Make It Or Break It!

So, the daily work blogging begins. This is where people hating me begins, too! I don't hold back my opinions, and I think I'm better than most people. Probably not better than you, necessarily, but better than "those ones", relevant to the situation. For the most part, though, I support the idea that I would fight to the death for you to have your opinions even if I disagree with them. Diversity is what makes life worth living. Please don't feel personally attacked by anything I say, and feel free to argue. I love developing my viewpoints and am never just set in stone on anything forever. Also, please understand that I disagree with many people that I love TO DEATH, so my dislike of things I rant about is not saying anyone's a bad person or anything. Unless I'm ranting about something that would make anyone a bad person, like rape or murder. Then yeah, if that's you, feel free to get offended and leave.

To preface this, I got laughed at for believing that people can just decide to lose weight, and it's been stewing a long time. "Yeah right, that's not how it works". Fat people are just fat, it's not their fault, and there's nothing that can be expected of them to do about it. I couldn't help but be a bit offended on behalf of the people who've lost hundreds of pounds without weight loss trainers and without expensive diets. I'm not one of them, but I did gain a lot of weight soon after hitting adulthood. I went from being incredibly active to staying home while my boyfriend at the time worked. One day he poked at me and asked if I'd hurt myself. I looked at my stomach, and it was a STRETCH MARK. Holy crap. There were more of them. On my tummy. I was 19 and had never even had a pregnancy SCARE. I cried for hours. I bought a scale and I had gained 30 pounds in about 6 months. That was my breaking point, and though it was well before hitting obesity by any means, it was definitely a turning point. I realized that I had to change something or this would get worse. I dropped the weight slowly but surely with the smallest of moves and kept it off. I was at the end of my pregnancy 6 years later when I weighed that much again. So yes, I believe it's in when you decide you don't want it anymore and decide to change it.

I used to hear a lot about how obesity is a prejudice against people with a disease. First off, there are very few cases of obesity that are due to a disease. Most are thyroid problems or due to depression. However, the person is still, in most cases, capable of exercise and eating healthy to reduce the impact, and there is medication for thyroid problems. The few that I don't get angry at are those who are also disabled and unable to exercise, those who are against medication due to religious reasons or even personal - and even for those, just do me a favor and acknowledge that you COULD tackle your obesity and be happy with what you are. If you're not diagnosed with something that causes you to be unable to exercise, then your weight is in your hands.

Mine's in my hands. Maybe this is why I'm so unforgiving. I don't have a car, we walk and take the bus for longer distances. But I have no problem walking a few city blocks to get where I'm going. 5 minute drive or a 1-hour walk? Well, if I've got the time off, that's great time exercising, talking with my husband, etc. I also do crunches and other exercises at home. I am losing weight and last month lost 8 lbs. It's not much, but I don't have a lot to lose. I've been working slowly since having my son so I've lost 30 in the year since having him. Now that I'm getting down to where I was before I had him, I want to lose more and get into that "normal" BMI range. You know, instead of just being content that I'm not obese. I have a size 8 dress I want to fit me. My size 16 jeans have gone baggy, but it's still a long road.

I got an email in my inbox from WebMD (a good subscription to have if you don't, the health tips are very useful) that had an article, "24 Ways to Lose Weight Without Dieting". It has tips like skipping the bacon, timing your meals, and taking longer to savor each bite. Wonderful article, and though I usually am pretty stuck-up and think I'm doing everything right, I think I'll take some of those tips with me. Here's the slideshow!

I guess my problem is that I don't believe in trying to "trick" my body. I believe in controlling my body. So the stuff like buying smaller plates is no use to me. I just get mad that I don't have a big enough plate for how hungry I am and have to go back for seconds. Same thing with choosing smaller portions to make me "feel" like I've eaten the whole thing. I think "well that was a crap sizing, I'm getting seconds".

I was very amused at counting up the ones that add up to losing a certain amount over a year. By substituting veggies for meat, sleeping an extra hour, leaving off the bacon, and being generally busy for 20-30 minutes a day, that's 50 lbs in a year. Who can't do that? Even if it only results in an extra 20 lbs of weight loss in a year, that's still results that will pair well with healthier living. We don't have to be calorie-counting maniacs that have personal trainers. We don't have to pay for expensive weight-loss programs. All we have to do is eat smarter. Take control of what we decide to put in our faces.

I was also cutting out from magazines for our vision wall and saw an article in one that mentioned a scientific finding that if you're imagining in detail eating your snack 30 times (30 cookies, etc), you'll be less likely to eat a crapload of cookies compared to if you hadn't imagined it. There are just so many ways to help yourself. I can't help but think that most anyone overweight or obese could decide to take charge of their weight.

For one thing, I always talk about substitutions - the idea that no matter what snack it is, there's a healthier option that you like just as much. Replace the ice cream with yogurt, if you like it. Replace chips with a veggie or fruit. Replace chocolate chip cookies with dried fruit or heck, even a healthier cookie. Trade in the chocolate cake for lemon. I replaced soda with juice and it's one of the best things I've ever done. A huge jug of juice is $2 and lasts a week, a 12-pack of sodas is $4 and is gone in a couple days (since my husband dips in, too). I replaced sugary breakfast cereals with egg sandwiches with tomato, or cantaloupe with cottage cheese. No matter what it is that is your worst "chronic" snacking habit, tone it down with something else you also do really like that's just healthier. It doesn't have to be totally healthy, but even a little bit healthier will be a step toward the goal. My husband had a bad energy drink habit. Each one made him crash, so he'd have another one. He'd go through 3 or 4 large cans in a day at work. So instead, he took advantage of the free sodas at work. Soda isn't a "healthy" choice, but it's definitely better for him than an energy drink. From there he was able to tone down his soda intake to vitamin waters and juices.

Just stay away from "diet" foods targeted to get you to spend money on the same crap anyway. They make you feel guilty instead of like you're accomplishing something, and they're really not a healthier option. Tip: If you're putting it in the microwave, it's probably just as bad for you as the other thing you used to put in the microwave. It's also pretty much guaranteed to not fill you up. Tiny bird portions loaded with sodium, no thanks! That's not a good substitution.

Now, that point made, substitution does NOT mean that you have to give up the things you love. Just replace the "meh, it's food" with healthier "meh, it's food" items. If you are intimidated at the idea of weight loss because you don't want to have to give up your ____, KEEP IT. You're still making healthier choices. It's much more healthy to cut things that will add up to 50 lbs of weight loss in a year instead of 52 lbs a year because of one item you aren't willing to let go of than to avoid weight loss as a whole because you want that item. For example, I'm NOT willing to give up white bread. I don't like wheat bread, and for some reason I associate it with being poor (I don't think people who eat wheat bread are poor by any means, but I guess it's the same as when a friend gave me her dresses she wore while pregnant from before she was showing because she associated them with pregnancy which made her feel fat). So I substitute by adding veggies on EVERY sandwich I make and avoiding particularly fatty or calorie-heavy sandwich fixin's. I also found that I *love* 12-grain bread. It's really sweet and doesn't have the cardboard flavor of most wheat. I love non-wheat pasta, too. So I have fresh veggies in every sauce and haven't had a cream sauce on my pasta in... well, years, if I cooked it. I've eaten it a couple times at restaurants. Part of continuing to stay motivated is not feeling like you're "giving up" anything!

Now, lastly on this weight loss rant I've been building up to for months.... If you don't want to lose weight, you're not going to. You can sit in a corner all day eating Sno-Balls crying woe for your obesity. You won't lose a single pound, and you won't have any control over your body. You have to be willing to make even the smallest effort. It will increase on its own, but it will not start on its own. Being angry at your weight is not going to lose you one pound! It makes as much sense as wearing your hat backward when it's sunny.

Couldn't this have been avoided by just a little effort on the guy's part?

Right, moving on.

I like the way my work day goes, for the most part. My husband is currently playing video games since he's home and our kiddo's sleeping. I'm buried in work with the headphones on. I'll make finger-foods so we can just snack when we're hungry while I'm working. And I just reached over to hand him one of my cookies and get a quick kiss :)

However, I'm at the end of my day. $6 short of my $100 goal for today. Oh well. I took a break to eat steak and drink wine with my husband. He took my hands and said that I'm just as beautiful and wonderful as the day we met and other nice things that made me squirt a droplet of "I have something in my eye". ;) He's sweet. It was just hard to get back to work after that, and I'm afraid I might not have done a fantastic job...

I suppose I should add in the Babe of the Day and Song of the Day...

In honor of the weight loss talk, I wanted to share one particularly helpful guy. I know, the Babe of the Day was meant to be a girl, or you'd think at least someone specifically hot. You may find him hot. I think there's some sexiness in there. But this guy lost 300 lbs in just a matter of a couple of years without really increasing exercise or going on crazy diets. He implemented strategies and tried new things, and once he'd lost the weight moved on to fitness training. My husband did big weight loss too, he lost about 150 lbs in a short period of time, even though he still eats chips and cookies, and knowing he was so determined is a total turn-on. This man's fantastic, and there's a lot of information on his blog, http://www.formerfatguyblog.com

Regarding the Song of the Day, I wanted to offer a new tune for working out, or generally doing anything you don't want to do. I use it when I'm getting sick of work. Even if you don't believe in God, the beat and lyrics can help you get back into the zone. 

Have a wonderful day lovelies! I'll be back around tomorrow, and tomorrow I've got a $130 goal! So be here to cheer me on ;)