For most of my adult life I've been fat. The funny thing is, even when I wasn't fat, I was still considered obese. Which, by the way, I hate that word....OBESE. Just say fat. I'm cool with that.
Back in January, I started on this journey to try to become less fat. Skinny will never be in my vocabulary (although all my comedian/comedienne friends now call me Skinny). So, back to my journey. This past December, my husband and I took a trip to Napa. While we were there I was getting sick (like vomit sick) in the evenings. My stomach was in pain, but I really didn't want to go to the doctors. Why, you ask? Basically because I try to avoid the doctors as much as possible because I hated getting on that scale. I also had this fear that I would hear words like, "Obese," and "high blood pressure," or even, "Diabetes." So, I just avoided it. Well, I finally ended up going in because the pain was so bad. Luckily, it turned out to be a stomach virus. No biggie.
So, I finally decided I ought to go in for a physical. Turns out, other than being OBESE and having this crazy foot pain the past two years, I was as healthy as a horse.
Now, we're in January. I had a little bit of stress. Enough that it caused me to not be able to eat for a couple of days. This was on, or around, January 5th. I decided to take advantage of this, and start making small changes. I started with portion size. I didn't worry too much about what I was eating, just the amount.
I finally got on a scale (for the 2nd time...on my own...since being forced to at the doctors) and weighed myself. I weighed in at 257 pounds. My jaw would've hit the floor, but this past summer, I weighed 263. I might add that over summer, I spent about 4-6 weeks working out 2-3 times a week, and only dropped 2 pounds. (Talk about frustrating).
Back in December at my doctor visit, I also got a referral for Weight Loss Surgery. Something I wanted to do as a last resort. I have a friend who did it, and was quite happy with it, so I figured why not look into it. I went to the orientation, and then to another, longer orientation put on by a surgeon and nutritionist. The facts were scary, and I really didn't think I wanted to do it. The thought of being on a handful of daily supplements the rest of my life (not to mention the very small mortality rate...even though small, someone had to be that statistic) really freaked me out. So, I decided to try it the old fashioned way.
I joined My Fitness Pal. I wanted to start tracking what I was eating, which isn't easy to do, but I really wanted to try. As I started entering the various foods I was eating, it was quite eye opening as to how many calories I was eating (some days upwards of 3,000-4,000). Well, according to MyFitnessPal...once I plugged in my age, weight, and goal weight I should only be eating 2250 a day. What I wasn't planning on was once the weight started to come off and you logged it, it slowly took calories away. (bummer).
Once I started logging, I sort of became obsessed with the calorie count on everything. It definitely made me more aware of what I was eating, as well as how much. I also came to the realization that I have to live my life, so if I went over my calories for the day, I didn't beat myself up...too bad. I started cooking better...more proteins and veggies, fewer carbs. I've always considered myself a foodie, so making that change in the way I cooked has been a challenge, but thank heavens for Cooking Light! :)
Immediately, I started loosing the pounds. I won't give you every little detail, but let's just say that so far (from January 5th to today, April 25th) I've lost 40 pounds. The first 35 were just diet alone.
The last 5 were a little tougher. I started walking and trying to include exercise into my weekly program. The problem was.... that darn foot that had been bugging my the past 2 years. I finally got that checked out, and learned that I have planters fasciitis. That's code for a shitload of pain on the heel of your foot. After nursing it for 3 months, then finally getting a cortisone injection, 600mg prescription Motrin, new inserts for my shoes, and now physical therapy, the damn thing still hurts daily. But, I can manage it a little better. It still hurts when I go for walks or hikes, but my goal to run. Yes, I really want to run.
So, back to those last 5 pounds. Apparently, once you start working out, fat starts to turn into muscle which apparently weighs more. Well, that sucks! Okay, not so much, now that I'm starting to see and feel things tightening up a little. I was lying in bed the other night and I had an itch on my leg. When I lifted my leg to scratch it, I was floored to actually feel a muscle in my upper leg....something I haven't felt or seen in many years. It was such a nice feeling. So, these last 5 pounds have taken me almost a month to lose. But, at least they're slowly still coming off.
The fat me is now a less fat version of me, which I'm thrilled with at the moment. Today, I weigh 217 pounds. Still OBESE and fat, but 40 pounds lighter. I bought a pair of jeans for the first time in 12 years. I'm trying to say goodbye to those Yoga pants. You know the stretchy ones with the elastic waist? I have to tell myself everyday, "I can do this." And the cool thing is I've got about 10 teachers that I work with using MyFitnessPal and joining me on my journey to less fat.
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