Health vs Weight Loss

In my quest for health, I started with only looking at my weight. I slowly started coming to terms with what I already knew: health isn't all about weight. For some, weight gain can be associated with poor health choices, but losing weight doesn't always mean getting healthy.

 

Only 2 months after my last chemo, and already "overweight"

I lost a LOT of weight in the most UNhealthy way: chemotherapy. As I recovered, and regained my health, I gained weight. According to the "charts," I was "healthy" while I was so weak I couldn't walk more than 100 yards. But when I was able to get up, eat a normal breakfast, hike 5 miles, have a picnic lunch in the woods, and hike 5 miles back? By that time, my weight put me into the "overweight" category. Baloney.





When I started this blog. Sick & Tired.

Even though I still weigh over 200 pounds, my weight loss through nutrisystem is coming to an end. The system is sound, and helped me to realize just how much my body really NEEDS, as opposed to how sick I was making myself. But the foods are very highly processed, and not good for me in the long term. They were a tool to help me learn how to listen to my body in terms of portions and hunger and thirst/water consumption. Over the past several years, I have turned to convenience foods, like take out and fast foods. I've ignored my body's reaction to most dairy products. I've eaten to the point of sickness because I hate to "waste" food. I lost my energy, and my mental and emotional state deteriorated. Without proper nutrition, everything suffers. (and this could have happened whether I was 245# or 145#).

 

A healthy "obese" me. Walking 10 miles a day at Disneyworld with the kids? No problem!

Nutrisystem, and the support structure online, helped me to see just how badly I was treating my body. Yes, I lost weight, and for a time, I focused on just the numbers on the scale. But I've also come to notice now that I also have more energy, more endurance, better bloodwork, etc. This is because I changed how I look at food, not just how I look. I changed how I see and treat food. I even changed how I react if I seriously over-eat! Nutrisystem was a tool. A catalyst for change. And for that, I am grateful.



Now, however, I've started focusing on WHAT I'm putting into my body. Not just protein content and calories and portion sizes. Not on "will this affect the scale." Not even on "how will this affect me in the short term." But rather, how can I nourish my body for the long haul? How can I improve my immune system, and that of my kids? How can I have the best chance to make sure that I'm around to meet my grandchildren and even great grandchildren?

 

 

A rainbow of veggies for my salad!

I know fruits & vegetables are the answer. They got me through the worst year of my life on chemotherapy with flying colors, and kept me healthy for years afterwards. I was miserable for 11 months on some of the roughest chemotherapy drugs known to womankind. But when I was done my doctor almost cried. He told me that so often he saw people with my kind of cancer relapse because their bodies couldn't handle the chemo. That, as miserable as I was, my body had held up in an amazing way. Now that I'm a busy mom working full time and on the road a lot, a full gamut of fruits and vegetables are harder to come by, but I'm dedicated to changing that. And I would love it if folks could join me! How do you get your fruits and veggies? How do you flood your body with antioxidants?

I'm BACK!

Hello all!

Not much has happened in the "redux" department for several months here, but a lot has happened in my life, which is why I've neglected this blog so darn much. Let me catch you up:



My Spring-Summer loss. 245# to 215# in 4 months!

After my last post, in early June I was in a fairly serious head-on collision. At 45mph, while I had minor muscle/tendon injuries, the bruising can be pretty severe. I gained 10 pounds immediately, from swelling alone. I also had hip and lower back issues, which meant my exercising ability was affected. The seatbelt caused these injuries, but it definitely saved me from what could have been much, much worse. So buckle up, people!!!

Also: my 2.5 year old daughter was in the car. Because she was still rear-facing, in a properly installed car seat, she had zero injuries. We went to the hospital for a check anyway, and the doctors panicked when they heard "45mph, head-on collision." Until the EMT smiled and said "she was rear facing," then they relaxed and thanked me. Had she been forward facing, she could have sustained some pretty severe trauma. Please, please, please, make sure your child is as safe as they can be, and buckled properly into the correct carseat for them! Please check out http://csftl.org/ (Car Seats for the Littles) if you have questions.

Now, off that soap box!

After my crash, my swelling went down pretty quickly, but I didn't have the opportunity or desire to work on anything but healing my bruises. I stayed at a 25# loss for a while, and then slowly started working back towards losing again. I was at a 30# loss in July, and by the time summer was over, I had lost...*drumroll*....45#!!! My goal was to be under 200 pounds by the time I went to Disney World in late September. I hit that goal about 3 days before I left!

 

My 2014 Weight loss. 245# to 198# in 6 months!

While I was at Disney, I ate what I wanted, because it was HOT, and we were walking a LOT. Pretty much any calories I was eating would be burned off, to some extent, and I wasn't going to affect the vacation of the decade by being worried about calories. Did I decline some things because I knew they would make my stomach upset? Yes. Salads over fries, lots of veggies, and small portions of fatty, cheesy things that would make me feel sick. But overall, I didn’t give a rat’s behind about my weight. I just wanted to have fun with my family.

 

When I got back from Florida and stepped on the scale, I had gained a whopping 10 pounds. A large part of that was from water retention, though, and I quickly dropped the first five with just drinking all my water.

From there, and through the holidays, I postponed my Nutrisystem boxes until February, knowing that I would need the time to save my money, and it gave me leeway to see just what I could do on my own. The end result? I simply maintained my weight within a 5 pound radius. I wavered between 202# and 206# with fairly little effort, which was a pleasure. I felt great, and I honestly wasn’t concerned about continuing my weight loss. Living life was the most important thing at that moment, and I was pleased that I didn’t gain any of the weight back.

During that time, I also began moderating a group on Facebook, dedicated to followers of NutriSystem. The other moderators needed to bow out, and I was trying to help motivate first about 800 members, now almost 1,800 members, and keep the group a judgement-free zone. The conversations have been great, and it is wonderful to see just how many people are so positive towards each other. Whether someone is posting a success or a frustration, whether they are being body-positive or down on themselves. Aside from spam, I have never had to ban anyone from the group for negative behavior, and only removed a small handful of posts/comments. This is such a difference from so many groups I am on, and part of the reason I have neglected this blog.

In February, I postponed again, until March 28^th. I also decided to buy the shakes and do the “fast five” this time, as my weight had gotten above 205 and stayed there for a bit too long. I wanted a “jump start.” I began the week of “Fast Five” at 207#. At the end of the week, even though I cheated a few times, I was down to 202#! I also received a shipment of frozen food this time…just a small “sampler”…and may I say, WOW! I never minded the shelf stable stuff, or at least most of it. It rates as OK on its own, and easy to doctor up to fit my taste and be pretty good. It will never be “gourmet” food or “just like mom used to make,” but I never expected that from packaged food. But it’s pretty darn good, as far as pre-packaged stuff goes. I’ve only had the cinnamon roll from the freezer so far, but dang, it may be tempting me to increase my subscription to include some frozen meals in the future!

Thank you all so much for reading, and I hope to be posting again soon!