I remember the first time I ever really weighed myself back in P.E. in middle school, and the scale reading exactly 80 pounds. I was lanky and awkward and oh so incredibly dorky, but I was also thin. High school hit and my body matured and I gained some weight, though not in a bad way. I was growing up and gaining some weight, but I was still thin. And then college started.
I didn’t have a lot of money while I was in school, so I consistently ate whatever was cheapest. For breakfast that usually meant generic brand sugary cereals, or chocolate chip waffles that I’d eat in the car on the way to class. Lunch and dinner was almost always something from the pasta family – macaroni & cheese, ramen noodles, or spaghettios. Healthy stuff, right? I gained weight in a hurry. When I graduated college I had leveled out at 240. I was no longer thin.
I tried for over a year off and on to try and lose some weight. I’d eat healthy, cut back on soda, and bike on the $100 exercise machine I bought on sale at Academy, but it never seemed to last. For a while I went practically without eating, living solely on protein shakes and mini-carrots, but that only lasted a week. I lost quite a bit of weight, but I was hungry and miserable and knew better than to try and keep it up. So I began eating again, and the healthy habits didn’t last long.
I’m finally at a place in my life though where I seem capable of consistency and change. I’ve joined a gym and try to work out at least a few times a week for an hour each time, eating healthy every day with a few rare exceptions on the weekend just to make sure I don’t get frustrated and give up. I eat healthy cereal for breakfast, a nice soup for lunch, and I usually have spaghetti for dinner. For some people, eating the same foods would bother them, but not me. If the food’s good, I could eat it all the time. That was what got me into trouble in college in the first place, but at least this time around the food’s better for me.
I’ve lost a little weight since I started, but the other differences are more noticeable. My pants fit better, my face is thinning out, and my energy level is much higher than it used to be. If measuring by pounds, the change hasn’t been much so far, but I haven’t given up hope because I see that I’m finally making headway. I am trying my hardest and I think it’s working.
For the past few years, every Thanksgiving my family gets together for a big reunion and we all have a blast. And every year, at least one family comes up to me and pokes me in the stomach and says something about me having put on weight or how they think I should change whatever it is I’m doing that way I stop gaining and start losing. Maybe they’re trying to help and don’t realize how rude it is, or maybe they think making me feel bad is the surest way to make me try harder. Either way, it’s ended up being one of the biggest motivators. I hate that fact because in a way it’s like they win and I don’t like letting rude people win, but that’s simply how it goes. I’m doing everything I can to be in better shape this year than in years past because I would like for once to have people tell me that I look nice and not that I’m fat.
The one thing that has consistently bothered me throughout my campaign to lose weight is that I originally assumed I’d be saving money by cutting down on soda and fast food. That’s just simply not the case. I spent over $70 at the grocery store today for food that would last me the rest of this week. Skim milk, healthy spaghetti, healthy soup, fat free crackers, whole grain bread, etc. I got so mad when I went to look for cereal and saw that the all natural healthy cereals are twice the cost of the normal brands, and come in boxes half the size. When will these food companies realize that the people who need to lose weight the most are almost always the people who can’t afford to pay the exorbitant cost of all these “lite” meals? I can’t afford half the foods I think would be good for me. I compromise sometimes and get something middle of the road because I just can’t justify spending so much money on food when I have other bills to pay. And this is a big problem that I don’t see resolving itself anytime soon. If it weren’t so damn expensive to eat healthy, more people would do it.
By the way…I had tuna helper for lunch today. Over 1000 calories for one meal. It’s Sunday – bite me.
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Weight loss, what allot of us need to do but can’t seem to put together a program that works. I got some good advice a while back that I will share. “Control what you eat because you can not exercise enough to burn off the calories”. A slice of cheese cake takes two minutes to eat and 45 to 90 minutes, of vigorous exercise, to burn off. So the bottom line, to healthy weight loss, lower the amount and type of calories you take in and add a little exercise to your daily routine. The weight will come off slowly but healthy and you can avoid the feeling that you are starving yourself.
I give this advice after having lost over 50 pounds. I had to give up some things that I really like, and miss, but then I have always believed that sacrifice brings forth blessings. I know that allot of us give up many things/sacrifice for what we want. I have learned that in doing this I feel better about myself and have a greater respect for others in their efforts to accomplish goals that require sacrifice. The man who ate the tuna helper today knows and understands sacrifice, just ask him about getting his degree.
I agree in your approach. Eat good, healthful foods, most of the time — don’t ever say “never.” Exercise is great. I’m so proud of you giving up regular Dr. Pepper for all these months! That’s a huge sacrafice for you. I can relate to your struggle (as your Uncle Kelsey can), because I’ve lost 45 lbs the last year. Along with doing all the things you mentioned, you left out that we both take Advocare products. Those vitamins and supplements really do help — and, of course, are an extra expense. I have the same gripe that it costs more to eat healthful things, than to eat bad-for-you fast food…groan. Keep up the good work. My hugs, kisses, love and prayers are with you always.
It really does suck that your not really saving money while your losing weight. I’ll agree and say “yeah, you do look good.”
By the way, I want to come over again and have some more spaghetti with you. It was very delicious.
Like you, I have struggled all my life with my weight. One of the hardest things for me was learning to love myself regardless of my size. It’s something that it took me 100 years to do and I have only accomplished recently. I look back at pictures of me 20, 30, 40 years ago and see a much thinner person. I can see that thin person now and am saddened that I couldn’t see her back then and hated the way I looked because I thought I was fat (at 127 pounds!). I judged everything I was and did through “fat glasses” and missed so much enjoyment and fulfillment that could have been mine if I could have looked at myself through the eyes of self-acceptance. Also like you, I was greeted with “It’s so great to see you, even if you are chubby.” I try never to do that to anyone else, but if I was one of those rude people to you, I want to apologize to you. One of the things that really helped me was hanging a small mirror at eye-level right beside the door I go out most often. Each time I passed, I looked me in the eye and said, “Looking good, looking fine. You go girl!” I gave up the huge T-shirts I have been hiding in for years and adopted a more form-fitting style. I am still not comfortable in it but I am trying to adapt. For years I punished people who angered me by going and eating a whole bag of cookies, or whatever else was available. Now, how smart is that, and who did I really punish. Duh!
Bottom line: don’t try to live your life trying to fulfill everybody else’s goals for your life – make your own for yourself and go after them. I have watched you do this in your job and your education, and I am proud of you.
*sigh* I can’t help but agree with you on this. It is way more expensive to eat healthier. It makes it such a hassle. I guess all you can really do is just keep on trucking. That’s what I’ve been trying to do. And I’m with Sarah. We need to have another Spaghetti night. It was definitely yummy. lol…and Sarah told me yesterday that now that she sees more pics of Rob Pattinson…she thinks he’s hotter and hotter. haha. I told her it was ok…no one can resist his hotness. I mean…seriously…this is the sex :
http://www.mtv.com/content/ontv/vma/2008/photo/flipbooks/08-backstage/2008Video_John_16001033_Max.jpg
Hey hun. I do love your site.
Along with everyone else I agree that eating healthy costs so much more than eating junk. I’m right there with you on wanting to look better and feel better about myself. I use all the excuses (it’s too expensive, I’m too tired, it’s too hard etc.). I’m going to get into the swing of things soon; at least that’s what I keep telling myself.
Our family has taught me something. Anytime I say I want to lose weight to look better, I get chastised. The real motivation behind losing weight needs to ultimately be your health. “I want to lose weight to become more healthy.”
I love you hun and hang in there!
What you have to realize is… that as you lose weight… you’ll be smaller and require less food. Your body is telling you it wants lots of food to replenish what you have burned. But the lighter we get, the less we have to eat. Aint life Grand?
I can feel you pain. My weight issue started after I had my child. I just got to get where the pounds is not the issue but what I am doing and where I am see the changes is a good thing,
i found out something really interesting not to long ago. the things we do on an everyday basis, normal things that everyone does throughout a day, can burn a literal buttload of calories. things from grocery shopping, to cleaning around the house, to cooking, to going from room to room around your house. not doing it in any different or special way, just doing it. some people do those things more often in a day, and seem to be constantly on the move. something that may be benificial for you, especially since you probably dont want to eat food that you dont like and spend a lot of time exercising for the rest of your life, is to find a way to make doing those thing more often and being “constantly on the move” more appealing to ya. that and changing the eating habits from college and stuff could have a big effect…or is it affect…i always confuse the two.
i remember when we were kids and we used to play together alot, but there came a day when you wanted to play less and less. i thought, this kids crazy, he’s missing out on all the fun. i was a little sad too, i loved getting to play with you like we always had. i even thought, at one point, that it was me, that you didnt want to play with me cause you didnt like me. i honestly think that something happened to cause you to seriously dislike physical activity or something, and when you got to a place in your life that that is what you wanted, it was harder for you to get there. habits are hard things to break and create when its easier for us to make a different choice.
me, my body didnt get the chance to gain much weight, because i took medication for a good portion of my life that made me not want to eat. so im not an authority on weight loss or exercise, and seriously would never have called you fat. the word fat brings to mind someone twice your size. i didnt intend to write so much, and i hope none of it came across bad.
Just a little trivia here – for every pound you lose, you lose four pounds of pressure off your feet. My feet are loving me 200 pounds worth. I can actually bend down and get back up. WOW!!! Now how cool is THAT!!!! For those of you who have always been able to do that, I hope you never find out what a bummer it is not to be able to do it. I’m not where I want to be ultimately, but I am loving where I am.
“For the past few years, every Thanksgiving my family gets together for a big reunion and we all have a blast. And every year, at least one family comes up to me and pokes me in the stomach and says something about me having put on weight”
same for me, though we all laugh about it because we all know i was a twig up to college.
lesson: exercise and never stop.
its nice to hear youre making some headway and feel positive about it. thats the most important part. yes, healthier foods cost more than junk, but kind of think of it was investing in your future, as sappy as that sounds.
cheers