DIETING AND HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT

STOP EATING LIKE A PIG!
STOP EATING LIKE A PIG!
STOP EATING LIKE A PIG!
STOP EATING LIKE A PIG!

That’s how I did it. I have lost 43 pounds over the last 2 1/2 years. I am not doing it quickly, I am not always doing it consciously, but I am doing it.

It is extra difficult when you are cooking for others. I sometimes have 2 different meals going for my spouse and my son. My new thing is that I no longer cook for myself. I can still sit with them, I can eat a salad, or I can just watch. Sometimes it is more difficult than others. I am not embarrassed to say that I eat their leftovers (mostly from my son). I used to eat my own dinner and then their leftovers, that’s how I got in this mess in the first place.

How it all start:

I weighed 260 pounds and my back hurt: it has hurt on and off for years. I was finally ready, I went to to my regular doctor who had a back doctor on staff, who happened to also work on food issues. I just wanted acupuncture for the back pain, I thought he could throw in an extra needle or two to stop the hunger pains (and they are pains!).

In addition to the acupuncture, and the back pain injections, he suggested a diet supplement program for me. The first and most ridiculous part of the program was to eat less. I guffawed!

The other part was a nutritional shake with the following ingredients:

Organic triple fiber
Whey Protein Powder
Miracle Reds powder (some kind of veggie nutritional powder, it’s all the rage)
Macro Greens (same as above for fruits, no gay pun intended)
Multiple Vitamin and Mineral Powder
UltraMeal 360 Plus from Metagenics, this one had to be purchased from a pharmacy level vitamin shop, I do not know why.
I also take a pro-biotic (refrigerated, it contains the ingredients found in yogurt), and a fish oil pill (this one kept in the freezer so there is no fishy after taste – stop with the rude jokes!).

Of course I experimented with various flavor helpers, honey, ice cream, protein drinks, milk. I chose to have this shake before dinner, this way I was already bloated before the evening meal, so I would eat less. It was a slow and painful process, painful because for every pound I would lose I would want to celebrate and congratulate ME with something high in calories. I know this does not make sense, perhaps this is why all previous diets have failed!

Luckily I took off almost 20 pounds before my son started Kindergarten, there were pictures hanging all over with the kids and their parents, thank goodness I wasn’t chubbier. Anyhow, I did not deny myself any foods. I ate candy almost daily. I substituted the English candy, Minstrels, for M&M’s, they are so much better, I was able to eat less and just savor each one.

I also threw in some Atkins diet, some Weight Watchers, I was grasping at straws! Luckily Jenny Craig did not return my calls, she was too busy with Valerie Bertinelli or Marie Osmond.

Seriously, I tried to eat a lot less starch. And more protein. And less at night. The reason I am writing this post is I was weighed at my doctors after an 11 month hiatus, and I was 217. I knew I had taken off a few additional pounds when I dieted for 1 week this past 6 months (I had tried to go back on that shake I mentioned earlier), I did not know I had this kind of success. I insisted the scale was wrong, but to no avail. Since I fast before doctor’s visits (for the blood work, cholesterol, etc.) I did go out after and have my bacon & cheese omelet with grits at my favorite breakfast place. Extra butter on the grits, please!

So now I just try to be conscious of what goes in my mouth (no jokes please!). I try to not overeat at night. I try to be reasonable during the day. I have ice cream, but I do not have a half a tub of Baskin & Robbins pralines and cream, melted into soup. That’s how I usually blow up every summer. I love my mother-in-laws pasta, but I no longer have 3 huge bowls of it. I have one bowl, with lots of sauce. I could drink her tomato sauce like soup, and I think more sauce and less pasta is the way to go. I go to the gym and that is important also, not just for cardiovascular support, but to burn off calories. It used to look like I might be asleep when I would do the StairMaster machine. Now I do the elliptical machine and I actually sweat – most of the trainers are in shock! I also have to thank my friend Stacy for her gift of ear phones, it helps me to listen to fast music to keep my workout going.

Basically, you have heard it a thousand times before. It is about a lifestyle change. I had to come to terms with my age and my back pain. I had to bottom out on old habits. I had to want and be ready to change. Luckily, my incentive of wanting to live long enough to be a grandpa helps. I now think it through. If I go to a fancy affair, i.e., a wedding, I realize I can eat bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta anytime. It is the meat/protein I try to focus on and then I can eat a lot (eating a lot in general is one of my favorite things to do at a fancy party, maybe it’s a Jewish thing!) and I don’t hold back, I just eat the items that won’t make me grow larger.

Today it is about being reasonable. I do not deny myself any foods. I just don’t eat them to the point of nausea (which used to be so much fun!). Why, I am eating a whoopie pie even as I type this. As long as that is half my lunch, I can enjoy it and not gain weight from it. As long as I do not eat the whole 4 pack in 1 day! Now that reminds me of the olden days….

25 years ago I gave my friend Joe my size 29 and 30 waist pants. He had to give them to his brother, they were too small even for Joe’s skinny body. I probably fit into them when I was on the swim team in college (don’t worry, I still had a gut, the coach asked me if I was pregnant at one point!). I was very clear with Joe, this was a loan until the day I lost the weight and I would then want those pants back!

If you are out there Joe, I am about to tackle the next 60+ pounds! Find those pants!