Mary's (not her real name) weight loss journey began three years ago. Because of the amount of weight she wanted to lose (190#), she knew it would be a long road and planned for three years. After having tried to lose weight in the past, she knew weight loss is not an overnight project.
In the past, she had tried Atkins and the South Beach diets but they did not work. Weight Watchers had worked but she did not want to follow a plan. She said she often goes out with friends. How does she follow the meal plan at a restaurant? Meal plans were to restricting for her lifestyle. Mary knew that she had to find what worked for her, not some one else's idea of what she should do.
Mary also knew that for her to do something continuously, it needed to become a habit. She had to eat the same portions every day for at least two weeks for it to become a habit to stop at that amount. When she started exercising, she knew she had to go to the gym every day for it to become a habit. If she skipped one day, skipping the next day would be that much easier.
With all this in mind, Mary's first step was to simply eat less. She did not change the foods she was eating, she just ate less of them. To help with portion control, she did eat Lean Cuisine type meals. Once she felt comfortable with those portions, if she went out to eat, she would divide her meal into quarters. She would eat one quarter. If still hungry, she would eat another quarter and take the rest home. Now, to help with hunger, she usually eats a salad or soup (broth soup, not cream soup) before dinner and eats 1/4 of her meal. The rest becomes tomorrow's lunch and/or dinner.
To help with the weight loss, she also started working out. Fortunately, she knew a personal trainer who now works with her 3 days/week. Each month, the cardio activity changes. One month may be the treadmill, the next month may be the elliptical machine or the exercise bike. Weights are also incorporated into the routine and change monthly as well.
Mary loves to cook. She brought several of the cookbooks and magazines she uses to the meeting. They include:
Eat Clean Diet Cookbook by Tesco Reno
Semi-Homemade Cooking Make Light by Sandra Lee
Cooking Light Magazine
Clean Eating Magazine
Biggest Loser Cookbooks
Another book that provided a lot of helpful information is You on a Diet by Dr. Oz.
Mary did have one major weight loss plateau when her weight loss almost stopped. She said this was very frustrating but did not let herself give up. Before starting to work out, she measured her arms, waist and thighs. Although the scale was not budging, she was still losing inches. This was a great motivator.
Now that she is nearing her goal of 150 pounds, she may make a new goal of an even lighter weight. She will see how she feels once she gets there. When she started losing weight, she did not change the food she was eating. Only the portion size changed. Now she is looking at what she is eating and making healthier choices. She is trying clean eating recipes and trying to "eat a rainbow" (eating fruits and vegetables in a variety of colors). One thing she knows for sure, the changes she has made are changes she can live with for life.
What is interesting is that Mary's weight loss followed the same path as our other guest speakers - eat less and move more. They all had the following methods in common:
- Finding what worked for them - no published plan or diet. They made their own plan.
- Increasing the fruits and veggies
- Adding activity to daily life
- Losing the weight for themselves, not for their spouse or anyone else
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