Happy Thanksgiving and Happy 65th Birthday to me

Losing weight can be easy at first then the closer you get to where you need or want to be the harder it becomes to lose it. And we all get to a point that we just stop losing anything. Well I have come to believe that is our bodies adapting to what we are doing and it is happy with that. So we have to change or plans and either eat more or less or exercise more or less. There is not a formula for this. I have come to find out that even my doctor does not have the answer to it, his explanation is to experiment. And that means as I said above change something. Now I do not think you should change everything all at once. I believe you need to make a single change and see how the body reacts to it.

To summarize this we cannot stay with what worked last week or the week before if we are at a standstill with our weight loss. We have to be willing to make changes. Sometimes the change is just to take a week or two off and relax and rest. Sometimes it is more exercise, and sometimes it is more calories eaten and other less calories eaten. And I have found that even a vacation can make the difference.

Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy. But tomorrow get back to the plan.

What the Last two years has taught me.

Thanksgiving will be two years that I have been working on my journey to better health and fitness. It was Thanksgiving Day that I got up and was trying to find something really nice to wear for the family dinner, and everything I tried on was very tight on me. I got on the scales for the first time in more than 5 years and was shocked at what I weighed (285). I started researching on ways to lose the weight that I needed to lose. I knew that it had to be something that I could do and live with the rest of my life. And I really did not know I was on my plan as I was just cutting back and not eating as much from that Thanksgiving Day to this very day. On New Year’s Day of 2011 I made it my goal to lose my weight and to do so by eating what I liked to eat but just not eat as much. Then slowly as I lost a little weight I started to walk more. By March I had lost 20 pounds and I was able to walk almost a mile without it killing me. By our vacation in early March I had given up diet cokes and was drinking a lot more water and also tea without any sweeteners.  After vacation in March I looked around for a gym to go and workout at and ended up joining the YMCA. So I started working out at the Y mainly on the exercise cycles and very light weights and I kept increasing my walking distances and speed. By My physical in July of 2011 I had managed to get my weight down to about 240 and also managed to get off my reflux meds and the cholesterol meds. In late July I found the Loseit site by researching and trying to find an app for my Android phone to log everything I was doing. And I have to say that Loseit is the best thing that every happened to my on this journey. I also found Fitbit due to the Loseit Site. And Loseit and Fitbit has really motivated me to continue my journey and to never give up.  In October of 2011 I got my bicycle and started to ride it and not go to the Y so much, and in November of 2011 I got my weight set for home and started working out at home while still working on my walking and bike riding.  By New Year’s Day of this year 2012 I was down to 208 and hoping to get to 195 and off all of my meds.

This year 2012, I have had a lot of ups and downs. I have tried a number of times to completely get off my blood pressure meds without any luck. I do feel so much better and I have learned so much and I have made so many friends on the Loseit site.  This year 2012 has been really rewarding and also very disappointing; rewarding in that I have managed to do so much more with keeping to this journey and eating correctly an exercising. This year has been disappointing in that I have not been able to lose the weight that I had in my mind to lose. But as we come up to and in to this next year I am armed with a lot more understanding of my body and my determination to keep this weight off and to hopefully finally get to a normal weight for me.

What have I learned?

Never ever give up.

It is all about the plan and the goals.

You have to want it more than life itself.

You have to be selfish in that you are going to do what is right for you and that means sometimes of letting loved ones and friends know that this is more important to you than anything else is.

You also have to educate yourself first then you have to educate loved ones and friends.