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Sept 2019 I got a warning that I was headed for bad trouble if I didn't lose some weight. So I stopped eating added sugar (natural's fine) & started walking every day. Rain or shine. 10min at first. An hour eventually. I cut out simple carbs. I added lots of vegetables & fruit.
I also started planking every day. I started with 30sec and now go for 5min. Every day. Heavier weight training eventually but the planks are non-negotiable. I lost sixty pounds by March of last year and I've maintained it all the way through 2020. I fell off the horse once at
Thanksgiving. I had a sliver of pumpkin pie. What's kept me going is that I didn't want to die this way. I didn't want to hold my breath to tie my shoes, I wanted to be able to put the armrest down in the car without shifting my whole body to do it. I wanted to feel better.
Even if I didn't lose a pound, if I could manage my blood sugar and blood pressure - if I could be there for my kids for a little longer - I would do this and I wouldn't cheat. Now it's 2021. My resolution again is to survive. For my family who needs me to.
For breakfast, oatmeal - bare, no added sugars, and a banana cut up in it. I use coconut/almond milk, unsweetened. Sometimes instead I'll have spinach & garlic sauteed in olive oil and three eggs w/a slice of no-sugar added multigrain bread or brown rice. Just for an example.
I'll say, too, that I haven't felt deprived. Steak, salmon, poke as long as it's with brown rice and/or greens. A food diary helped a lot - just jotting down what I ate when I ate it. I keep it on a spreadsheet I can access with my phone. I love Middle Eastern food. Indian, too.
Most importantly for me was being patient with the rate of loss. I could've lost faster but what needed to change was my relationship with food. I used it as endorphin reward when I was stressed and sad. And I was always stressed and sad. It also made me feel successful. If I
could afford to eat to excess, how bad was I really doing in life? A little Chinese dysfunction in there to spice up the stew. Managing my health hasn't cured my issues, but it has allowed me to focus more on addressing them rather than literally peanut buttering over them.
Anyway. This isn't meant as a nudge or a condemnation. It's how I did something I didn't think I could do - and how I did it because I wasn't motivated to do it for me, but rather for the people who most depend on me. I'm sure there's a lesson in that.
