Reflections: Weight loss - 10 things you need to know.

April 20th will be two years that I have been attempting to lose weight.  Along the way I have done a lot of reading about health, exercise, food and stories of those who have successfully kept weight off. I wouldn't exactly classify myself as successful (pending reaching my goal and maintaining it) but there are a few things that I do feel that everyone who has tried, is going to or is currently losing weight will appreciate.


1.  You will always think about food.
You will eat it, you will buy it, you will weigh it,will prepare it, you will meditate on what you should have, shouldn't have, when to have it, when not to have it, regret having it or not having it, wonder if you had to much or if you had enough (get my drift) You will wonder whether a day will come when you wont think about it. Trust me, as long as you eat it, you will always think about it.

2.  The numbers mean everything but really they don't.
I weigh every single day!!

Yes I purposely drive myself mad on the regular. And after spending millions of hours obsessing about getting to a certain number, millions of seconds thinking that if only I weighed (insert magic number), watching a digital number go up or down many times throughout the day I realize that what seems to mean soo much in the moment really means nothing.

I read once that a scale is just a tool (like a hammer, no?) The scale is simply a tool to let you know where you are and if you are on track, and I "try" to use it as such. However, since accuracy is never 100% you can never trust it implicitly. One day you will smile at it because it let you know that all your hard work paid off.  The next it will betray you letting you know the high sodium snack along with your monthly bill will make you retain water like a buffalo. Twenty days later you'll be right back where you were twenty days ago frustrated and wanting to use other tools to beat it into a pulp (Hammer please stat!!) But if used properly (hint hint) it will teach you about your body and how it responds to what is eaten. It will help you stay you on track. As long as you know where you are you can map where to go.The scale can be your friend.

3.  It is never...ever..over
Don't get me wrong if you keep working at it, you will reach your goal, you will have the satisfaction that you are no longer categorically overweight, you will fit into those size whatever jeans and smile like a fool as you zip them up, but just know you will need to keep that up. I haven't reached my goal yet so more on this later.

4. Who you are is... well...who you are ...
I cant say this any plainer.  some of you realist wonder why it even needs to be said, but because of the weight loss dream sequence some of us have going on in our heads (me included) we idealize it and later become disenchanted when we realize that "XYZ is, isn't, has or hasn't happened because I'm fat". Life is what you make it, and sometime its just crappy. You are you with fat or without it.
It can be a defining moment when you get that reality check and finally accept that you have been hiding behind your weight, using it as an excuse for not doing what you want or possibly as a way to not face life. I'm not saying that everyone has this issue, but I have and I'm working on it.. Somewhere around the loss of the 100th lb I realized that my life was not going to be like the weight loss stories I read in magazines, Although I felt better about myself, nothing had magically changed, I didn't feel exceptionally confident, I still have self esteem issues, I am sometimes and may always be a mess.  Weight loss helps you feel better but it isn't a cure all. Granted you will smile more, you will feel lighter and you will be stronger, each lbs loss will be a step in another direction, but the essence of you, all of it good and bad will still be you.

5.  You may have flab
OK, so the chicken wings are real yall!! Lately I started to realize that the flab is most certainly real. I have flabby arms, boobs and thighs, There are stretch marks everywhere.  I'm 46 , Ive been overweight since high school so I don't even know what my body is like without excess weight.  I know the skin will shrink but the flab is guaranteed.  Somehow I have convinced myself that I can accept it, but lately the saggy thigh thing has got me just a little scared.

6.  People around you WILL change.
My parents used to tell me that if I lost weight I may lose some friends.Being my parents of course they are of mindset that as their daughter I'm the best looking of all my friends...and if I lost weight well.. heck  Id be a looker.  Frankly the thought of me losing my friends scared me,  (c'mon really...who wants to be better looking than ALL of their friends??)  Sadly, the thought of it stayed with me and as I have lost weight I half expected it to happen. Thankfully it hasn't, however what I have noticed is that people  give you those long sideways glances. Wondering what's different about you. Some people who started out supporting you no longer have positive things to say. They are uncomfortable with you and project their insecurities.  People who don't normally talk to you now suddenly feel the urge to talk to you, you're a weight loss celebrity (no paparazzi please) and some will start speaking less maybe ignoring you or when they do speak they seem a little different (you know they give that look, that vibe..) Then of course there is the weight loss groupies who feel the need to confess all the good and bad things eaten (like I'm a "food priestess") All in all the extra attention comes and goes and can be uncomfortable at times. Don't depend on it to make you feel good. Like everything else in life, it will pass.

7.  Losing weight is the best thing you can do for your health.
Since I've lost weight I have rid myself of a CPAP machine, high blood pressure medications, and various maladies associated with obesity.  By eating clean I learned how my body responds to food. I've discovered various food allergies that affect my overall health.  You can do yourself no better than to eat right and exercise and lose weight, Your body will thank you.

8. You must eat well.
A year into losing weight I finally decided to do some form of regular exercise.  I chose walking because it is free and I could do it anywhere. However I was under a misconception that once I started walking, get up my speed, Id burn a bazillion calories and the weight would start dropping.  I was wrong, In the past year, I logged over 900 miles and the weight loss was slower than the previous year,  I manipulated my intake I ate good, I ate bad, sometimes I ate nothing.  What I learned is that I felt my best when I ate well, I lost weight when I ate well.  Eating well ALONG with the regular exercise made me feel my best.  Both are necessary to good health.  For me, eating well is 80% of the weight loss equation.  I lost more weight just eating well than with exercise.  Which leads me to.....

9.  Exercise is necessary.
Exercise never comes easy to an obese person, but in order to keep the weight lost off, you will need to incorporate it into your life.  I never liked exercise until I started walking.  I love walking I love the feeling of freedom it brings. It is definitively for me but it may not your niche. I know Ill never be a gym rat so that's out for me.  I love the idea of being able to run but until recently I thought it impossible, However over the course of the past year, I've found myself WANTING to run, I've gotten my walking speed up and sometimes feel a run coming on. I actually feel like running.  I find myself jogging through the cross lights, through the metro, and to my car for no other reason than the fact that I feel like it and I somewhat can!! Imagine that, I'm doing something I once imagined to be impossible.  My point is, you may not like exercise, but there is something out there for you, go on, find your exercise niche,

10.  NOTHING happens unless you MAKE it.  DO SOMETHING!!
So many times I've read stories about people who have these AHA moments that led to weight loss, i.e. doctor says I'm gonna die, my kids, my husband etc is embarrassed, I'm unhappy, I cant fasten the seat belt, (yes the seat belt thing actually happened to me on a airplane and later a water ride in a amusement park, but I wasn't moved to do anything about it) I am happy to say I'm NOT one of those people.  Id read so many of those stories that just like them,  I "wanted" no... "waited" for an AHA moment, but it never came.  I wondered what was wrong with me,   In the meantime,... I DID NOTHING.  One day while randomly browsing Amazon I came across a book about a man who lost 100 lbs by counting calories, since Id never counted calories I thought hmm, a dude who counted calories??, might be interesting.  In the course of day I read his book, The things he said made a lot of sense so I decided right then and there to try counting calories, I thought what the heck, I might lose 10 lbs, and then Ill figure out what to do next. I followed his advice and then downloaded My Fitness Pal, I started counting calories and almost two years later I'm down 112 lbs. Long story short (too late) Please stop waiting for an AHA moment!! Losing weight doesn't always start with a plan, it starts with a try, and then,  you KEEP trying.  Each day will have challenges, but if you don't DO anything, NOTHING will happen. So DO something, you'll be surprise where it will get you.

I know this sounds like something you read before but its my truth, Weight loss is not a easy process but its worth it.