"What is the best way to lose weight and keep if off?"
Cathy asks: "What is the best way to lose weight and keep if off?"
I definitely have a dirty little secret (or 500) about weight loss, though. The most weight I've ever lost at once time was about 140 lbs, in about a week. I booted his sorry ass out the door and divorced him for good. The subsequent stress led to another 35 lbs melting from my frame, as in the first 3 months I suffered intense clinical paranoia coupled with moderate depression, and found I was unable to eat, sleep, or otherwise function normally. If this isn't an option for you, please keep reading.
I suppose the "correct" answer to your question is, eat a balanced healthy diet and exercise, and make sure you have a support system by getting your friends and family to be helpful both in and out of your home while on your journey as well as once you've reached your destination. That being said, I (sadly) don't have personal experience with this topic yet.
My next dirty little secret is that I am bulimic. It's been 14 years since having an "active" bout, but I have come pretty durn near on a few occasions. The third dirty little secret is that I'm on the brink of a relapse right now, as I've gained back 25 of the 40 pounds I lost last year and have yet to do something proactive about it. (Bulimia is like alcoholism in that once you have it, the urge to purge never entirely goes away, and it's a one-day-at-a-time decision.) I gained a LOT of weight with my third pregnancy, all the weight I'd lost during the divorce and then some, and it took me being on the verge of a full-on relapse to go do something about it. I started to attend Weight Watchers, which was the final nail in the coffin for the gall bladder situation that had begun during my third pregnancy. After 6 months of testing and finally getting my gizzard yanked, I thought I'd try out the new plumbing with some of the rich foods that would send me on a trip to emerg, and having reached within 5 lbs of my goal, walked away from it...
I maintained my weight through spring, and then my Dad died in the summer. Food was comfort. Now, I'm not obese or grotesquely huge, and because of my build, most people are shocked to find out how much I weigh or what size I'm wearing. To give you an idea, at 150lbs I fit comfortably into a size 9, by 140 lbs I look skeletal, and if I drop under 140 lbs I look positively gaunt, bordering on emaciated. I like having boobs and a bum, so getting down to the bottom of my BMI scale is of no interest to me. I am forbidden to own a scale though (because I've had the same Dr since I had active bulimia and she says it's a big no-no) so I don't know my actual weight right now, but I can tell you I'm in a size 16, up from a size 12 just about this time last year.
I don't ~personally~ know the answer to your question, as I'm not a success story yet. I'm back on the Weight Watchers wagon effective this Wednesday - got all my coupons paid up in advance for 4 months - and I am hoping that once I hit goal again I will be smart enough to a) maintain it and b) find something else to focus on in times of stress, like jogging and blogging or something.
So. Can I get back to you with an answer to this in about a year? (Right about the time you'll be starting to hunker down on a weight loss program after bebe numbero 6...)
I definitely have a dirty little secret (or 500) about weight loss, though. The most weight I've ever lost at once time was about 140 lbs, in about a week. I booted his sorry ass out the door and divorced him for good. The subsequent stress led to another 35 lbs melting from my frame, as in the first 3 months I suffered intense clinical paranoia coupled with moderate depression, and found I was unable to eat, sleep, or otherwise function normally. If this isn't an option for you, please keep reading.
I suppose the "correct" answer to your question is, eat a balanced healthy diet and exercise, and make sure you have a support system by getting your friends and family to be helpful both in and out of your home while on your journey as well as once you've reached your destination. That being said, I (sadly) don't have personal experience with this topic yet.
My next dirty little secret is that I am bulimic. It's been 14 years since having an "active" bout, but I have come pretty durn near on a few occasions. The third dirty little secret is that I'm on the brink of a relapse right now, as I've gained back 25 of the 40 pounds I lost last year and have yet to do something proactive about it. (Bulimia is like alcoholism in that once you have it, the urge to purge never entirely goes away, and it's a one-day-at-a-time decision.) I gained a LOT of weight with my third pregnancy, all the weight I'd lost during the divorce and then some, and it took me being on the verge of a full-on relapse to go do something about it. I started to attend Weight Watchers, which was the final nail in the coffin for the gall bladder situation that had begun during my third pregnancy. After 6 months of testing and finally getting my gizzard yanked, I thought I'd try out the new plumbing with some of the rich foods that would send me on a trip to emerg, and having reached within 5 lbs of my goal, walked away from it...
I maintained my weight through spring, and then my Dad died in the summer. Food was comfort. Now, I'm not obese or grotesquely huge, and because of my build, most people are shocked to find out how much I weigh or what size I'm wearing. To give you an idea, at 150lbs I fit comfortably into a size 9, by 140 lbs I look skeletal, and if I drop under 140 lbs I look positively gaunt, bordering on emaciated. I like having boobs and a bum, so getting down to the bottom of my BMI scale is of no interest to me. I am forbidden to own a scale though (because I've had the same Dr since I had active bulimia and she says it's a big no-no) so I don't know my actual weight right now, but I can tell you I'm in a size 16, up from a size 12 just about this time last year.
I don't ~personally~ know the answer to your question, as I'm not a success story yet. I'm back on the Weight Watchers wagon effective this Wednesday - got all my coupons paid up in advance for 4 months - and I am hoping that once I hit goal again I will be smart enough to a) maintain it and b) find something else to focus on in times of stress, like jogging and blogging or something.
So. Can I get back to you with an answer to this in about a year? (Right about the time you'll be starting to hunker down on a weight loss program after bebe numbero 6...)
Comments
Eating disorders, however, are no giggling matter. I think you hit the rail on the bed when you say an eating disorder never goes away. It can only be managed one day at a time. I've never looked at it that way before. It makes perfect sense. That's why Overeaters Anonymous came about.
This wasn't my question but I'm scarfing your answer anyway and trying the one day at a time approach. Again, thank you.