Category Archives: maintenance

That TBL article

I imagine everybody by now has read or heard about the Biggest Loser followup article. Who is surprised that many of them gained some weight back? Anyone?

It’s hard enough to keep weight off when you do it slowly, let alone at a rocket pace with an unsustainable lifestyle. It’s no suprise that the majority bounced back up after the show and publicity tour ended. Especially if it mucked up their metabolism as much as seems to have.

It’s scary to read that their metabolism slowed so much and after 6 years had not come back to what it once was, which would explain why it has been hard for them to keep it off. If you want to read the actual study, click here. One curious note in the study is that people who have had gastric bypass surgery did *not* experience the same lowering of metabolism after a year despite large weight loss. At least as how I was reading that paragraph, anyway.

However, on the flip side, some of them haven’t gained it all back. There is something to be said that some of them have kept off a good portion of what they lost. I’m a little curious as to where their weight is today versus last year. Are they maintaining at the current weights or gaining each year? The little graph in the article only showed beginning and 6 years later, but it would be nice to see each year plotted on that graph. It might tell a more interesting story.

Slow and steady won’t prevent your metabolism from lowering if you lose a lot of weight, but it seems that it might make the effect less than if you do it Biggest Loser style. On an interesting side story, Ali Vincent is a former TBL winner and has gained back most of her weight. (She was not part of the study). She went public with it and kind of trashed the show and then, ironically, starts a diet bet that anyone can join to lose 4% of your weight in I think it’s a month? Then if you do, you win money. More competition anyone? You’re supposed to learn from your mistakes, not repeat them.

Another year down.

More time has passed in this weight loss journey. I think this is my 6th year? I still have my rose.

Funny that I am not all that focused on the time passing. This last year was a little harder for me. More the last 6 months, really, particularly with work stress and the never ending house closing. However, there are some things that have stayed constant all this time. Exercise is really a daily part of my life. Not always all out exercise. Sometimes simple walking. Other times 30-40 mile bike rides. It’s just what I do now. I have gotten a little lax with food, which has always been and probably always will be my biggest sticking point.

Obligatory what I used to look like photos:

I was thinking about pictures and decided against doing the ‘get myself gussied up’ and pose picture and show pictures of me being me. The real me!

I am even willing to post a picture of me from behind – a shot I had no idea was being taken. In the past, I would never have put up a picture like this, but this is me and I don’t hide. I am not a supermodel, but I am pretty super 😀

Losing weight and keeping it off is hard. I have a lot of support through the ups and downs of trying to maintain or when I have to get back into losing mode. I have that support offline as well as very much here with the blog, which I thank you all so, so much for. When I named my blog, I didn’t want to give it a ‘weight loss’ kind of name because I realized that the journey doesn’t start and end with the scale. It’s the whole package of how you live your life. How you live your life and enjoy your life – despite where you are on the scale.

Here to keeping on.

Those lifestyle changes

Thanks so much for all the nice comments on my maintenance post! I laughed a bit at the comments on my small waist. Some of that is how I am standing and when you have wider hips, your waist looks smaller 😀 However, strength training can define that much more for you.

Colleen had asked in the comments if I would elaborate on some of the changes that I have made permanently. You hear a lot about not dieting and making lifestyle changes, but I don’t know as I ever really understood what that meant until the last few years. When I was younger, I always thought a diet was something you went on and off of. Dieting was a special way of eating and only temporary. And you know what? That also means the weight loss was temporary.

These are the things that are different for me now.

Exercise and activity. I never was really lazy, even at my heaviest, but I did not go out of my way to do a lot of exercise. I always had the WATP videos and the like, but it wasn’t until I really tried sports-type exercises that I found things I looked forward to doing instead of just doing because I was supposed to. (cue rebellion). Biking and lifting fit that bill very nicely. While I used to run pre back injury, I never really loved it like I do the others. I bike totally for fun and the health benefits are secondary.

I also try to make a point to be active at times where I will eat more food. Like on Thanksgiving or Christmas. We like to take a walk that day now and not just lay around after eating. Never used to do that.

Measuring food. I know some people hate to do this, but it is such a habit with me that it doesn’t bother me. The scale sits on the kitchen counter (we both use it). I weigh out pretty much everything except fruits and veggies. I don’t sweat too much, though, if I get 17 grams of peanut butter instead of 16. It’s never an exact science. I have portion distortion and if I try eyeballing things all the time, I will start to lean onto the more generous side of portions. I also record my food pretty much every day on My Fitness Pal. Again, I don’t mind recording. I try to record any binges, overeating, extra snacks, etc., as well to the best of my ability. It keeps me pretty aware of what’s going on.

I choose small sizes of things when eating out. John and I split entrees or sometimes I will order an appetizer and salad as my dinner. I don’t really like to take restaurant leftovers home because I don’t want 2 meals. I just want one at the time, you know? Especially if it is a rich meal. When we go for regular ice cream versus yogurt, I almost always get the kiddie size. If I get the bigger sizes, I will likely eat all of it. That’s just the way I am, so better to limit it from the get-go.

Less processed food. Pretty self-explanatory.

Changing my beverages. This was one of the first changes I made eons ago. I used to drink sweet everything. Sugar in my coffee, regular soda, syrups in my lattes. You know that talk about liquid calories? Well, I had my share. I read the Sugar Addict’s Recovery book and decided to start eliminating a lot of sugar from my diet. I have always despised artificial sweeteners, so that pretty much meant cold turkey. To this day, I don’t put any sugar in my coffee or tea. I have unsweetened lattes (other than a honey or caramel drizzle on the top). I drink seltzer water at home and water in restaurants. Sometimes unsweetened ice tea or seltzer in a restaurant. I also don’t drink much any more. I love me a good mixed drink or beer (always hated wine), but it’s pretty rare for me nowadays.

I do not expect perfection. This is probably the biggest thing. I definitely used to be an all-or-nothing gal. Eat a donut for breakfast? Well, better go out for dinner and have dessert, too! Now I understand that it is all about progress in making changes. Yes, you backslide sometimes, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep going back. You just move on.

I know there are other things I do different now that I can’t think of off the top of my head. It’s really all very non-exciting isn’t it? No magic pills or secrets. Just small changes that stuck over time and each change brought a result.

5 years of radiance!

Here I am 5 years later maintaining the majority of my weight loss! The time goes by pretty fast. Some days it feels like a struggle. Some days it feels easy. There are so many changes that I have made in my life that are permanent now that have helped me to do this.

My 100-pound rosebush is blooming again this year. I think it is so appropriate that it comes into bloom when I celebrate this milestone.

It’s been so long since I looked like this (or John looked like this):

While not at my lowest weight, I have stayed here for the last couple of years. I know there are some people who are where I am at right now and that is their starting point for weight loss, but it’s all relative.

You know what I really like about this picture? It makes me look tall! (Doesn’t it?) I’m 5′ 2”, so I will take whatever makes me look taller.

Sometimes I wish I had the super discipline it takes to get to what would be my goal weight. It’s very hard. It seems to be harder to lose now that I am 45 and have a sedentary job. Yeah, I bike a lot, but I eat back those calories and then sit at my job.

Activity is really a big part of my life now. It never used to be. Exercise was a chore until I found things I liked. Strength training shaped my body big time, too. Check out the difference between my shape above and 5 years ago.

I am heavier in the more recent picture – and yes, the clothing is a little more form fitting, but no Spanx or any kind of control shapewear underneath (in either picture). There was a major change with lifting. I cannot stress enough the importance of lifting the iron!! Cardio alone just doesn’t cut it.

Yes, I have loose skin, some flab and extra weight, but still the strength training had changed my body. I wish I had lifted heavier all along!

I do have to say that life is pretty good. I may never reach the magic number on the scale, but I know that doing that will not make me happy as I am already happy now. Weight loss (or gain) does not define me. I am just going to try to keep living a healthy lifestyle in a manner that I can sustain forever.

Thanks so much for sharing my little bit of the internets with me. I have met so many wonderful people through the blog that I consider friends and hope to meet a lot more of you in person!

Four years and counting

It’s that time of year.

4 years of maintenance (or close to it). As long-time readers of the blog know, this yellow rose was the one that I bought myself for hitting 100 pounds down in 2008. Each year it has come back for the last 4 years and each year I am doing pretty well at maintaining my loss.

All of my rose bushes came up with long and tall canes this year. I don’t know if that had something to do with the winter we had or my pruning skilz.

Each year they are a little different. Each year I am a little different. I have learned many things about maintenance and there are many things still that I need to learn.

I am a little heavier than I was at my lowest.

I am a lot stronger than I was a few years ago.

I am 4 years older 😉

I eat differently now than I did 4 years ago.

There are still some foods that I probably will always struggle with (peanut butter cups, I am looking in your direction). But, that is okay. At least I am aware of that.

Maintenance is hard. I kind of consider myself a wobbly maintainer. My weight does go up and down. I never did reach my ultimate number goal and that really isn’t my focus any more. I want to keep off what I lost and stay strong and healthy. It’s funny how each year I mention that I never did get to my ultimate weight goal. Maybe that is where I am now and I still just haven’t accepted that. Not that I won’t keep working hard – because maintenance is hard work. It really is. It’s a mind game. It’s constant vigilance, which gets tiring at times, but I don’t care for the alternative.

I don’t ever want to go back here again.

My original Superstar pose in 2008:

2012:

You know, lifting has really given so much more shape to my body. I can’t say enough how much lifting is important to health. Not just how it makes you look, but how good it is for cardiovascular fitness, bone health and just confidence.

Here’s to another year!

100-pound anniversary

June 18th. Today is the day that I celebrate another year of keeping off at least 100 pounds! I am still not at the magical goal number (or maybe I am….), but the weight that I did lose is staying off. That is more important to me than reaching goal.

2 years ago, I bought a rose bush to celebrate hitting 100 pounds lost and planted it in my garden. I was excited when it came back last year and bloomed at about this time (appropriate!).

This year, I was worried about my rose bush. I thought the last freezes we had might have killed it because the growth started so late, but it is blooming again right now as a reminder of what is possible.

Also, the fact that it made it through some late hard freeze and continued to thrive is sort of representative of the challenges that we face in losing and keeping off weight and yet it can be done. It is not always an easy road, but it is certainly a travel-able road.

In the past year (June to June), I have done

A triathlon
A duathlon
Six 5K races
New Rules of Lifting
Chin ups!
and a heck of a lot of bike miles.

I’ve kept the weight off through a year’s worth of holidays, birthdays, celebrations, various binges, a cruise, and an injury. Of course, this isn’t to say the weight has remained the same. I have ranged around in a 10-pound area with 145 seeming to be the sweet spot where my body gravitates. I really struggled last summer learning how to feed my body while training for a triathlon. I was trying to do that and lose weight, which do not necessarily go hand in hand. I found my body just fluctuates a lot, and that is okay. I know how to handle it now (not that I am always successful).

Flash back to 5 years ago at 250 pounds:

Here is a shot I took this morning of the jeans I am wearing in the above picture. 24W. I kept this pair as a reminder of where I never, ever want to be again.

I can’t believe I used to fill these jeans up. It’s embarrassing, really. I have this strange mixture of pride and shame about the weight loss. Shame that I ever disrespected myself enough to get so large and yet pride that I was able to take the weight off and treat my body the way I need to in order to be healthy and fit.

Now a couple fun shots. 2 years ago at 150 being a superstar :

This week at 145 trying the same pose:

Not much weight difference, but a big body composition change with the strength training. I do have a fair amount of loose skin, particularly in my butt/legs, but it has firmed up some over time. I wasn’t even sucking in my tummy LOL! And I swear my butt looks a little higher?? Go squats! Lift those weights, ladies!! (and guys). It’s kind of neat that the older I get, the more revealing my clothes are, and I am embracing the imperfections rather than trying to hide them.

I hope that next year I will be posting again with pictures of this rose bush. When I tuck it away for the winter and start checking on it again next spring to see how it weathered the winter months, I hope we meet again in the same spirit.

My food philosophy

I wanted to talk a little bit about my food philosophy now. I do blog about food a lot and thought I would share what drives what I eat and how I view it.

1. First and foremost, I have to like the food I am eating and that food has to be good. If I were to have to eat dry toast, plain egg whites, lettuce and sugar free jello, I just would not be happy. (Not knocking anyone who loves these, it’s just not me). Yes, the scale would probably plummet down, but I would be miserable. I figure if the food I eat is satisfying to my taste buds, it will be satisfying to my mind. That means if I want a cookie, it’s the best *one* I can find, not a whole sleeve of Oreos to try to satisfy a craving. You really only get so much food in a day, so make it worth eating.

2. I don’t consider anything off-limits. Now, that doesn’t mean that I am going to eat a pound of chocolate a day or dive face first into cookies (although that has happened before), but I never tell myself that I cannot have something ever again. That is a sure-fire way to send me on a binge of said item. What I do is to give foods a nutrient cost, so to speak. More fat/calories gives the food a higher cost. So if you think of your daily foods as a bank balance, if you have a higher weight item, then the other items need to be of a lower cost (ie lean proteins, fruits, veggies, etc) to balance out. I think this way over a longer period as well. So, if I know we are going out for dinner one night, that means I need to rein it in a little bit a couple of days prior. This eliminates the guilt factor. This reason is why you see me eat bagels a couple times a week. I love them, I plan for them, I enjoy them. Yes, this requires thinking about food, but mindless eating got me up to 250 pounds.

3. I know where my food comes from. I am not a vegetarian, and am really not interested in becoming one (although I had thought about it for a while). However, I do care how the meat I consume is processed and raised. So, we purchase our meat locally from small farmers. We are pretty lucky that we are able to do this here and have a wide variety of products to choose from. It does make eating out a little difficult at times, but we do try to stick to those principles. There are other things we try to get locally, or at least make sure it is from the US. It’s apple time, but interestingly enough – a lot of apples in our store (Pink Ladies) come from New Zealand. ???? So we do a lot of label reading, even on produce.

4. Never feel guilty about eating. Ever. Foods are not inherently good or bad. Food does not have morals. It doesn’t judge you on how much you eat of it. We do that all by ourselves. I have those days where I eat more than I should of those costly nutrient foods, but you know what? There is always the next meal to be back on track again. I think it is worse to beat yourself up about it because then it makes what you ate not worth it (see #1), which compounds the problem.

Following these guidelines for me has helped me keep off over 100 pounds for more than a year and still enjoy food, because it really is worth enjoying!

I don’t know if you need to have a personal philosophy about food, but it really wouldn’t hurt you to take a hard look at why you eat what you do.

National Weight Control Registry Maintenance Secrets

Well, I was going to post about my day, what I ate, exercise, the usual, but I got a packet in the mail today and thought I would talk about that.

I joined the National Weight Control Registry a year ago, as I had maintained at least a 30# weight loss for a year and decided to join, even though I was not at goal. Today was the 1-year update packet that was sent out with a survey for me to fill out on the last year as it relates to my weight. Interesting that I am pretty much the same weight as I was a year ago, even though I was a bit lower at one point. Anyway, they included a little sheet on Secrets of Successful Losers. The database has over 6000 people in it. The successful maintainers tend to do the following:

1. They eat a low-calorie diet. Most are low-fat and they eat 4-5 times a day.

2. They eat a consistent diet from day to day. These maintainers also tend to eat the same during the holidays and special occasions.

3. They eat breakfast every day.

4. They are very physically active. Averaging about 60 minutes per day. Walking is the #1 exercise.

5. They weigh themselves frequently.

6. They watch limited amounts of television. About 10 hours a week.

7. They don’t let a small weight gain become bigger.

How many of these things do you do right now? I pretty much do all 7, although I don’t know if what I eat constitutes a real low calorie diet, and I eat moderate fat.

Interesting to note that the above 7 things are pretty much what you do to lose weight as well.

The other interesting tidbit is that once you have maintained your weightloss for at least 2 years, the risk of regaining the weight is cut by more than half. So it seems as though time is on your side the longer you keep the weight off.

100 pound anniversary post!

I had alluded to this special rose bush in my garden a couple weeks ago:

100lb1 This was the reward I gave myself for losing 100 pounds. I wanted a rose bush, and this one is the one I selected.

Today is a huge milestone day for me. 1 year ago I stepped on the scale to have finally reach 100 pounds lost.

That means I have maintained at least 100 pounds gone for a year! I can’t say that I am not a little disappointed to not be at goal now, but I realize that I have kept off an enormous amount of weight. I made it through a bunch of holidays, the Superbowl, New Orleans, birthdays and the like to varying degrees of success.

1 year ago, I was a fledgling runner – in 3 weeks I will be doing a sprint triathlon! Who knew that I had a little athlete in me that wanted to get out all this time?? It only took me 41 years to give her a chance!

I have spent a lot of the last year learning more about what my body is actually capable of doing, and that it can look pretty good in clothes! I still get great satisfaction and amazement out of shopping and being in the ‘normal’ department. I wonder if that will ever go away (I hope not).

The rose bush made it through the winter and is blooming now, and a celebration of the time passed since its first planting. It is my sincere wish that I will be posting again in a year with the same success (and even to be at goal LOL).

Old me:

250

Taken a couple weeks ago:

shirt1

Maybe I can do this maintenance thing after all!

I was also honored to provide a guest post recipe today at Healthy Living Blog!

Realizations

Another rambling post coming up! First off, I had a great day eating wise (and just in general because every day is pretty much a great day:D ).

I am only a little way into the Beck book and have already found some great tools in there. Even though there is stuff I don’t need, like planning what diet to follow and how to add in exercise, I have learned a few things about myself already.

You know as time goes on, little things creep in and you really aren’t aware of them until your attention becomes focused on it. I think this is a good reason to sit down and re-evaluate your plan periodically, whether you are newly into a program, a long way into one, or maintaining. Take a good hard look at what you are doing and don’t let yourself skim over any details. What you think is an undeserved plateau may very well be self imposed. Whether you want to hear that or not.

One tip that really surprised me in the Beck book is her request that you sit down to eat, no matter what that is. I thought, okay – no problem. Nothing will pass my lips unless I take a seat. Well, wouldn’t you know it – I have been snacking way more than I realized, and nibbling while cooking or passing through the pantry, or free samples at the grocery store. It is especially noticeable while I am preparing meals. I tend to lick the utensils after measuring (hello extra nut butter calories). And those calories don’t always make it into my tracker. Oooops. This is how maintenance can go awry in a hurry. I bolded this for myself so I can reread it and remind myself. So my task this week is to continue to nix the nibbling habit.

Also, letting myself be hungry is okay. Not ravenous, because that is dangerous for me, but if I eat lunch, I don’t have to eat an hour later. Perfect example was today. After an afternoon latte at around 2:30, I was working and felt like I was hungry or wanted to eat. Normally, I probably would have, but then thought that I had just had a snack an hour earlier and dinner would be in a couple hours any way. But I kept thinking about it, and told myself I would take a break at 4pm and have a snack. Wouldn’t you know at about 5 minutes before 4:00, this happened (had my camera right there,too!):

and I just couldn’t make myself wake her up to get up and get a snack. And you know something? I survived the next hour until dinner just fine without being famished. So thank you, Pixie. She doesn’t even know what she did. I have to say that it is an extra challenge to do computer work with her there LOL!

So, the work day is done, and I have eaten my planned evening snack and know that I will not need to eat for the rest of the night – and it’s okay!

So – Sat and Sun were successful eating days. Happiness reigns supreme!

Finding Radiance

Trying to live a fit life loving food, cycling, gardening and everything in between!