Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Health Rocks: Not Giving Up

Ahem. It's me again, and I weighed myself twice this morning. Once before exercising and once after.

Before? 192.9
After? 193.0

SIIIIIGGGGGHHHHHH. Or AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!! Take your pick.

I'm getting frustrated. It's normal to feel this way; frustration at seemingly lackful results. Lackful is a word, right? No? Well, I'm making it one. Because I'm feeling full of lack right now.

I can't be too mad at myself, though. I flopped over the weekend and tailgated at the football game. I ate crap at a wedding reception. I was too tired to cook Saturday night/Sunday morning, so --of course! --the bad stuff that still remains in the house came out and everyone partook.

Winning over the family has been hard; but not too difficult. I'm trying several new recipes just to find some that will satisfy everyone. You know, meals everyone can enjoy? I heard that the average American family eats pretty much the same 10 meals over and over and over...I'm trying to find those 10 meals. My goal is to have a meal that at least 6 out of 7 people will enjoy. I haven't gotten there, yet.

Good part: If it was up to Brandon, we'd have all the meals already! He's been super supportive in the food changes and has pretty much loved everything I've made. Kale soup last night? He devoured it.

Not Giving Up:
In Relief Society on Sunday the lesson was about President Uchtdorf's talk on patience. Besides being a glorious, glorious, glorious talk, this part stood out to me:
I remember when I was preparing to be trained as a fighter pilot. We spent a great deal of our preliminary military training in physical exercise. I’m still not exactly sure why endless running was considered such an essential preparatory part of becoming a pilot. Nevertheless, we ran and we ran and we ran some more.
As I was running I began to notice something that, frankly, troubled me. Time and again I was being passed by men who smoked, drank, and did all manner of things that were contrary to the gospel and, in particular, to the Word of Wisdom.
I remember thinking, “Wait a minute! Aren’t I supposed to be able to run and not be weary?” But I was weary, and I was overtaken by people who were definitely not following the Word of Wisdom. I confess, it troubled me at the time. I asked myself, was the promise true or was it not?
The answer didn’t come immediately. But eventually I learned that God’s promises are not always fulfilled as quickly as or in the way we might hope; they come according to His timing and in His ways. Years later I could see clear evidence of the temporal blessings that come to those who obey the Word of Wisdom—in addition to the spiritual blessings that come immediately from obedience to any of God’s laws. Looking back, I know for sure that the promises of the Lord, if perhaps not always swift, are always certain.

How does this apply to the whole "Why can't I lose this dang weight!?" issue? Well, dear reader, I'll tell you:

I'm not giving up. Regardless of the irony of my new healthy life vs. the results on the scale.

I've been tempted to just go back to Weight Watchers. I have. Why? Because it worked. I lost weight. I lost a lot and I did it in a sensible time frame. Weight Watchers taught me how to limit portions, eat more veggies, drink more water, and exercise. It was a good, positive place to be. For some people, that's good enough for them.

It's not good enough for me. Not anymore.

People are puzzled when I tell them this. They don't understand why I would do something different --if it's not broke, why fix it?

Why, indeed? That's a question I'm excited to answer. Or fearful to answer. Probably both. Because the changes I'm making are usually met with hostile feelings. Very hostile. The sad part is that those hostile people don't realize I've done the research. This isn't an over-night thing for me. It's been coming on slowly for YEARS and YEARS. Weight Watchers was just a good first step for me. I'm grateful for that first step. But it was just that --the first.

Anyway, I'm gonna work on that post. And maybe some more China ones. Dang! How many weeks have I been back? And I'm only on Day 5? I must have a toddler or something...

How did you do this week? What do you do to lose weight and keep it off? How much research do you do/have you done, if any, about health, nutrition, fitness? What is your opinion about weight loss programs and long-term health?

7 comments:

Amelia said...

I'm a firm believer in slow and STEADY wins the race. Our bodies, in my opinion, weren't meant to have drastic weight losses and gains...that's unhealthy. I've lost 3 more pounds, so I'm down to 169.7 and it's more than likely due to smaller portions, stopping when I'm full, and excersizing more than just my fingertips and what I do to keep the house running. oh yea, and not eating after 7:30pm. Lots of water. No food. You're doing great cooking healthy meals! Keep it up. Visit your chiropractor. :) Perhaps you need to get certain organs working optimally again. Who knows? What do you feel like you need?

TaLaisa said...

I weighed in. 189. It's down. Slower. Way way slower than I'd like it to go. 12 weeks 8 pounds. But I'm hanging in there. And promising myself to make better food choices, so my dedicated work out times don't go for naught. Because truthfully all 8 of those pounds came off just from walking 1 hour every day. I didn't change a bite of my food habits.

Thing is, the food relationship has to change. Family genetics say so.

Siobhán said...

the first time we did weight watchers, we bought into all of the processed stuff that was low in points. gross. we lost weight, but seriously? plastic cheese?

we've since become all about whole foods and eating healthier. but we just enrolled in ww last week. it's been an interesting first week, trying to navigate things. our goal is to follow the point system, but by cutting out the extras and scaling back portion sizes. so far, we've been doing alright. we'll see how it works long-term. i'm working really hard to not be afraid of points because i'd rather have butter than propellant spray and homemade bread than weird process-y stuff.

Michelle said...

I'm a firm, firm believer that this journey of ours is less about results and more about the process. There is waaaay too much in this life that ends up being out of control, so we just keep on keeping on and doing the best we can to not give up. I don't picture God someday having us weigh in, but He will weigh in on how much our hearts have changed by our faith and endurance. And I think that applies to every facet of life, not just our spirituality per se.

flip flop mama said...

Losing weight quickly is unhealthy! The normal weight loss for people should be between 1 and 2 lbs per week. I firmly believe in the more activity--less eating approach. Luckily I haven't had to battle much of the weight loss but I have studied health. Build more lean muscle, exercise more, eat healthy foods and drink a lot of water. Eating certain types of foods together also is key. A fiber acts a magnet so to speak and draws fat out of your body. Fiber is great for you. Carbs are good. They give you energy, but you have to use that. My advice...don't go all crazy healthy too fast with what you eat. Introduce one or two new meals a week or even dishes. If you want, I'll email you our menu for the last month or so. We eat pretty healthy but it's not "Ive never heard of that food" healthy. Nothing against that though...if you and your kids like it!

Cardalls said...

I know with my kids if I introduce too many new healthy type foods all at once they reject them ALL! However a couple of weeks ago I introduced them to quinoa again and they liked it! They gobbled it up even though the two times previous they totally hated it. I paired it with a dish they love that we usually have rice with and they loved it! I think if a weight loss program or diet or health plan is too extreme it isn't going to stick. It's all about moderation.

Amanda D said...

I'm sorry to hear that people have been hostile. I don't get that. It's your choice!

I'm down another .8. I'm pleased with that.

Couldn't you do WW (if you wanted to) with what you are doing now? Would that not work together? You mentioned something about the China Study...I'm hoping you're going to post more about that.