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How I lost 6.8 Pounds in 5 Weeks
 Posted by Michelle Butler Mar 13 2011, 8:20 pm in Emotional Eating, exercise, food, food diary, Michelle Butler, Michelle Mondays, motivation, portion control, stress The February 1, 2011, Weight Watchers meeting was all about motivation. For some people, the new year’s resolution boost was over, and the group leader was trying to encourage them to dig deeper and find a way to keep going. Halfway through the meeting, he asked, “Does anyone need a pep talk?” After several seconds, I raised my hand. He was so surprised he even took a step back. He took a few seconds to recover before he said, “Talk to me. Why do you need a pep talk?” I shared that I no longer believed I ever would make it to the healthy weight zone and reach my goal weight. Yes, I had lost around 30 pounds in 2009, but I had spent nearly the last year losing and regaining the same 7 pounds several times. I was struggling to find any faith that continued effort on my part would make a difference. He talked it out with me and got me to commit to doing just two things for the next few weeks. We settled on tracking (or keeping a food diary) honestly and getting my workouts in (for stress relief). No matter what the scale said the next few weeks, I would stick to those two commitments. I am happy to say that this pep talk has started a positive run for me at the scale. I’ve lost 6.8 pounds in 5 weeks in a very typical Michelle pattern when I am actually losing weight. My results at the scale were: -3.4, +.4, -2.2, -.8 and -.8. When I am losing weight, it is usual for me to lose big at least 1 week a month. I have a good shot at losing a decent amount another week, lose a small amount a third week and gain (or lose a negligible amount) at least one week a month. It feels great to be losing weight again and to have my hope in eventually reaching that healthy weight zone restored. At my last weigh in, I was just 1 pound from my lowest weight last year on the Tuesday before Easter. I have hope that this week or next I will reach a new low weight since the 90′s. I can’t wait! This run has also reinforced some lessons I had lost sight of. Physically, the key to weight loss is to control your eating. Committing to track honestly helped me see when some mindless snacking or bad portion control might trip me up at the scale. The other lesson is that this is such an emotional/mental journey for me, and I need to find healthy ways to handle my negative emotions. I don’t know why when I’m feeling bad about something one of my first instincts will be to stuff my face to comfort myself, but that is just the way I am. I need to find other ways to let loose some steam or soothe myself. Exercise works really well at that. It’s one of the best stress reliefs I have discovered. Another very helpful thing is to try to find some way to acceptance or another way to mentally resolve whatever is bothering me. I’ve done a better job of addressing two issues that were really upsetting me in January, and that has helped me make wiser food choices. And, I have to stay mindful/aware of the food, exercise and other choices I am making on a regular basis. Even though I am on a good weight loss run, I can still slip back into bad food choices. There were a few too many leftovers at work last week that made their way into my stomach, I did some mindless snacking at night, and I ate out several times – though I do think I made good choices when I ate out. I even found myself arguing a time or two with the Weight Watchers Points Plus system. How could I just eat 29 pointsplus a day? That wasn’t liveable. It was so hard to work treats into that allotment. Yes, I was stressed about some stuff last week, and I wasn’t making it to the gym. Once I recognized what was going on, I made sure I got back to the gym and thought about how I could address the food stuff. If I make the right eating choices, I am not hungry with 29 pointsplus a day. I do not have to suffer. I do need to make sure that I have healthy food on hand and am stocked up on appealing-to-me, zero point snacks in the form of fruits and vegetables. Tonight, I roasted a butternut squash (0 points) and modified an America’s Test Kitchen Healthy Family recipe for simple baked chicken breast with dijon mustard, brown sugar and garlic by roasting it skinless over asparagus, fennel and onions. It made for a delicious dinner! I’ve also thought about my challenges this upcoming week such as a long, one-day business trip and have tried to come up with tactics I could use so that they don’t destroy my weight loss efforts. One thing I try to do is to save my extra, floating 49 points plus per week to use on planned challenges and treats. They’re there to get me through tough times and to make sure I can indulge at times. Yes, my recent success has helped me find my motivation and even belief that I really can reach the healthy weight zone one of these days! I want to ride this positive wave as long as I can. How do you find motivation when you are struggling with your efforts to be a healthy writer? Have you had to relearn some lessons lately? Do you have any advice on how I can keep up my little weight loss run?
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15 Responses to “How I lost 6.8 Pounds in 5 Weeks”Leave a Reply |
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Congrats on the weight loss and on getting yourself mentally back on track. I think I need to work on the recording what I eat again. I’ve noticed myself snacking again which is a definite negative for me.
Thanks, Mary! The food diary certainly helps me to be aware of what I eat, but I also have been known to record a better diet/stricter portion control than what I actually ate. That’s why I have to work on tracking honestly.
Best wishes on your journey!
Congrats on the weight loss, Michelle. It’s good to see the pattern that it follows, because it can be so disheartening for many people not to see consistent loss.
As you know, I’m a big believer in balance and in trade-offs – woman cannot live with unrealistic diets! I’m a big one for the trade-off, especially when I know I have a tough food choice day ahead of me. I’m also a believer in knowing what my habits are, when I get hungry and trying to find healthier options than my first choice. I also don’t beat myself up when I go for the unhealthy choice, but make sure I don’t do it blindly, so I’ll make a better choice next time.
My biggest mistake is portion control, especially as I eat what’s on the plate. I must learn to put less on the plate and go back if I need to!
Anna, I don’t think consistent loss – e.g. 1 or 2 pounds a week every week – is really what most people’s weight loss looks like. From all the folks I’ve talked to about this, I think it’s more common to look like my pattern above – little to nothing for a few weeks and then a big loss. It’s also very common that you never lose big two weeks in a row – after the first few weeks when you are losing a lot of water weight.
Portion control is hard – particularly when you aren’t controlling what was made/served. Portion control at restaurants are obscene. I also grew up part of the “clean your plate” crowd, so I even have to battle with feelings of being rude if I leave food on my plate.
Way to “lose”, Michelle! Congratulations. Self-discipline is not so easy when you’re stressed. The exercise is the key for me. Keep up the good work.
Joy Held
Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity
http://www.whodareswinspublishing.com
Thanks, Joy! Yes, stress makes everything harder. Exercise can really help with getting rid of the stress.
Congrats on the weight loss, Michelle. Keep going with it.
About being an emotional eater — some of it has to do with the endorphins that are released. It can be comforting and it is a way of controlling emotions. Or dulling them. But things like exercising are better for you. It is about coming up with different strategies and realising what you are doing.
Part of the trouble with being a romance writer is that your emotions are very near to the surface and you deal feel things. I wish there was an easy answer…as it is something I struggle with.
Thanks for the advice, Michelle. I’ve come up with some strategies for dealing with it, but some days I’m better at it than others.
Michelle, honestly I get a lot of my inspiration to keep going from reading posts like yours and those of the other Healthy Writers and the comments on the posts. It’s always a good reminder that this is something I have to focus on every day.
Huge congrats on your weight loss!
Thanks, Trish! I get a lot of inspiration from the Healthy Writer community too – as well as from Weight Watchers and all the many health and fitness articles I look at weekly.
Congratulations on the weight loss, Michelle. It’s hard enough to take the weight off and even harder to keep it off! Great to read posts like this… it’s such an inspiration!
anju
Thanks, Anju! I’m glad I could inspire you.
Congratulations on the weight loss Michelle! I can’t wait to see the results in person!!
After a three months of medical crisis after medical crisis followed by one emotional crisis after another, my eating was OUT of CONTROL! I made the decision to join WW last week. I found a meeting for Saturday a.m. with a fabulous leader. I have kept your weight loss success close to my heart all week being inspired time and time again.
Know that your journey inspires others, especially me! I have even started to work on some of my old standard recipes, both sweet ones and savory, trying to make them more WW friendly. It is a welcome challenge.
Thank you once more for your honesty, this fabulous blog filled with inspiration as well as your wonderful friendship.
Blessings…
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