Tuesday, February 18, 2014

That's it

Enough is enough. I'm going back to Medi Weight Loss. Tired of my clothes being too tight and hating the mirror. I made an appointment for Thursday morning so Thursday afternoon I will hit the grocery to stock up on approved protein foods!  I can't wait to bust out my excel spreadsheet and start tracking losses again.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

I realized

Today driving to work I was pondering eating, dieting, tracking, how I look, etc. Pretty typical for me. I realized when I think about my day & know I'm not going to use my fitness pal I feel euphoric. Then my next thought goes to how I look & I feel depressed. So if I could somehow improve the self image the rest might be easier too. Question is how.

Monday, February 10, 2014

Emotional weekend

I didnt realize it was an emotional weekend until I was posting on Facebook & realized I'm deeply & profoundly sad.
We moved dad into his apartment this weekend. 75 years old & in an apartment. It's a nice one in a nice facility but Damn it. In the last 2 months the man has lost his wife, his dog and his home. I can't stop & think about it. It makes me want to cry, eat & throw up all at once. All I can say is thank god he has been financially savvy or at least stable and that he has mike & me & our families.
Because I havent taken time to deal with these emotions they are affecting my eating. I didn't think Much about food this weekend. Didn't think much about anything except unpacking, moving & getting him settled. This morning I ate breakfast twice. Then I had a bag of m&ms. And to think I didnt consider myself an emotional eater. Really?  The question is how long can I suppress these emotions, put them aside & not deal with them?  As long as I do I know I won't eat right. Damn it.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Not such a bad week

For the most part this week I felt fairly uninterested in food. I'm trying to understand why because I would like to replicate that. My good intentions to exercise 3 times this week didn't materialize.
I skipped lunch two days in a row but proceeded to make bad choices (cheetos, cookies) in the afternoon because I was hungry but also because I felt like I had deprived myself.
The week hasn't been good for my self image as I have largely been around smaller people. I wish I understood why that bothers me so much. I know intellectually that they don't look at me as bigger and more importantly they don't care. So why do I care?  Stupid.
I stayed up late last night talking with my friend who I rarely see. It was heartening to know she faces similar challenges. She manages a lot better than I do tho.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Not bad

Yesterday I did pretty well. I had a healthy omelet and sliced tomatoes for breakfast & only ate half my bacon. I'm really thinking aboht trying the eat half your food plan. I just wonder if I have the discipline?  Need to ask some more about it. I have a good friend at work who has successfully done that.
Anyway I had a healthy salad with grilled chicken & dressing on the side for lunch. Lara would have been proud.
I did have a cookie in the middle of the morning which I totally enjoyed.
Before dinner I had to go to a concert/work function where I had 2 beers & 2 servings of spinach artichoke dip. I didn't feel too good after those so I wished I hadn't eaten them. Then I stupidly stood by the dessert table. Dumb. I ate a mini pecan pie mindlessly. It tasted good but I have no idea why I ate it.
Went to dinner with friends & had 2 California rolls. Very proud if that!
We will see how today goes!

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Sick

So I'm in las Vegas for a trade show. Felt sick as a dog yesterday. Bent over the disgusting toilet in the plane thinking I was going to puke (i didn't). Went to bed at 5.30 last night. Here's the thing. I was almost glad to be sick because I didn't feel like eating. How messed up is that?  I feel better this morning. Lets see if I can be nice to myself & track my food today.

Monday, February 3, 2014

Another day

I actually forced myself to the Y yesterday & had a decent 30 minute cardio workout.  Managed to leave the place feeling good about my workout & not feeling awful about myself.  Nice.  I didn't do so hot in the afternoon though - some brownie batter, a little bacon bread, wasn't really hungry for dinner.  I guess looking at it in writing, I did way better than I would have at a super bowl party so that's something to feel good about.
I'm anxious to see how this blog to lose thing works out.  I really feel the need for support from a community who gets my situation.  I spent a fortune last year on nutrtionists, trainers & psychologists - to no avail.  I'm really not any further ahead in understanding my food & weight related issues than I was before.
Might be helpful to tell my whole story....  I went on my first diet around the age of 8 - I remember it distinctly at 1200 calories per day.  It didn't work.  By the time I was a sophomore in high school I was pudgy.  Like most of the other blogs I've read, I look back on those pictures and think I looked fine.  But I didn't think that at the time. My mom battled her weight as far back as I can recall - I remember Nutrisystem, Jennie Craig, the grapefruit diet, cabbage soup diet, calorie counting, etc. all as a vivid part of my childhood.  History repeats itself, no doubt.  My dad is tall & never struggled with weight until his mid 60s.  Now he is 75 & its a problem, but add it to the list - he is diabetic so the list is long.
Anyway, I decided my junior year of high school that I wanted to go to west Point.  I took the physical & failed because of my weight.   Took the fitness test & failed because of my weight.  Then I got serious - my parents hired me a personal trainer.  I lost a lot of weight - I can't remember how much - maybe 60 lbs, became a gym rat & got into West Point.  I loved how I looked & felt at that time in my life - I could wear anything - wasn't afraid of a swimsuit.
I entered West Point probably around 130 labs - I'm about 5'6" and not a slender frame so that was probably a bit light for my ideal.  I took care of that though by gaining back about 60-70 lbs during my plebe year.  I also managed to fail the fitness tests again.  By the end of my plebe year, my parents had to fly up to West Point to meet with the director of physical fitness & convince him to give me a year off to get my shit together.
They were successful - I went home for a year, became a gym rat, got back in shape & used the same trainer I had before.  Lost the weight & went back to West Point.  This time I managed to stay on the hairy edge (on the good side of the edge) and not get kicked out.  We had weigh ins 2x/semester and fitness tests 2x/year.  Somehow I survived all of them - passing the weigh ins by having acceptable body fat measurements, not by meeting the height weight charts.  I think I weighed around 160 when I graduated.  Again, I look back & think I looked amazing.
I managed to do fairly well maintaining - really yo-yoing more than actually maintaining for my first few years in the Army.  I was single then when I got engaged, I looked at the pictures & thought holy shit I am not looking this way for my wedding.  I was probably pushing 200 lbs, 24 years old.  I tackled it again - this time with Weight Watchers & lost about 70 lbs.  We had to reschedule our wedding due to deployments & one of my most vivid memories is going to my parents' house for our wedding & being afraid to try on my wedding dress because I had gained 10-15 lbs during the delay.  Thank god it fit.  And I love how I look in my wedding pics.
We got out of the army so they stopped weighing me every 6 months.  What a relief.  I maintained somewhere between 170-180 for 3 or 4 years til I had my first daughter at age 30.  After she was born I slowly gained a few pounds each year.  In 2006 I had my second daughter at age 35.  Here is a memory I have never said out loud - I had a C-section - after she was delivered & my husband left the operating room, the doctor was putting my back together.  He asked the nurse anesthetist if she knew how to get the fat from my abdomen back in so he could close the incision.  I'm sure he didn't know I heard that let alone remember it but it haunts me almost daily.  I was around 240 labs at that point I think.
I kept gaining over the next few years, finally reaching 269 labs in the spring of 2010.  I went to the Y & hired a trainer which helped a lot.  I even quit drinking diet coke for a while.  I lost about 20 lbs thru the exercise routine but it was so hard to fit it in with 2 little kids & a full time job.  It was a constant struggle.  At my birthday in 2011 I decided enough was enough & went to Medi Weight Loss.  It was drastic - no carbs - like zero - and about 600 calories per day.  The best part was it worked.  I thought it worked because of the weekly check in with the nutritionists.  Looking back I think it worked because it was so drastic.  I did great on Medi & by the end of 2011 was below 200 for the first time in a long long time.  I had actually decided that I was at my goal & was transitioning into maintenance which adds back carbs & calories gradually to find equilibrium.  I looked amazing, I was wearing size 12 clothes.
Then I got diagnosed with cancer.  Ewing's sarcoma to be exact - its deadly, aggressive, and very very rare.  Thankfully I live near Vanderbilt so was able to get great medical help.  I allowed cancer to take my mind off of my weight.  I criticize myself non stop for this great mistake, but realistically I think 99/100 people in my situation would have done the same thing.
During my year with cancer, chemo, surgery & radiation I gained back about 50 lbs.  Talk about depressing.  Here I was glad to be alive & so proud of having beaten cancer but I lost the healthy athletic body I had worked so hard for.
Since then I have tried several things - back to Medi didn't work - I don't want to be deprived.  Nutritionist didn't work - I cheated.  Pscyhologist didn't work - I don't think I was honest with her & she didn't make me get it all out on the table - like the C-section story - this stuff needs to get OUT of me so I can heal & move on.  I don't lose, I keep gaining a little at a time.  I'm 272 lbs right now, dress size 18W.
I love food, I love cooking, its fun for me - especially with my family.  Its the way I take care of people.  I don't want to be a size 12 or 180 lbs, but I do want to be healthy.  I want to have a healthy relationship with food and more importantly a healthy view of myself.  I want to stop torturing and beating myself up, stop over criticizing myself.  Many times a day I think to myself wow I'm so good at work, so good at being a mommy & wife, but I suck at fitness and at self control.  Always that damn but. 
I'm hoping blog to lose, the book Eat.Q., and some other resources will help me be nice to myself.  And that, in turn, will empower me to make the lifestyle changes I need to lose about 50 lbs.  If I get to 220 then I will reassess & decide where to go from there.