The Weight Thing Returns

I think I have been focusing too much on exercise and not enough on diet lately.  The scale is revolting.

I haven't talked too much about the details of my weight loss so in order to get to where I am today, I will do a quick recap.  I have been intentionally relaxed and casual about this process because I want it to be easy.   That is how I approached it.  That is what worked for week one.  And week 2.  So I stuck with the relaxed approach.  I didn't cheat on the diet, I just didn't obsess with details.  I went week to week, did exactly what the Dr told me to do, and every week at weigh in it paid off.  When I think about things too much I get obsessed and that is how I gained the 20 lbs in the first place. 

Let me start with how I gained.  I am happy at 125 lbs, although my entire life I have fluctuated between 121 and 129.  I'm 5'2" so definitely happier at 121 than 129 but until I turned 30 I was easily able to drop a few (2-3) pounds when I saw I was getting up there.  Then something happened.  I noticed it when Brian and I took a trip to the Grand Canyon.  Brian took a picture of me and it is the first pic I've ever had taken that I banished anyone from seeing.  Here it is.  How did this happen to my body?

HI BOOBS! 

Despite the fact that obviously my boobs were huge, we still had a great time.  We hiked down the Bright Angel Trail to the 3 mile point and then back up in about 3 hours.  It was other worldly and I fell in love.  I swore that if there was a language called "Grand Canyon" I would learn to speak it so we could be closer. 

It was a difficult hike for me because I thought I was in excellent shape (it wasn't THAT long ago that I was playing soccer in high school and community was it?  Oh YEAH, 11 years.  Whoops...)  My Dear Husband even caught a video of my struggles, as he ran circles around me.

(somehow I put the same video on twice, sorry readers)

So what came of this trip was the first item on my bucket list.  Hike all the way to the bottom and see the Colorado River first hand.  But knowing what my calves felt like after 6 miles out and back, I knew I would need to condition.  So I went back to Tampa and joined a gym November 2008.  I weighed in at 131.  It was my heaviest I'd been, but the trainer I met with on day 1 said it was a decent BMI for me, so I wasn't concerned with losing, only with increasing muscle mass and cardiovascular strength.  As a way to thank Jesus for not killing me on the hike back up in the canyon, I quit smoking.  And started working out.  Those 2 combinations made me a hungry girl.  So even though I was working out and getting stronger (and obsessing about my weight 24/7), the scale crept from 131 to 144 between Nov 2008 and Feb 2011.  That is 27 months of making decent food choices and working hard at the gym.  I went from a size 4 to an 8.  I joined Weight Watchers and gained 5 pounds.  I thought I must be dying of some strange disease that is also making me fat.  So I went and saw my Dr. in May 2010. My thyroid was fine.  But wait, it looks like I might have liver disease. My enzymes were highly elevated (and my cholesterol was 257).  Suddenly my thoughts shifted from a few extra pounds to a life of health problems.  Liver disease, heart disease.  Neither of these things are conducive to the lifestyle I desire.  So I quit drinking (let me clarity.  I quit drinking triple vodka and soda with lime, and would occasionally have a glasses or 2 of a nice red wine)  Let's be real now.  I'm still "healthy" said my Dr.  Just keep up with WW and come back for another MRI in 6 months and we will go from there.  Well 6 months later and it's November 2010 and Brian and I are celebrating our 1 year wedding anniversary.  I'm fatter than ever, and very depressed over it.  I'm leaving out the butter and mayo.  I'm drinking my coffee black.  I switched from sandwiches to wraps.  What could I possibly be doing wrong?  I didn't want to hear bad news about the liver thing so I  didn't go back and see my Dr.  I want to keep my intestines.  So I just kept plugging along, obsessing and trying to lose weight.  Come December I got news that there was a Groupon for Dr Garcia Medical Weight Loss program.  $150 for 30 days.  I called Brian and begged him to buy it for me (because I was at work and the deal was about to expire).  I expected him to say that was silly and a waste of money, but to my surprise he said "sure, no problem" and the Groupon was MINE ALL MINE!  I made my appointment for Feb 2, 2011.  I weighed in at 142 lbs.  The Dr did an EKG, and a full blood workup.  I found out my liver had healed itself from not drinking (sweet JESUS!) but cholesterol was exactly the same.  Dr concluded that likely the cholesterol is genetic.  I was ordered to repeat the blood work in 6 weeks, either with him or my primary, and likely a discussion of Lipitor will take place then.  My brother and sister are already on the cholesterol medication so I guess it's my turn.   Besides the cholesterol issue, I was clear to start the diet.  I went on the appetite suppressants and cut out all fat, sugar and starch from my life.  I drank a gallon of plain water a day.  I had severe headaches for about 3 days from sugar withdrawals.  I didn't know if I could do it.  Then the headache went away and the weight started coming off.  Week one I lost 4 pounds.  Week 2 I lost 4.  Week 3 I lost 3.  Week 4 I lost 3.  Then it was slower.  1 pound, 1.5 pounds.  I tapered off the meds after 30 days (from 2 doses of 30mg Phendimetrazine a day to 1) and on my 2 month mark on April 2 I was at 123 and 2 weeks off the medication.  I've been on maintenance since  March 23 and have since gotten down to 119.5.  Now I go back every Monday at my convenience for a B shot.  I like the accountability of the weigh in every week.  My energy level has never felt better (I don't know if it is really the shots, or just the freedom I feel from not carrying around that extra 22 pounds) so I'm going to stick with this plan.  I'm experimenting with different foods to try and see what I have to do to "maintain".  I want to go a week where I don't gain or lose. 

This week I forgot about my shot on Monday.  I was at work from 9:30-6:30 so I was busy, but this illustrates how lackadaisical I have become about the diet.  I'm getting cocky.  So the next chance I had to go was Thursday.  I went from 119.5 to 121.5 over 10 days, so either it is "that time of the month" and it's water weight, or I'm eating something wrong.  I'm thinking I didn't eat enough protein so this week I am going back to eggs for breakfast instead of oatmeal.  I'm not going to eat white bread this week (I was feeling very confident and had focaccia twice!!, thinking it was OK if I ate the sandwich open faced and threw out the top part.  I don't think it is, for me.  I think it's whole grain or nothing for this girl.  I never know how much I like bread, but I like feeling good better).

So anyway, that recap was much longer than I anticipated so I will leave with why I came here.  I am adding more protein with every meal this week.  Here is a picture of my protein rich breakfast.  2 scrambled eggs with red onions, and 2 slices of turkey bacon with black coffee.

And I am also going to leave with a little begging.  Please don't hate me because I cheated and went to a Dr and took pills to lose weight.  I know not everyone agrees with this method, and it is not available to everyone whether it be because of finances or location.  I got lucky and found a good deal that made it available to me, but I really used this experience to learn and I am changed because of it.  I am now struggling with maintenance and not disease, but I am now normal and doing it on my own without pills and without impending death by heart attack. 

People see me lately and notice I've lost weight and ask how did I do it.  I tell them I cheated but really it is possible without the pills, the pills  just make it more comfortable.  The most important part of the transformation is the WATER.  I can't stress that enough.  The Dr says I was not drinking enough water and eating too much bread so my body was storing the carbs.  So I did a form of a body boot camp to restart my metabolism.  Adding the water to flush the carbs out took care of my stomach problems, my lack of energy, and my bloating.  I beg anyone who feels like I used to to up your water intake.  I'm not a Dr and I don't recommend pills unless yours does, but 1 gallon of water a day (not more than that - you need to keep some of the nutrients from food in your body also) keeps me feeling clean and good. 

So cheers!  Here's a toast of my big glass of water to find a happy spot on the scale and stay there, or around there for the rest of our happy healthy heart disease free lives.