Hello Weight Losing Fans.
This Morning I weighed in at 197.4-pounds. It's not quite time to say that I am officially below 200-pounds permanently. I may still jump up over it.
This is three days in a row that I have woke up and weighed less than 200-pounds. But, when I go to bed at night I am still at 200-pounds or below. This is because the food I ate for the day hasn't left the barn.
Now am I happy about this so far? You bet that I am.
I was just looking at my one sheet of paper I wrote my weight on in September of 2003. I was 201-pounds and beginning to gain weight. I was walking five miles a day and still gaining weight.
If I exercise and don't control my food intake, all I am doing is just conditioning the muscles and bones. I will gain weight if I eat too much; even if I am exercising.
I haven't been this low of a weight since 1995. That's 12 years weighing in over 200-pounds.
When I left the Army reserve I weighed 186 pounds. This was the maximum limit that the Army would let me get for my age.
I am going back to a better weight. And now that I have the tools, I believe that I can stay there.
Getting The Motivation To Lose Weight
I've wrote this before in my past blogs. The reason I started to lose weight is because I was sick and tired of being preponderant (Tipping the scales). I couldn't button my uniform pants any more. I couldn't stand the way I looked in the mirror. I was tired of huffing and puffing all of the time.
Now, I have a different motivation. I am actually feeling much, much better. I am also looking a little better too. Since I am eating so much less food my body is starting to adapt. I feel boughts of hunger, but it's not like it used to be.
I am now beginning to turn down sweets and snacks that I didn't before. I walk past the candy counters now and I am not yearning for a chocolate bar.
It has taken time. It's been a real sacrifice. It's been worth it.
My Driver's License Tells The Story
I was trying to scan my driver's license on to the Internet so you could see what I weighed many years ago. Since I can't get it scanned, I will tell you. The license says 250 pounds.
I actually got higher than that.
Now I am down over 50 pounds from that weight. I started this adventure in December weighing 240 pounds.
I can tell you I didn't mean to get that fat. I lost track of what I was doing. I didn't keep a record everyday of what I weighed.
I wasn't being careful with my food consumption. Then I like so many people today was using food to comfort myself.
The cost though is terrific. For every calorie I over consumed I set myself up to gain more and more weight. I actually wasn't considering counting calories as carefully as I do now.
I didn't believe the problem with my weight was over consuming food as much as what kind of food I ate.
I reasoned if I could keep away from most carbohydrates I wouldn't gain weight. Well, I was wrong.
The Problem With Weight Is Too Much Food
We all want a magic formula to keep the weight off, or to lose the weight we have.
For years I thought that if I just ate meat I wouldn't gain weight.
It's not the kind of food we eat, it's the amount of food that we eat that gets us into trouble. Too many calories in, and not enough calories burned and it turns to fat.
That's it in a nutshell. We all eat way more food than we need to survive.
It's Not All Our Fault
When I was growing up my mother did her level best to make sure I ate properly. She made sure that we had three meals a day. She always made sure that for dinner there was a meat, a vegetable, and a carbohydrate.
I really believe she did her best with the limited knowledge she had for nutrition to make sure we were fed properly. My dad did too.
I was still a little pudgy though. I had no idea back then how to control my weight. I really wasn't even aware that I could. My parents didn't seem to know either.
It wasn't until I was 19 years old and in the military that I started making an effort to control my food intake. Somewhere I had heard if I ate too many starches I would gain weight. So I limited my starches. I did manage to stay at a good weight
My efforts then were hit and miss. Since I was so active I was able to stay below 170-pounds. When I got out of the active military is when all the problems started.
I was not well educated in weight loss techniques. Neither are most people. I didn't connect the calorie counting thing. Most people don't either
The snack food industry is out to get us. The weight loss industry is out to get us too.
Never in my life have I seen so much misinformation about weight loss. Everywhere I look I see one weight loss book after another.
One book will say watch how much fat you eat. Another will say limit your carbohydrates. And still another book will say you can have all the food you want before two o'clock and then quit eating after that.
The snack food industry wants us to over eat. Let's face it; Cheetos Cheese puffs taste oh so good. Those Betty Crocker Brownies taste delicious. Those Chicken Nuggets are wonderful.
The problem is none of the companies that manufacture food really wants any of us to cut back.
There was a time when the bread industry was suffering because the Doctor Atkin's Diet was becoming popular. Just imagine how much the snack food industry would suffer if everyone decided to lose weight and keep it off.
Imagine how the diet industry would suffer if people figured out that it's not the kind of food that is eaten, but it's the amound of food eaten that makes anyone gain weight.
It would be a catastophy for both industries.
Jenny Craig would be out of business if everyone figured out that losing weight only means cutting back on the food portions, not eating her specific diet food.
I used to eat a whole pizza in one sitting. I have friends who do the same thing. It never occured to me that I should eat just one slice of pizza, and that was my meal.
I have eaten a whole roasted chicken in one sitting. It never occured to me that all I need to eat is half of a breast, or maybe a leg and a wing for the meal.
It never occured to me to reduce my food consumption so dramatically. At least I don't remember it ever occuring to me.
I prayed For Wisdom
I prayed for the wisdom and the will to lose the weight. I actually asked God to give me a solution to my weight gaining issue.
Then one day while watching TV I had an inspiration. I figured out maybe eating Lean Cuisines and Healthy Choice TV dinners would do the trick.
It was my success eating TV dinners morning noon and night that led me to figure out how to count the calories.
That's all we really need to worry about is the calories. Now, I do advocate being sensible about our food choices. But, all the healthy food in the world won't help if we still eat too much of it.
I am watching my calorie intake like a fiend. If you do, you too will lose weight.
Bye for now...
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