September 20, 2022

Sep 20, 2022

It has been eight years since my last post!  I regained about 100 pounds through eating like I ate pre-surgery--what I wanted (baked goods and snack foods) when I wanted (for emotional and boredom reasons) and not exercising (still pain issues).  But last year I started to make some changes gradually easing my way back into the mental space I needed to get to.  So as of the first of this year I have been serious about getting the weight back off.  I am using a couple of apps to track my calories and key nutrients and intermittent fasting times.  I find I need to be pretty limited in my overall calories to get the weight off--lower than the normal person at 1,200--but it is working.  I'm down to 218 from 275 which is where I was at the first of the year.  I'm just about half way to my goal. 

The fasting has not been difficult--I stop eating around 7 p.m. and don't eat again until noon. The bigger challenge is getting in the protein I need.  I struggle with the bulk of the food--get full before the protein is complete even though that is what I eat primarily.  I've never found a protein supplement drink I can handle, so I don't have that option.  I'm eating a lot of shrimp and fish to get the protein without the high calories. 

I have been frustrated with my body's pattern of good weight lose one week and then up and down the next.  But when I found my old blog and tracking spreadsheet, I saw that was my pattern back then.  So I'm trying to be okay with it. 

My other issue has always been the constipation that comes with high protein consumption.  I'm doing better with that--stool softener, fennel tea, prunes, and raspberries!  Whatever it takes.

Several people at work are trying to lose weight/eat healthy, so the temptations are not so abundant, just occassional.  But I'm a bit disappointed that no one has remarked on my success as I have lost over 50 lbs.  Maybe it is just no longer acceptable to say anything about a person's weight.  But someone else did say something at convocation and it felt affirming.  I know some people don't like comments on their weight, but I appreciated it.

I'm glad I was able to get back onto this site to continue my posting.  It re-establishes that weight control is not a one and done event but, for me, will be an ongoing process. 

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