Candybear, your post inspired me

I'll be brutally honest - five years ago I weighed a slim 140 ish pounds. Im tall, almost five ten, so It was just the right weight for me.

Cue in my breakdown, heart problems, and anxiety - I started gaining weight for multiple reasons. First, i think it was because I was limited excersize wise until they ruled out dangerous heart issues. Then, it was my anxiety which would flare when I excersized.

Then it was meds. Then it was my moderate - severe back problems. Now its because im so physically run down and my back is so bad I can't walk more than fifty feet without severe pain.

Im waiting for the physiotherapist to come back from sick leave right now, but the doc says I can "lightly" excersize now, as long as I stop when it hurts and not push myself.

Well I weigh in at a not-so-comfortable 240-50 pounds now.

I am going to try to lose some weight and feel better, and get off these damned blood pressure pills.

how am I going to do it? Well heres my starting ideas.

1 - I am purchasing a pool pass on the 20th when I get my check. Its expensive, fifty six bucks a month - but I can swim, which wont hurt my back as much, and my mom is going to get one too, and then we can also take the baby. I'll strap him on to my front with the carrier and then do "walking laps" in water about up to my midsection back and forth across the pool. Good for me, good for baby, good for my mom.

2- I am going to go outside and walk one lap in the museum parking lot (its a big loop and right next to me) at least once a day.

3- I am going to start eating MORE. Sounds weird? Well, this is my rationale - Right now I wake up and i wait until im STARVING hours later and then binge and eat a huge meal that leaves me stuffed. SO although I am eating one meal a day, Im probably actually eating the equivalent of several meals in one sitting.

4 - I dont like this one. At all. I am going to STOP drinking pepsi.(*cries* - my near best friend)

5- I will have one "junk day" a week - probably friday. On this day I can have one chocolate bar, one bag of chips, and one pop. Thats my treat for the week.

6 - I am getting rid of the "trashy quick" meals, like chef boyardee, and getting bags of premixed salad, which is just as good if not better.

What does everyone think? Is this a good start?

[Christina86]

Holy smokes...

Wow... you're inspiring me (as is Candy... I kinda fell off the wagon after I commented ... so yeah, no diet for me for almost half a week!)

Sounds good to me... but don't try to do it all at once, otherwise you'll just get discouraged if things don't work out (aka. smaller changes work better than earth-shattering bigger changes).

... I need to figure out some sort of plan for myself to keep myself accountable. But need to figure out my options.

But yeah... like your plan

[lenjan]

I agree with Christina -- don't try to do it all at once.

I see my GP Thursday and we'll see what she says, but talked to pdoc about it this morning and he thinks maybe I won't need diabetes meds For the last week or so, I have kept track of everything I eat, in excruciating detail. Talk about accountability! But it seems to be helping, because I check my blood sugar 2x/day -- once when I wake up and once 2 hours after a meal -- and I've been steadily in the 105-130 range ("diabetic" is considered 126 or over).

Too, it helps to know that I'm going to have to SHOW this list to somebody. If either of you want to start doing this and email it to me once a week or something, we can trade -- that seems to help too.

Bowzz, the dietitian told me specifically NOT to drink diet Coke because I am such a regular Coke fiend, because you are used to the taste of the other and won't like the taste of the diet. There are some decent diet sodas out there (diet Dr Pepper is my fave).

The exercise part I am still working on.

Hang in there ladies!

[bebop]

I switched from regular coke to diet coke years ago. I now can not stand the taste of regular coke! yucky! the way I did it was to start out mixing it together. by the end of the first week I had made a complete switch. I will never drink regular again.

[Christina86]

((((((((((Candy)))))))))))

Dancing for you, but I don't dance I'm happy for ya!

... actually, that sounds like a really good idea... I'm up for it if you are. My diet is all over the map... I've got addictive tendencies (and can be obsessive) so one day I'm eating next to nothing, and the next I'm bingeing, and the day after that for a few days it's normal.... I'm not normal I say!

*shudders* diet colas are icky. I'm trying to just give up pop in general... and it actually goes well. Don't fall for "iced tea" instead of a Coke though... iced tea has wayyyyyyyyy too much sugar!

One step at a time? I think so.

[lenjan]

Ah, but REAL iced tea -- like, the kind you brew yourself instead of buy in little glass bottles at the gas station -- doesn't have tons of sugar unless you put it in yourself. Which you can learn not to do.

I probably should give up soda altogether too, but it's a long, slow process for me.

[lenjan]

Hey ladies, I lost 9 lbs. in 10 days by writing down what I eat and being more careful about it (no more gas station donuts in the morning....dangit!).

Of course, I also gained 2 more meds and two more specialists. But that's another rant.

[wanttoheal]

You go girl!!!