Wednesday, August 29th, Cardio & Cafe

Happy Hump Day Botters:

It is a very nice morning here in North Mississippi.  My husband and I took a 3 mile stroll around the neighborhood early AM.  My eats for today are:

Prebreakfast:  Coffee & Miralax
Breakfast:  Oatmeal
Snack:  1/2 PB Quest Bar
Lunch:  Brownie Quest Bar
Snack:  1/2 PB Quest Bar
Snack:  Vitatop
Dinner:  Something with Chicken
Snack:  Special K Strawberry Crisps

Have a beautiful day and to all my friends in South Mississippi, NOLA and Mobile have a safe day too. 

Don't forget to take your vits and fluids today.

Tess,

I saw in another post that you had lost 70 pounds of regain.  Can you please tell me exactly what you did to take off 70 pounds of regain.  Did your plan involve any exercise?  I have some joint problems and about the only thing that I can do is walk with a limp.  Please, if you don't mind, tell me what you did to lose the weight.

Thanks, Karen

 Karen:

From May 2011 to March 2012 I did lose 70 lbs. that I had regained over a course of 2 years.  What I did was go back and look and see what all the beginners were doing and follow their eating plan.  I cut my calories back to 800 a day for the first couple of months, (I know that is not much but I mostly did pure protein, shakes and bars, with chicken and a green vegetable for dinner).  I cut out all white foods, including pasta, potatoes, breads, sweets, sugar, corn, etc and fruit.  I have had potatoes twice in 15 months now and pasta about 4 times.  I kept my carbs around 50 net grams in the beginning and now I try to keep them under 100 net grams most days.  I made sure that I was getting the proper amount of water, vitamins and yes, I did start to walk.  I started with 20 minutes a day and by the first 30 days, I was up to 45 minutes and in two months I was at 60 minutes and I did this 7 days a week.  I was determine to get rid of the regain and I did.  I am now in maintenance.  I would love to get 10 more pounds off but I may be getting greedy.  I can eat around 1400 calories a day and I am walking usually 4-5 times a week for a hour a day.  My weight got down to 152 after my tummy tuck but it has gone back to 155 which is where I was before the TT.  I bounce from 153 to 157 on any given day but I can live with that.  If I can offer you any other advise, just let me know.  I hope you have great success in whatever you decide is right for you.

Tess,

Thank you so much, this helps alot.  I appreicate your response. I see that I will have to give up something that I love and that is fruit because of the carbs. I know that it is one of the better carbs, but it still is carby. I have some regain that I am trying to get off and I so much appricate your post.  I am going to follow this and get the regain off before it turns in to more regain and I am back where I started.    Thanks Tess.

Karen

 I struggle with letting the fruit go.  Hard to believe, 2 years ago I thought I would die if I had to give up pop, well I gave it up entirely and don't miss it, yet here I am again, same struggle but with fruit, potatoes, milk, and the odd cookie.  The mind is a strange thing.  Thanks for sharing your plan Tess.  I can see I need to knuckle down and get on it if I want the scale to move. I can't figure out why I am so afraid to lower my calories to get the loss started again - seems i think i just can't do it, that i "need" to eat more than i probably do.  I don't want this to be as good as it gets.  How did you convince yourself to turn it around?  How did you find that inner strength?  

My daughter ask me on Mother's Day 2011 was I happy.  She said I didn't seem the same as I use to be.  Wow!  What a powerful statement that was.  Are you happy.  I was not.  I started the next day with the 5 day pouch test just to detox my system and I never looked back.  Sometimes the strength to do something can come from the most insignificent question.  No one can make you start the trip that must be taken to get back where you were but ask yourself  "ARE YOU HAPPY".  It works for me.

 You are right! I am not happy and I think I had given up on myself, but somehow you seem to have gotten through to me.  I still own the power to pick up, move on, and do something to make myself happy.  Pretty powerful.  Thanks Tess, take care in the storm.