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It finally happened. Yesterday morning, I stepped on the scale and looked at a number under the weight I had been gunning for. This is the end of a 10-year process of losing weight and it feels so good. My doctor gave me a weight range to aim for, 135-150, and I weigh in at 149.5. My feeling at this point is that the war is over, the battles will continue. I actually want to lose a few more pounds, so I am a little further into the range. That way, when I am in maintenance, I have a very visual indication when I need to bear down and pay attention - I hit 150 and I kick into eating more restrictively and pump up the exercise.
This is the end of a very long process, one in which I have totally changed the way in which I eat and live. Historically, I never did exercise, it just wasn't part of my lifestyle. When I started dating my husband about 16 years ago, I weighed 155. We dated just a short time and had a short, harried engagement during which we got ready for the wedding. During that time, my weight gain started as we took shortcuts in eating around getting ready for the wedding. Shortly after we were married, I was put on a medication that caused me to gain weight. So, of course, I was depressed and ate more, so I kept eating. Which led into a very stressful work situation to which I responded by eating more and more. Eventually, I topped out at 245 pounds. A doctor put me on a popular weight loss medication on which I lost down to 175 pounds. Of course, all I did was to take the medication - I didn't change anything else. So, you guessed it, after finishing the course of medicine, I regained most of the weight, getting back up to 239 pounds.
At that point, my husband and I made a series of "small" decisions that led to the start of weight loss. We changed how we ate in little ways, eating lower-fat foods in some cases. My husband was encouraged to start water aerobics classes due to a physical problem he was diagnosed with and he didn't want to go by himself to what he assumed would be all-female classes (he was right in that assumption). During this time I was exercising to a couple of videos. I had no idea what was out there, so I tried things I saw in stores. I tried a couple of Cindy Crawford workouts, but they hurt my joints. I ended up doing the same Richard Simmons video for several years. During this period, I dropped to 222 pounds.
I was still really frustrated because I was stuck at that weight. I knew I needed to do something, but wasn't sure what to do. One Sunday afternoon, almost exactly three years ago in July of 2002, I was channel surfing and stumbled across a woman talking earnestly how she had decided she needed to add strength training to her routine at her age and, when she did, she lost weight. I sat and watched the rest of what turned out to be the first Firm infomercial. I had never heard of The Firm. I never buy something immediately, so I jumped on the Internet to investigate strength training and videos and I stumbled across this site called videofitness.com. About a week later, feeling like my brain was about to explode with all the information I had found, I placed my first video order, bought a step, and acquired dumbbells. Bless my husband's heart - I think he thought this was just another fad, but he fully supported my decision to spend all that money.
I started with a few basic strength videos and then some of the cross trainer Firm videos, basic step videos, and beginner hi/lo workouts. I immediately saw strength gains and started losing weight - down to 216 pounds. Then, I stopped losing weight, but kept shrinking in size due to the strength training. I decided to try six days a week and have never changed that. I found so much information and support here and it started to become a lifestyle.
However, I also plateaued and couldn't lose any more weight, which was very frustrating. At the beginning of 2003, I had found the book "Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell" and I started the year by following her steps and journaling like she suggested. It was all common sense kind of things (eat only when you are hungry, not when stressed or bored, etc.; eat smaller meals, etc.) and the weight started coming off again. By the end of 2003, I had dropped to 177 pounds. I had also found the Cardio Cross Trainer check-in here at VF and found a "home" within VF. Those women started me on the process of learning more complex choreography and shamelessly enabled me in trying new instructors for me like Christi, Andre, etc. So, that year was also about expanding my workout choices and figuring out I could do more than I ever dreamed. I also read the book "Thin for Life" and that book sparked the thought that I could keep off the weight and make this a life-long change.
I was going to lose the rest of the weight in 2004, but that didn't happen. I went through a year of not restricting my eating enough and continuing to make physical gains - even when not losing weight. But, I also proved to myself I could keep off what I had lost the previous year. However, by the beginning of this year, I was frustrated and the Ignite the Spark thread motivated me to outline a plan with daily goals I tracked - giving myself points for accomplishing those goals. This motivated me to clean up my eating and pump up my exercise - especially the length and intensity of my cardio sessions and got me back to doing more strength workouts with weights, as opposed to Pilates. It worked and I have dropped from 177 to 149.5 this year.
Now, I want to lose a few more pounds into the range and then go into maintenance mode. I'm trying to figure out which activities I will continue in maintenance mode. I'll continue to exercise, of course, since that's about my health, not just weight. But now, I can break the pattern I have followed for the past three years and go after new physical goals. I just need to figure out what those goals will be. I'll probably also continue with the Fitday software regularly.
Sorry this has been so long. It has been helpful for me to look back and see how far I've come. Thanks for "listening".
Laura S.
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