Monday, February 8, 2010

Killed the Binge. FINALLY.

I FINALLY get to post! I've been waiting all day to get here and write. I have just been so slammed today, I mean, I literally walked in the house 15 minutes ago and sat right down to the computer.

Hello, my friends, hello. :) Deep breath...

Today- as you are well aware I'm sure, was AMAZING. It started with my weigh in. Beyond all reasonable explanation...I LOST. Not much, not much at all, but I don't care, I'll take whatever I can get, especially given the week I just had. But more than the weight, it was my chance to reboot. Start over. Get back on the wagon. And it felt gooooooood to start over. When I got home this afternoon I ran 6.3 miles to celebrate the weather and the fact that I lost weight this week. Hahaha! Can you believe I just said that? I said...I CELEBRATED BY GOING RUNNING! LOLOL. I'm losing my mind. But it was actually a fabulous run and the weather was insane, and I couldn't stay inside another minute.

Today's meeting was especially helpful, so I thought I'd share. We talked about plateau's, and what will happen when we finally reach goal. My leader has lost 190 lbs herself, so she was very candid with us about plateau's. She said that it took her about 3 years to lose all the weight, and she said that year two was the toughest. The entire year she only lost 20 lbs. For six months of that year, she only lost 5. Why? Because she was in a plateau. It sounded like hell to me. Pure hell. You guys know how I am, if I have 2 bad weeks, I buckle. How can someone stay so strong for 6 months? Well- she said it wasn't strength so much as it was stubborn-ness. She said the reason she was plateaued for so long is because she kept eating the same foods. She said, "you keep eating the same stuff thinking, it helped me lose weight so far- so it must work, but the truth is, your body adapts, so you need to change things up. Changing up your food is the biggest thing you can do to help yourself get out of a plateau."

Now, I am not in a plateau right at the moment. But it was still very interesting to hear and to think about. Especially because I AM in a food plateau of sorts. I have been eating the same stuff for the last few months and I'm starting to burn out. Part of my problem last week...and the reason I couldn't stop my binge, was because I didn't want to go back to the healthy foods I've been eating. Not because they're not good, I actually love fruits and veggies and healthy foods. It's because I've been eating the same foods, made the same way, every day. Day in and day out, and my taste buds are sick of it. While I was on my run today I thought a lot about last week's fiasco. Because truthfully, I might've escaped the scale's wrath once, but I don't think I could do it twice, and besides, I don't WANT to. I don't want what happened last week to happen again. So I've been thinking a ton about what I could've done differently, and how I can handle situations like this in the future. Every one of us is different, so how we handle our binges might be different too. This was another thing my great leader pointed out. Sometimes we underestimate the uniqueness of our bodies and tend to keep trying things that other people tell us, and don't really learn what our bodies need for ourselves. And obviously what works for other people was NOT working for me last week.

So this week I want to cook. Only 2 or 3 times, not too much so that I burn out again, on cooking. Because I KNOW that I'll burn out of that five times faster than I'll burn out of eating certain foods. I've done it before (burned out of cooking). So I'm going to take it slow. Plus I only cook for one, so I tend to have left overs usually, and I also burn out of leftovers pretty fast too. I'm just a burner! I burn and burn and burn out of everything...hahaha.

The other thing that we talked about in the meeting that I want to tell you guys is about getting to goal. There were just a few interesting comments made today about what happens once we get to goal and I've been thinking a lot about this too. My leader mentioned that we always think that once we get to goal, we can "eat again". We look at it as if it's "the end of the road". We always think it will be so much easier once we get there. She challenged us that if this was our way of thinking, that we would change it. Because in actuality, getting to goal is only the beginning of our journeys. It's when our lives and when the challenges really begin. I bet you're thinking, "what challenges?"; I was too. But at that point, we're not going to get to finally "eat", but we're going to have to learn to maintain our new bodies. There will be new goals and new challenges, different than what we're experiencing now, in the weight loss phase. She said it's not unexpected for us to be having to work out about 90 minutes...PER DAY to keep the weight off. She said that's the typical workout, and that we should prepare ourselves for that. Most people in the room gasped at this. While I did not gasp, I wondered about it while I was running. I work out quite a bit, but I don't think about 90 minutes each and every day. Some days 90, some days 60. Some days I don't work out at all, although not lately, and not often. I try to get myself out everyday. But 90?Will I really need to consistently work out that much?

How have I been thinking about 'goal'? Am I ready for the change? What things have I traded in, and what things am I willing to give up permanently in order to keep the weight off and keep my new body? Have I thought about it like this before? We trade in our unhealthy lifestyles for a healthier (and skinnier) body, but what are you willing to permanently give up? Do you know? Will I have what it takes to keep the weight off once I'm there? I haven't always kept it off before...what will be different this time? I think it's good to ask yourself these questions and start thinking about what your goals will be once you get there. Because you will still have to have goals; you will still have to have a plan.

OK friends..that's my rant for the night! Hope you're starting out your week right! Remember, Valentine's is this weekend! Be good now...

D

6 comments:

  1. Diz....I'm so happy to hear your good news! I've sat down tonight and analyzed why I've binged and how I'm going to prevent the next one. I say NEXT one...cuz THIS one is OVER!!!

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  2. Hey girl, congrats on your weightloss yay!!! Don't you just love the motivated feeling you get coming home from your meeting, ready to start a new week fresh? Especially after a loss. Its gonna be a great week for both of us!!

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  3. Hey, Diz! Great post w/ great info. Seems like several of us are doing some assessment. Now to take the next step--walking those assessments out. Dis ya like that?... step...walking...? haha. sigh. Obviously, writing in the a.m. is not my best stuff. Gotta get some coffee. Then, step it up! groan. Deb

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  4. way to go, Diz!!!! i know that feeling of messing up, then weighing and still seeing loss- and even when it's just incremental loss, it's totally like you said, i'll take what i can get!
    it's awesome that you are thinking about plateaus and the end of the road- how else is there to prepare?
    i hope you take all this and RUN (literally) with it!

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  5. Diz, you are so right. I just realized that the reason I am grabbing a handful of chips or a slice of pizza is because I am limiting myself to foods I know are safe and Im afraid to branch out. I cant believe I didnt realize that sooner...

    Celebrated your loss with a run?! OMG, youre my hero!!!

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  6. I'm so glad you lost, and way to go for celebrating with a run! That's when you know this is truly a lifestyle change not a diet.
    Your leader has lost 190lbs?!? Wow! Thank you for posting the info you learned in the meeting. I feel like I've been plateauing. I've increased the workouts but one thing I haven't done is change up my food. I really needed to hear this. I forgot how our bodies get used to the same old stuff.

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