summer 2011

summer 2011

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012

Paul and I, all 16 kids and Ashley, Benjamin's wife...Christmas 2012
family

Thursday, April 27, 2017

hanging on to the "patience" part....

Day after day, week after week...no sugar, no treats. How long can one survive? Ha, it's really only been for this week that I've been 100% good, but no results yet! So here's the thing...I am trying to figure out how I can be "dieting" for years and years, and be stalled. And this is the answer...I have not endured long enough. I have not held out. I am good all week, for example, then I have a few cookies, or whatever it is. Not tons, but enough to gain a few pounds, which take all week to lose again. I am broken. But the answer is perhaps NOT giving in on the weekend, NOT eating three spoonfuls of cookie dough. I haven't even had ice cream this year, except for that homemade stuff in Connecticut, in January. So we agree, it's not fair. But stomping my feet and making excuses for my post-menopausal bad metabolism isn't getting me into smaller jeans. So something needs to change, and I think it's the patience part. I tell myself, "You were good yesterday, it didn't kill you, you can do it again today." I need to just keep doing this, along with the exercise.

And here's the thing: the keto diet didn't really work for me. It helped curb my appetite for sweets, kept me satisfied, but didn't help me lose weight after the initial ten pounds or so. Lower carbs helps, but when I was really dropping the pounds, I was eating oatmeal every morning. I think I need to count calories more, and maybe cut out some of the half and half...and coffee is my favorite...I'm thinking of substituting iced tea for that third cup of the day, ha.

Weight loss, the cursed obsession in the land of plenty. Everywhere you go, everywhere you look, things that are horribly unhealthy....fast food and fountain drinks, sweet and salty bags of artificial happiness. Making good choices isn't impossible, nor is it really more expensive, but it takes lots of self-control, and definitely is more work. Being prepared for a day of out and about is essential, or those golden arches will start to glitter...and the the taste of a plain apple compared to 2 for buck apple pies at McD's...you just have to re-learn what tastes good. The additives and seasonings are addictive...and come on, is there anything that can compare to an Oreo? Or kettle chips?

Oh I don't know. I just know I am going to work hard at saying NO, and eat plenty of good stuff...last night I had a big plate of spinach, with a slice of ham for dinner, and it was good. :)

So my focus for now is to continue in doing what I know is good, eating all the healthy things, but saying no 100% to the things I shouldn't have...not much different than I have been doing, just narrowing down that margin of...having something yummy...

It's going to be 80+ degrees today, hmmmm...beach? It sounds lovely. Lydia is supposed to come over, but little girls like the beach too, right?

3 comments:

LK said...

Good morning! Your post was well timed today.. had the 4th or 5th week in a row of stepping on a scale and seeing NO CHANGE. Those 10 lbs I put on between summer and now are still sticking right to me. Wedding dress shopping is next weekend, summer is around the corner, and I feel like I am trying so so hard but nothing is happening. Patience is great counsel. As is honest examination. Sometimes when I feel like I am trying hard, I realize that I'm actually not doing all I think I am. Apparently candy you take out of the bowl when you're walking by DOES have calories. Or, when you do the math, a big eating day on the weekend can actually counteract all the work you do during the week (especially as a short female, who works a sedentary job and has never had any trouble putting on weight). Patience and objectivity. So easy in theory, so hard in practice.

For what it's worth, keto doesn't work for me either. Low carb certainly does, or something more like the south beach diet of yore. Avoid all sweets / white pastas / breads (I do eat 2 slices of whole grain flax seed bread), focus on lean proteins, vegetables.. these are things that tend to work better. And count count count. Always counting.


Good luck to you and hope that patience proves helpful!

Stacet Claire said...

Oh Boy, I had to respond to this post because I can TOTALLY relate to you
I think a lot has to do with our age although you are much younger than I am...I am 57 and I have battled a life long weight problem...Back in 2003 I weighed a whopping 285 pounds ( I am only 5 ft 1 in) I had just let myself go thinking I will go on a diet tomorrow and tomorrow never came...anyway after many many peoples suggestion and a warning from my Dr. I had bariatric surgery..It was not the easy way out, it was the only way out at the time..I lost 140 pounds...I battled those last 30 pounds for years and to this day (I have slowly picked up close to 30 pounds over all these years) I am still holding on to them..I may add that I was a vegetarian for 30 years and have been Vegan for 5 and I am STILL overweight...the only way I can lose any weight is if I literally do nothing but protein shakes..its nuts...I must be the fattest vegan ever :) I don't like to exercise so I know that is a big part of my problem but know that you are not alone with the weight loss struggle...I have quit hoping to one day weigh 110 pounds...I am currently at 169 and just hope I can be 150 again...Sorry I went on and on, I just felt that I had to join in on this one...Make it a great day!!!!

16 blessings'mom said...

Stacey, I am not much younger, I'll be 52 this summer, and your whopping high weight is something I certainly surpassed in a few of my last pregnancies, although I am so much taller, at 5'3", ha. And shh, to me 169 sounds grand:) I'm glad you can relate, I feel better, honestly.
LK, I agree that it's hard in practice, and I have been writing down what I eat so I can be more honest with myself. It's no fair because four or five days of behaving should make the scale budge, and 4 or 5 weeks of it is really not fair. I try to think of it this way though: not eating sugar and carbs may not be making me Miss Skinnypants, but it is better for my health, I do NOT want type II diabetes...:)