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I was a svelte 118 pounds when I graduated from high school in 1974. With my height being 5'8", I was not considered "fat, "overweight", "obese" or any other popular tags that society loves to hang on the ears of such people. Several years later, after having a baby, quitting smoking, and being married to a man who constantly told me I was beautiful regardless of the fact that I had packed on more than 100 pounds, I decided to try to lose weight. I joined a popular weight-loss club that used a "revolutionary" way to monitor one's food intake. A calculation method was used to factor in the calories, fat and fiber content of foods and then the resulting value was what a member was to "count" as a part of the weight-loss plan. Keeping a journal of food intake, exercise, water consumption, and weight readings was required.
Now, this probably doesn't sound too bad. It sounded reasonable to me at the time I joined. There was a membership fee, plus the cost of buying the books and materials for the program. It was explained that spending money on these fees and items would make the member feel "committed" to the program and more likely to succeed. Evidently this was true because I discovered there were several people in this club who had reached their goal weight - several times.
The meetings were held each Tuesday evening, which meant I spent all day Tuesday in a perpetual fasting state, just barely downing a few sips of water in hopes of maximizing the amount of weight loss that the scale would show when I weighed in at the meeting. Sometimes it worked - sometimes it didn't. Regardless of whether I had a successful weight loss that week, the meeting that followed the weigh in was miserable because we listened to a lecture, and participated in a discussion, that was all about the foods that we were (and were not) supposed to eat. By the time I left the meetings, I was ravenous! Upon arriving home afterwards, I almost always binged on a big bowl of ice cream because, after all, I had not eaten anything all day; and, besides, I had a whole week now before I had to worry about getting on those scales again! Yee haw!
After a few months of this cycle with no appreciable weight loss, I dropped my membership in this program.
I tried the low carb diet when it became popular, and did lose weight; but, I found out that eating so much protein was hard on the kidneys. So I stopped the diet.
I tried the popular shakes - you know, the ones where you substituted two shakes for two meals, then you were told you could "enjoy a sensible dinner." This one was flawed for me on more than one point: 1. What is a sensible dinner? 2. Each shake has 220 calories - I could have had a sandwich or salad for the same amount (or less) of calories and been less hungry afterwards!
I did not try the diet programs that promised to do all of the counting for you if you would just pay their fees and buy their food. I did have enough sense (God only knows why) to see that I could not afford their food and that the failure rate for these programs was nearly 100%.
In the meantime, as I experimented with these various diet plans, I continued to pack on the pounds. By the time I reached my mid-50's, my weight was not just embarrassing - it was affecting my health. My knees and back ached almost constantly. My blood pressure was running almost 20 points too high.
I was beginning to give up when I saw an interview that Kirstie Alley gave on the Oprah show. After suffering a similar ordeal that I had with the seesaw of weight levels, she said something that made a lot of sense to me: "If you go on a program, you will go off of the program." Well... hello common sense!
As I mulled that newfound wisdom, I struggled to walk up the steps to my house one day and my husband was behind me. I suddenly turned and told him, "I've made up my mind. The lard is coming off. I'm losing this weight. Just thought I'd share that with you." I told him I didn't expect him to change the way he was eating at all (he was overweight too, but we have too much respect for each other to ever criticize on that point). But, I did ask him to please not encourage me to have a cookie when he was having one, or anything else. He promised to help me and he kept his word.
Being a bit of a computer nerd, I found a website (www.sparkpeople.com) that was just the tool I needed to get started on my new lifestyle. I would be lying if I told anyone that it was easy because, for the first few days, I thought I was going to starve! But, sheer stubbornness paid off and by the third day I wasn't very hungry at all! I learned that it's perfectly satisfying to just eat a burger and leave off the fries. I promised myself initially that I would just order the burger and then, after eating it, if I was still hungry I would then order the fries. Guess what? I wasn't hungry after eating the burger! I can't even begin to say how liberating it felt to be able to say that! I also discovered that I could choose one dessert from a buffet, a small piece at that, and not feel at all deprived!
I could plan ahead what I was going to eat and found that I could actually eat quite a bit more than I was eating on those so-called "diet plans". And, if a special occasion was coming up - for instance, if someone brought donuts to work, I discovered I could go ahead and eat one - as long as I counted it on sparkpeople. However, I soon discovered that doing so would mean I would have to give up something later in the day. Before long, I found that it wasn't really worth it and had no problem turning down the offer of a donut or other pastry.
I also learned another valuable lesson: people don't want to hear every single detail about your diet. It is not necessary to report to friends and co-workers regularly about what you ate today and what you are going to eat later. You will only set yourself up for feelings of failure as people have a tendency (sad, but true) to watch for a slip-up.
I just felt it was best to keep my change in eating habits my own secret. As the weight finally started to come off, people noticed and that was the greatest reward ever!
It took almost a year, but I am now 40 pounds lighter than when I began my new way of life. I have remained at my current weight for about six months now. I still need to lose about 60 pounds, but I know that I can do it - for good! I plan to add a daily walk to my regimen and it's also time to reconfigure my weight loss profile on sparkpeople. Since I am not as large as I was when I started, my daily calorie maximum needs to be recalculated.
I said all of that to say this: You are the best judge of your own behaviors. Don't try to go on a program that you will eventually have to vacate. One of the most common boasts of most diet programs is that "you will never be hungry" and "you won't have to exercise". We, as a society, tend to shy away from things that cause discomfort and hunger is not comfortable. Just make sure that you begin your new life at a time when you will be busy and the hunger will be less noticeable. And, never forget, it is not permanent! And every hunger pang will be worth it when, a few days later, you discover that you are no longer enslaved to eating!
I am a wife, mother, and grandmother (10 gorgeous grandchildren). During the day, I am employed as the business manager for a local school district, and in my spare time and week-ends I love to be outdoors. My husband and I live on a farm in north-central Arkansas and we love it. I have two blogs, http://www.historyinromance.com and http://www.ozarksbeans.com. I am currently working on a self-help guide to help others who are struggling with weight issues.
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