I realized what I wanted was to feel and look healthy, have the energy to be more physically active, and that I didn't want Type 2 Diabetes to steal my retirement from me, then I was really ready to stick to a plan for as long as it takes. By the way -- it didn't take the first time: I got derailed by my Mom's illness. But I pulled myself out of it, and I'm pretty stable now.

2. Stop going on diets and explore sensible pathways to make real and lasting change in your life and your relationship to food. I took a particular path: When I suddenly found myself 40 pounds heavier than I'd ever been, hypothyroid, and with fasting blood sugar edging toward 130, I knew I had to do something more than count calories. My Dad's whole family had Type 2 (also clinical depression), and I just wasn't going there if I could help it. I started reading online about diet and Type 2, and I discovered low-glycemic dieting. It's been a miracle for me. It's not a fast track to weight loss, but my fasting blood sugar in now below 100, and my A1C is normal. My total cholesterol and triglycerides are at healthy levels. It takes work -- you have to really learn about the impact of foods on your blood sugar, and you have to make very different choices about food -- cauliflower instead of potatoes, cantaloupe slices or carrots instead of chips, meals planned around lean proteins and veggies, instead of rice. The point is, I'm finding it's sustainable. I could eat this way forever -- and so since as long as the needle keeps headed downward, I'm not so worried about how fast it drops, because now I know I will keep the weight off.

3. Stop using "oh, I blew it today because I ate out at a restaurant with friends" as an excuse. The reality is, so long as you don't go to fast-food restaurants like McDonalds or Wendy's, sticking to a diet is easy when you eat out. I ate lunch out today at a diner: egg whites scrambled with spinach, honeydew slices, and mixed green salad. I was stuffed and happy when I left. The trick is to learn as much as possible about nutrition so you know what to ask for. Often, the first question I ask a waiter is: What kind of vegetables do you have today? Then I find an acceptable protein on the menu -- broiled or baked fish or chicken or even skirt steak -- and ask for it with two vegetables or a vegetable and a side salad, or melon or berries. I never go hungry, even now that my diet is complicated by IBS and the added restrictions of FODMAP. I actually love going out to eat because since I cook all my food pretty much from scratch, it's kind of nice to have a night off.

I'll keep thinking about all this over the next few weeks. I don't mean to sound preachy. If I truly knew it all, it wouldn't have taken me until age 64 to get this under control. I wish all of you an easier road than I've had with weight control. Wish I had figured it out sooner.

---

1254 kcal

Fat: 48.91g | Prot: 87.38g | Carb: 128.36g.   Breakfast: Luna Luna Protein Bar - Cookie Dough, Milk (Nonfat). Lunch: Kroger Honeydew Melon, Corner Bakery Cafe Mixed Green Salad, Cooked Spinach (from Fresh, Fat Added in Cooking), Cooked Egg White. Dinner: Baked Sweetpotato (Peel Not Eaten, Fat Not Added in Cooking), Kraft 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, Annie's Naturals Organic BBQ Sauce Original Recipe, Chicken Meat (Roasting), Cooked Green String Beans (Fat Added in Cooking), America's Choice Natural Walnuts. Snacks/Other: Cabot Extra Sharp White Cheddar Cheese, Green Olives, Pacific Foods of Oregon pacificaorganic vegetable quinoa soup, Pacific Foods of Oregon organic bone broth chicken with ginger. more...

2024 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Driving - 1 hour, Sitting - 3 hours, Walking (moderate) - 3/mph - 10 minutes, Standing - 20 minutes, Resting - 13 hours and 30 minutes, Sleeping - 6 hours. more...