Weight loss, how did I do it?

I am asked all the time, how did you lose so much weight. And I tell them no Cheetos for breakfast.  They think I am kidding, but I'm not.  I gave up a lot of good tasting stuff:  Cheetos, sugar, ice cream, salt, caffeine, wine, Bourbon, and on and on.

Before all the drama, I made half hearted attempts to lose weight.  But I yo-yoed for years. Now I am serious.  Diabetes, A-fib, high blood pressure, bad knees and hip, blood clots; trust me that will give you religion.  I was terrified.  Kiss the bad eating good bye.

How about a before picture.  Not that I am proud of it, but I am proud it isn't me anymore. Yes, I knew I was big as the side of a barn, I just wasn't motivated.

81 pounds ago

In September when I came home from the hospital I was too weak to walk over a couple of minutes.  Every day I added another minute or two to my exercise time.  I would walk 5 minutes and rest 30.  I was one sick chicken.  But I got up to 30 minutes, and I was walking faster and taking longer strides.  Then I added in our 20+ stairs and jogged down them and ran up them.  I was working hard.  I exercised in some form every day for at least 30 minutes.

Now to my diet.  I am not allowed salt, sugar, or many carbs or fats, also I had to watch out for cholesterol.  We read labels anytime we bought processed food.  We found low salt food doesn't mean squat, no sugar doesn't mean low calorie, low calorie. . . compared to what.  You need a Master's degree to shop at Safeway.  Thankfully Marty took over and found/made good foods I could eat.  He made soups, broths, whatever I needed he found or made.  We ate a lot of chicken and pork chops.  I ate peanut butter on a half of piece of bread with almonds on the side.  I made tomato soup and sauces from the tomatoes I had put up.  No salt in them.  I watched Marty make fudge and bourbon balls and only ate one piece.

Small portions were key to losing weight, so we used smaller plates so it looked like more food.  If we ate out I ordered the best I could and skipped the fried food, sauces, bread and cheese.  I was careful, if I ate a rich meal I had really healthy meals for the rest of the week.  Also I never said never.  I allowed myself the right to eat anything I wanted.  I just rarely did.  Knowing I could have it let me wait out the cravings for lovely bad food.  Even my doctor said one meal won't kill you.  Just don't have too many one meals.

Wine and liquor can really mess with one of my medications.  Plus alcohol is empty calories.  So I rarely drink anything except water.  No caffeine or sugar eliminated most soft drinks and fruit juice.

  

November 2013

February 2014

April 2014

June 2014

This has been a difficult process.  No one loves rich food more than I do.  And Bourbon, mother's milk to a Southern Belle.  I have succeeded because of the support from friends and Marty.  His support is huge, cooking and shopping.  And he drives me to Kaiser Emergency often.  I am not scared of A-Fib anymore.  It disrupts our life, but we know it is treatable.  The other problems are scary but controlled most of the time.  

I wrote this because Marty asked me too.  He said it might help others with similar health issues. I hope it will help others.