Thursday, August 6, 2009

How I Lost 35 Pounds

Losing weight is a different process for everyone. Some go on strict diets, by cutting out junk food all together, while others use diet pill or diet shakes. I'm not saying these methods don't work, but I knew they would not work for me. I tried dieting off and on for about ten years by cutting out junk food totally, and it worked for about week or so, and then I'd get fed up and go on a junk food binge.

I knew I needed to lose weight and I went looking online in the beginning on 2007 and found Spark People. This is a wonderful tool for anyone wanting to get healthy and to lose weight the healthy way. They've got a nutrition tracker to log your food intake and a fitness tracker to log your exercise. Let me tell you, it was a big eye opener when I first logged my food. They taught me how to look at serving size information and to pay attention to various things such as sodium and fat contents. Wow. No wonder I was getting big. I was eating at least two and a half to three servings of cookies and ice cream every night. No to mention eating pound cake for breakfast and a bag of microwave popcorn for lunch.

Spark People also has hundreds of helpful articles on nutrition and fitness, along with motivation and wellness articles as well. Reading these articles I learned so much about food and what certain foods help or hinder your body. And I can't forget the wonderful community of Spark People. Their forums are wonderful and filled with helpful people ready to provide answers to any questions you may have. I belong to several "teams" that have monthly challenges and those challenges help me to stay focused and keep me going.

So, yes, Spark People has been a huge part in my weight loss. But let's face it, I'm the one who did the actual work. They provided me with the tools, but I did it essentially on my own. I paid more attention to what and to how much food I put in my body. I came up with a workout routine that worked for me. I took it slow in the beginning and was only doing about five minutes total on a miniature stair stepper. After about six months, I was up to about an hour.

I don't see myself on a "diet", but more of a "healthy lifestyle". To me, a diet has to end sometime. A healthy lifestyle never ends, unless you choose to go back to eating unhealthy foods every day. That's another thing, I believe in moderation. I have desert most nights, but for the most part I choose a healthy choice. My favorite dessert right now is Special K Chocolatey Delight. It gives me that chocolate taste I want but is still fairly healthy. You can have that piece of cake, just have one serving, and it's best not to make it a nightly habit.

Staying on track with a healthy lifestyle can be challenging at times depending on who lives in your household. I have my fair share of challenges here, but I make my own choices and stick to them. I might be called a "food snob" sometimes or a "brat" because I'm focused on my exercise routine, but those are just words. I tell them I'm doing the right thing for me and my body. And like I said in my previous post, if I don't keep moving, I'm going to be in trouble.

If I slip up and have more pizza than I should, or if I skip a workout here and there I don't beat myself up. I just get back to it and keep going. One bad day won't undo everything I've accomplished. I eat what I want and I keep track of certain ranges such as fat content, sodium and of course calories. I also am mindful of my calcium range, and because it is so low, I now take Citrical to help with that.

It's different for everyone. I do have strong opinions on diet pills and the various fad diets, but I won't get into that in this post. If those work for you, great! I just know that they would not work for me.

So how about you? How did (are) you lose (losing) weight? Pills, moderation, diet books, surgery? Let me know in the comments and tell me if what you're doing is working for you.

2 comments:

  1. Hello Terrie,

    Nice post of how you made a difference for HEALTH'S sake. It was a priviledge to get back on track practicing a healthy lifestyle with my local church's Health & Wellness group. I have learn a great deal about servings, portions, good fat, bad fat, good carbs, bad carbs, how to exercise for my body's frame, et cetera. I received several compliments regarding my progress. I eat mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, drink lots of water, and DETOX. Detoxing is soooooo important and I feel like a new person each time afterwards. My energy and metabolism increases and my attitude becomes more bubbly. Most of all, I feel better about caring for my body and looking healthier inside-out.

    M.K.Chaplin, Georgia (USA)

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  2. Monique! Thanks so much for commenting. When I saw your FaceBook picture, I noticed you had lost weight! You look fabulous. I'm so glad you feel better about what you're doing to take care of yourself.

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