Desperate Shrinking Susan

[susan delgado]

So...I am one of those fork in mouth disease actuarial females. Actually, there are/were many things both physical and psychological contributing to my weight...but that is neither here nor there. What matters is moving forward.

The point is that I am losing weight. However, I also know that I will at times need moral support. I have been lurking in the weight loss forum a bunch, but finally took the plunge and posted tonight (some id's might have been changed to protect the guilty :oops: )

For those still reading, here is the scoop. Struggled with weight/eating disorders all my life. Been on various diets, to some success and once even losing 120lbs :yikes: ...but always gaining it back. Things were to a completely ridiculous and honestly painful state, so I started again. I am much more serious about changing lifestyle choices forever this time though so I am hopeful.

I started DR supervised diet/meds in September and thus far have lost just over 50 pounds. However the holidays were particularly hard and during that time (late Nov-last week), I only lost about 7 pounds with a lot of ups and downs mixed in. So it has been hard to remain proud of myself and positive to really get back on it. But this week has gone really well, so I think I am back in the right frame of mind. However, I have a long long road ahead so I want to prepare for the bumps on the way by starting to post.

Summary (weak of heart turn away now):
Weight 9/8/06: 342lbs
weight 1/10/07: 290.5 (Hacker weight 295.0)
current struggles: missing Chai Tea Lattes and "southern cooking"...especially wanted during study time.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Good luck!
You lost seven pounds over the holiday period? I held steady, which I consider a success.
Slow and steady wins this race.

What is your goal? Or, say, your first goal?

[SirVLCIV]

Congratulations on your success so far! The first step is deciding to make a permanent lifestyle change, which I think you've done. Definitely congrats on losing weight over the holidays - I went five pounds the wrong direction.

[SirVLCIV]

Good luck!
You lost seven pounds over the holiday period? I held steady, which I consider a success.
Slow and steady wins this race.

What is your goal? Or, say, your first goal?

Psst - this was your 20,000th post.

[Dr T Non-Fan]

Good luck!
You lost seven pounds over the holiday period? I held steady, which I consider a success.
Slow and steady wins this race.

What is your goal? Or, say, your first goal?

Psst - this was your 20,000th post.
Yeah, I know. I'm trying to lose posts, so I need the support.
And making a big deal out of it seems too innumerate.

[Roto]

Good luck in '07, and congrats on the progress so far!

[Bison]

Good luck in '07, and congrats on the progress so far!

Seconded.

Also, as DTNF mentioned, any losses over the holidays are a very good thing, so don't get discouraged because your losses were smaller than you may have hoped.

One thing you'll find plenty of here is support, but if you've been lurking around here, you already know that.

Again, best of luck!!

[susan delgado]

Good luck!
You lost seven pounds over the holiday period? I held steady, which I consider a success.
Slow and steady wins this race.

What is your goal? Or, say, your first goal?

Yeah, the doctor warned that she would be happy with just staying steady over the holidays too and she was impressed that I had lost with all the parties and meals and such. I definitely need to remember that slow and steady wins the race...it just seems overwhelming when I think about how far I have to go.

I am trying to set littler goals to celebrate along the way instead of just an overall goal:
first milestone (achieved): getting rid of the 3 in front
current milestone I am shooting for: under 250
overall goal: not exactly sure as I will never be a size 2, but I am thinking around 160 (that may seem still too big to many people, but I haven't been under 200lbs since I was 19 with current age 35 so I think it is realistic and pretty healthy)

[susan delgado]

Thank you for all the well-wishes and congrats :toast:
I have been needing something like a few kudos to get back on track and this was just the thing!

I will be at least posting a weekly Wed weight and whatever my current struggles are at that time.

Hopefully as I get more success, I will even feel that I can post helpful thoughts to others. Right now it would just feel hypocritical.

[Maine-iac]

Very impressive committment and progress to date. I think you are right about small goals along the way being key. Hang in there!

Can't help on the Southern Cooking, but I do like Stash Green or Black Chai tea (0 calories) mixed with Splenda (0 calories) and a little skim milk (10 - 20 calories depending on how light you like your chai.) Very nice every now and then. You can also use Land O' Lakes fat-free 1/2 and 1/2 instead of the skim for a richer taste (20 to 40 calories).

[susan delgado]

Can't help on the Southern Cooking, but I do like Stash Green or Black Chai tea (0 calories) mixed with Splenda (0 calories) and a little skim milk (10 - 20 calories depending on how light you like your chai.)

Thanks for the suggestion. I have never drank coffee and am somewhat new to the tea thing, the majority of which is iced tea. I found I really liked the Black Chai with splenda and actually preferred it without the skim milk at all. It was a great way to get that sweet taste without the calories.

[susan delgado]

1/17/07:

Weight: 289.0 (hacker weight 292.2)
Total loss: 53lbs
current struggle: beer (see below)

The food part of the diet went okay the last week. I blew things over the weekend though. A girlfriend and I went to a sportsbar to watch football. She and I both tend to drink quite a bit and by the end of the game we had split three pitchers of beer (for the second weekend in a row too, ugh). At least it was light beer :oops:
Needless to say, between the extra calories and the dehydration recovery...I am probably lucky to have lost anything since last wed.

Perhaps I need to just ignore the cost and buy bottles next time. That way I will be more conscious of how many I have had and the next beer is less convenient which would encourage slower consumption. Adding water to the mix will help too. Darn those pitcher discounts!

[Maine-iac]

It's a sad fact that almost any bargain food or beverage is nutritionally atrocious. I was chatting about this with my doc at my annual physical. He agreed that healthy eating is a good investment, but darned expensive!

[susan delgado]

Sorry bout missing a couple of weeks. Was really slammed at work and also sick two Wed's ago. Anyhow...it has been going okay but certainly not great. Between being sick and wanting nothing but starches to going insane on weekends, I havent really lost much. But I talked to my husband and we are making some changes to help on the weekends. We have been doing a lot of "rewarding" ourselves with meals out on the weekends to avoid/let off some big stresses at home. Anyhow, we had a good conversation about it all on Friday and I am hopeful that I will stop undoing all the good I do during the week.

Weight: 285.5 (hacker weight unclear since I wasn't keeping track of calories very well, will try to get this updated soon)
Total loss: 56.5lbs

[Bison]

You're still going in the right direction (wish I could say the same), and that's a very good thing. Keep it up!

[Maine-iac]

Hang in there! And be sure that if you stop the weekend food "rewards" you substitute some other type of reward. We all need our stress busting outlets, its just that food is not usually the best choice.

[ajstudies]

For the Chai, what is really yummy is to put your skim milk in the blender with a drop of vanilla and a packet of Splenda, and blend until frothy. Then add it to the Chai. I am still working on what I think is the best ratio of Chai to milk. But it is not bad.

[susan delgado]

2/14/07:

Weight: 285.0 (hacker weight 286.8)
Total loss: 57lbs
current struggle: not getting discouraged during this slower loss.

With the weight coming off slower, the weekends/cheating matter all the more. I need to really stay motivated to work hard on the diet through it all. I am not happy with half a pound per week at all so I need to remember that when I get tempted to have a couple of beers or whatever.

Keep up your good work everyone.

[susan delgado]

2/21/07:

Weight: 284.0 (hacker weight 285.9)
Total loss: 58lbs
current struggle: one pound in a week is better than half a pound. Still too slow, but better :)

[Maine-iac]

Excellent! :tup:

[susan delgado]

3/1/07: (oops...missed wednesday)

Weight: 282.0 (hacker weight 284.7)
Total loss: 60lbs
current struggle: staying motivated in all areas of life right now is hard. Studying, work, diet, family....etc. Just tired today I think. Anyhow...decent week...hopefully sat morning goes well at dr for weight/bp check.