A magic pill (guest post).

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“How did you do it?”

That is the question I get a lot when people find out I lost over 100 pounds. I then proceed to tell them just how I did it. And I watch their faces fall.

Disappointment.

I counted my calories.

“Oh, I can’t do that.” They say.

I started swimming.

“I hate exercising.”

Most of the time the conversation ends after that. No, I don’t have a magic pill that melted off my 110 pounds.  Many people aren’t interested in hearing any more after that.

The truth is, people have to decide for themselves when they are done being fat. No one else can make that decision for them. Concerned family members can’t guilt or browbeat them into losing weight. They have to hit rock bottom on their own.

Rock bottom is different for everyone. For me, it was 250+ pounds, size 24W jeans and pre-diabetes. Being labeled “obese” by my doctor was rock bottom. Being in my mid-20’s and not doing the typical things a 25 year old does was rock bottom.

Food addicts hitting rock bottom is no different than being an alcoholic and hitting rock bottom. It feels the same: despair, hopelessness, and worthlessness. It feels like nothing is ever going to change, nothing will ever be good again.

So you hit rock bottom and decide there MUST be a better way. There MUST be a change that is sustainable. There must be something I can do to be happy. Once you have that realization, there’s no turning back.

110 pounds is a lot of weight to lose.

Not only that, I did it without doing any programs. Jenny Craig, Atkins, Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, Medifast…all of those programs are expensive! And what happens when the program stops? Often times the weight comes back (and more).

Instead, I taught myself how to eat the right way. I learned what serving sizes were. Once I got started, there was no turning back. It’s hard to “unknow” something. I look at food completely differently now.

Eating half a carton of ice cream in one sitting….I can mentally calculate the calories and that stops me short. Deciding what to drink at the bar….One beer has 170+ calories in it….but a shot of Vodka is about 100.

There are a million and one choices I make regarding food.

You may read that and think, “Wow, she’s taken all the FUN out of food and eating.”

NOT TRUE!! I assure you I still eat good food. But it’s about eating in moderation and eating for the right reasons (something I’m still learning).

I could eat half a pizza by myself in one sitting (and I have–many times). But now I know how that will make me feel. I make a different choice now.

I love carbs. Give me a slice of freshly baked bread and I’m in heaven.

Now I eat carbs the day before a long run to fuel my body and keep me from crashing. I eat carbs but I eat them in moderation and solely for fuel. If I didn’t, if I gave into ever whim I had, I’d be fat.

Unused carbs turn into fat in the body.  I eat protein after a good weight lifting session in the gym to repair my muscles. I eat dessert almost every evening because I definitely have a sweet tooth. However, I eat it in moderation and make healthier choices.

Every day is a different challenge. I love that challenge.

No, I don’t have a Magic Pill. Losing weight takes determination and hard work. Losing weight takes a desire to change.

How do you want to change your life?

My name is Lisa.  The first half of my 20’s I was obese. 250 pounds to be exact. It took several wake up calls (one being pre-diabetes) to shake me from my fog. I decided I’d had enough and started swimming and counting my calories. It took just under 2 years to lose over 100 pounds and I’ve kept it off for over 2 years. I live in Portland, Oregon and I continue to eat healthy and exercise.

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Comments

  1. Congratulations for making such a healthy change! I read a tip the other day for people trying to lose some weight it was, “Suck it up.” The point was, it’s hard at times…but it’s worth it.

  3. Well. Said. I think we just have to realize that not wanting to do the hard stuff is what gets us unhealthy, and only doing the hard stuff will get us healthy and on track!

  4. Having lost 120 pounds, I could have written this post myself. No one wants to hear that what their doctors have been telling them for years is true: smaller portions, smarter choices, and exercise.

    Congrats to you on the weight loss. I’m headed over to check out your blog now.

  5. Thank you so much for the great post. I wish I’d done this at your age. Also, nice to hear that even without Weight Watchers or any other $$$$ program it can be done. I’ll be following your blog now. Congratulations on your success.

  6. I’m speechless. SO much of this is like looking back into my past. I was also 250 pounds, pre-diabetic, size 24, rock bottom. Depressed and feeling like things would never get better.

    Thanks for writing this. Eating fewer calories than you burn is how this happens. The miracle is pulling yourself out of the mire of rock bottom and make a change.

    I needed this so much. Thank you!

  7. It’s funny that we know getting to the top of our career will take hard work. Raising kids will take hard work. But when it comes to fitness and weight loss, we want that magic pill.

    Congrats on doing it the hard way and succeeding!

  8. Wow – that is an amazing weight loss! And I am so glad that you pointed out there is no quick fix, just hard work. Portion sizes were a huge learning curve for me too when i first started my journey to get healthy!

  9. Nice to meet you, Lisa! I think we have a lot in common and I’m looking forward to reading your blog. Thanks, Carla, for featuring this guest post – I feel like I’ve just met my weight-loss-fitness twin! 🙂

  11. Good for you! Thanks for getting the message out that there is no happy pill. My SIL had lap-band surgery and she’s lost significant weight and her doctor said she is the patient he’s had that has lost the most weight. Of course she did, because she doesn’t even like to tell people she had the surgery and I don’t blame her. She really lost as much weight as she had because she was forced to watch what she ate, but she also works out every day and she is so good about it. She didn’t lose the weight because of the surgery, so she doesn’t want people to think that is the “magic pill”. You need to change your lifestyle.

    Congratulations!

  12. Lisa, I loved this post. I have followed a similar path: counting calories, eating food I love but in smaller portions, healthier choices and exercise. I so understand what you mean that people kind of glaze over when we tell them that’s how we did it. I hope I am as successful as you have been at maintaining my loss, but as you said, “It’s hard to “unknow” something.” I would have to do some serious mental gymnastics (wonder how many calories that would burn?) to allow myself to go back to the unhealthier way of eating.

  14. You may read that and think, “Wow, she’s taken all the FUN out of food and eating.”

    Speaking as a lurker, it sounds like you put the fun back into it. I just do not see how someone who is a food addict thinks food is “fun” as they typically eat. With the typical addict’s way of looking at it, that brownie symbolizes your hatred for yourself, your mother’s issues, how badly you were treated in high school, the person who molested you, your miserable childhood … any of a dozen things that caused a given food addict’s problems, absolutely none of which are “fun.”

    Once you learn to eat, the food BECOMES fun, because a brownie isn’t a concrete symbol of all the ways in which you fail as a human being. It’s just … a brownie. Something that momentarily tastes nice, and which you can break a piece off of to enjoy, and then stop.

  15. I’m about to lose my 100th LB. I’m trying to figure out how to celebrate it. Any ideas?

    Thanks for sharing your story! I’m going to go “follow” you! 🙂

    • Cole,
      When I reached 100 pounds lost my boyfriend took me to his favorite restaurant for dinner. I hadn’t eaten pizza in 2 years because it was a trigger food for me. To celebrate we had the best pizza in Portland. 🙂 It was an amazing night.

  16. Great guest post, Lisa, and so nice to “meet” you! (And thanks for hosting, Carla!) And congrats on achieving better health and fitness!

    SO true, both about weight loss and maintenance. When my weight loss first started “showing,” there were lots of people asking how I was doing it. Boy, were they disappointed. Much as I wish the Diet Fairy had come and sprinkled me with Splenda dust, sadly that’s not how it happens.

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