Everyday Systems

Since June 2008 I've lost at least 40lbs. In the 40-45 lb range really. Because I weighed in at home in June 2009, I decided to add 5lbs to the weight to make up for possible scale inaccuracies. (I'd rather overestimate my weight at this point than underestimate it.)

Though I did start eating a bit better again in June of last year, it wasn't until August that I really started watching what I ate. The thing that re-motivated me then was my dad's stroke. As an adoptee, I don't share his medical history, but I was 40 then and knew that i had better start taking care of myself.

I had more bad news in September. My long-term partner left me (18 1/2 yrs together), I learned I'd totally run out of graduate student funding, and my cat was diagnosed as diabetic. There were times when I had to force myself to eat -- despite being in the obese category, I tend to not eat when I'm under severe stress. No-S provided some structure.

My weight is too high b/c my portion sizes were too high, b/c my food choices were bad (too much processed), and my exercise too low. No-S has helped with shrinking portion sizes, including no cheating on what a portion size is by taking seconds. I'm fairly lucky in that I was never much of a snacker or sweets person.

Today, on July 4th, I will have pizza and I might have seconds. I'll also eat one of the fudsicles I bought on Monday. Interestingly I'm more likely to eat a sweet on an S day than have seconds. Maybe before no-S i was telling myself it's ok to eat seconds because I don't eat sweets?

I am continuing to work on making better food choices. And shovelglove has become a strong daily habit since Jan. 2009 -- Urban Ranger has been a little more intermittent but I'm also walking fairly regularly. Sadly, I had to take Thurs. & Fri. off from shovelglove b/c my back was hurting (unrelated to shovelglove..)

Now if I can only finish that dissertation and get a job all would be well!

jules

Wow-thanks for sharing. It seems to me that you have had great success, especially despite all the obstacles thrown your way. But as you say, No S perhaps provided a structure that helped you through.

You WILL finish that dissertation and get a job--and when you do, you must let us know and we can ALL take an S celebratory day!

Over 40 pounds in a year-awesome!

Excellent Jules!!!
Congratulations!!!!
Debs

Wow! Congratulations on your great success, especially in the face of such adversity!

Thanks for sharing,

Ok here's a slightly more detailed update. I took some measurements today and I'd taken some measurements of myself a couple years ago. Most of the progress i've made would have been in the last year, since June 2008, because before that i was probably mostly maintaining my hefty weight.

From 11/22/06 to 07/05/09 I've lost 1.5 inches from my neck and 7.5 inches from my waist.

From 1/31/07 to 07/05/09 I've lost 3.5 inches from my bust, 7.5 inches from my hips, and 0.5 inches from my ankles.

So total inches lost in those various areas is 20.5.

jules

p.s.
*edited to correct date "since June 2008" from "June 2009" lol

Congratulations, Jules!

That is quite an achievement -- especially given everything you've been going through. Any one of those incidents would have been sufficient excuse to throw in the towel for most people. I'm hugely impressed.

I'm very happy to hear that shovelglove and urban ranger played a role, too.

THANK YOU for sharing this here, and I hope you enjoyed your well deserved pizza and fudsicles!

Reinhard

Congratulations, Jules!

How brilliant to have achieved this when you were having such an annus horribilis.