It's been about a year that I've been focusing reversing my weight gain. The absolute first thing I needed to do was to get out of a very stressful position at work. I was always stressed out, eating bad, not exercising, and not sleeping well at all. I would wake up, sometimes as early as 1am, with my mind racing, tossing and turning, and not being able to fall back asleep. My alarm would go off at 5am and I would have to go to work and live through a 10-12hr high paced, multi-tasking, crap job. I posted out to a lateral position under a leader that I have worked for on and off for almost 20 years. Best move of the year. Now I love my job, I'm working with my best friends (we all migrated back this VP), and the stress is minimal if non existent.
Next thing I needed to do was focus on nutrition. I know that weightloss is 80%, if not more, is due to the food you put in your mouth. I put exercise on the back burner and started to listen to audio books and podcasts. Some of my favorite audio books are:
You on a Diet – Dr Oz and Dr Roizen. Great info on the whole digestive process
Why We Get Fat – Gary Taubes – this book just bugged me when I first listened to it. I thought he was crazy for saying that saturated fat is good for you and grains are not. Totally contradicted what Dr. Oz was saying. But, after being educated by various podcasts that I respect, I realized he was right!
South Beach Diet – Dr Arthur Agatston and The Zone – Dr Barry Sears. Great info on low carb alternatives and macronutrient breakdown.
But podcasts turned out to be my favorite tool for learning! These are a my favorite:
Dishing up Nutrition www.weightandwellness.com Darlene Kvist established The Nutritional Weight and Wellness organization in Minnesota. Her radio show is turned into a weekly podcast and is full of nutrition education. I’ve learned so much from this show. I even used their nutrition counseling service over the phone and had a custom meal plan created to follow.
Jimmy Moore – all his podcasts – Living La Vida Low Carb , Jimmy Moore Presents the Low Carb Experts, and Low Carb Conversations. He has really opened my eyes about low carb and how important it is to control blood glucose levels. Diabetes scares me and is in my path if I do not change.
Balance Bites - Diane Sanfilippo and Liz Wolfe give information on eating real food, with a focus on the Paleo lifestyle.
The Jillian Michaels Show – Just cuz I was missing the all inspiring Jillian from The Biggest Loser. Glad she is back!
Half Size Me (www.halfsizeme.com) – my all time favorite! This is the one I most relate to. Heather opens her show with very helpful information and then interviews people going through the same journey. It feels like a virtual Weight Watchers meeting. It’s exposing me to all the great weight loss blogs out there on the web. So frigin’ inspirational. It’s where I get my most motivation.
By last summer, I knew my nutrition plan should be low carb. I base it on Dr Andreas Eenfeldt's LCHF (http://www.dietdoctor.com/lchf) diet so basically choose a low carb diet, eat when hungry, and eat real food. The fat keeps you satiated and the low carbs keep your cravings down. So, eat meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and natural fats (like butter, cream, coconut oil, avocados, nuts). Avoid sugar and starchy foods (like bread, pasta, rice and potatoes). I was able to give up eating cereal for breakfast and grains in general. I gave up drinking milk. No problem giving up diet soda, fried foods, and processed foods. I learned to like eggs and fish. And recently learned that juicing veggies is really good. But I am not 100% compliant with my nutrition plan which is why I have not been successful in losing weight. So I need to focus on why I am not compliant.
I know a big part is due to my binge eating disorder which I accepted after listening to Half Size Me. I even took Heather's Binge Eating 101 course which has really helped. I've learned what my triggers are and how should I handle the 'after binge'. I feel I have improved a bit as evident of how less often they occur and how much less I consume during my binges. I also learned that I do not need to beat myself up in the event of a binge.
Mental health is another important aspect I have been focusing on. When I'm feeling depressed, all bets are off. I fall into a slump. It de-motivates me. But I've learned that this motivation comes in cycles - highs and lows. There are times when I'm really motivated to workout and eat clean and there are other times I'm just not. I think the trick for me now is to optimize the high times to the MAX and be patient with myself during the lows. AND the most important aspect is to NEVER GIVE UP! I may be struggling to start my journey south on weight loss, but I have not gone higher either! I'm still confident that I will conquer this beast!
No comments:
Post a Comment