Arrived back home from our trip to Florida last weekend.  This annual trek was a particularly special one.  Gary's Dad celebrated his 90th birthday and his three sons and their wives all came down to share in the celebration. 

 

Weigh-in today proved that I gained a lot while on "Early Bird Special" time and it was a brutal gain.  It can only happen due to one thing---over eating combined with a lack of movement.  I tend to be even more lethargic in hot, humid weather and it was blazing down there. 

 

Can't really blame a state for it's weather.  All I can say is that I do acknowledge my full responsibility for this excess poundage. 

 

Jo

What I've learned to this point..... 

 

1.  I am the queen of head games!  A few days ago, after re-reading all the blogs I had written since this challenge began, it became apparent how many times I have succeeded at self-deception (those seemingly valid excuses for poor eating and lifestyle habits).  

 

2.  I now realize that while other people's support is gracious and kind, I must dig deep down within myself if I'm ever to find the strength to succeed.  It was presumptuous to think that a public platform such as this weight loss challenge, would ever serve as a substitute for some good old inner fortitude.

 

3.  It seems that I have not yet actualized just how vital losing weight is to future health issues.  If I truly recognized its significance, this challenge would be kind of a no-brainer. 

 

4.  Understanding and over-coming the deeper, emotional issues that create and sustain overweight should be resolved before any true victory can be achieved (for myself anyhow).  Other options were suggested, but came across more like intellectual exercises by people who have never suffered from this addiction.  Their refrain was the usual..."Calories in, calories out!" and  "Get moving!"  Of course, if it was that doggone simple, Oprah would be maintaining a svelte, slim figure now and the rest of us would also be thin as thin can be!

 

These are some of the reasons why I have yet to make any outstanding reduction in this old bod.  Guess I'm still a little self-delusional (as stated above).  However, may I say that the observation of these traits would probably not have seeped into awareness without this weight loss challenge and my being accepted for participation. 

 

Two more months>>>Miracles CAN Happen!!! (fingers crossed)

 

Jo

I was watching the Dr. Oz Show today.  He's been working with a woman named Colleen so she can get down to a healthy weight from her over 700 lb. physique.  If I recall correctly, she's lost thirty-five pounds in about four months.  During the past month, she lost one pound.

Dr. Oz has given her the best trainers, nutritionists, psychologists...every kind of help he could offer.  And yet, she can't overcome her eating addiction.

Today Dr. Oz took her to the autopsy room at his hospital.  He showed her body parts of a person who was one hundred pounds overweight.  She held their omentum, their liver, their very heart....all parts affected by this person's weight and ultimately, their own death.

Colleen cried.  She spoke as if this visual had truly changed her life.  It appeared that the doctor was a little skeptical about her response, but still offered her yet one more chance.  He was sending her to a hospital in North Carolina.  He told her that she would not be back on his show until she lost at least one hundred pounds...hopefully, by September. 

 

Nothing about those dead pieces/parts of a body moved me even close to tears.  It was a total disconnect.  Maybe I've just seen one too many Dr. Oz shows and preserved body parts don't shock anymore.  Whatever the reason, all I could think about was how Colleen could not be moved to lose more weight after months of having highly qualified experts to support and guide her.  

 

What prevents some from succeeding while others go one to have weight loss success?

Look at Oprah.  Here is someone who can have the best of everything, who has even succeeded in her weight loss goals, but still can't keep the weight off.  Why?   I just keep wondering why? 

 

Some people in this News-Herald weight loss challenge are doing great and I'm sincerely happy for them and for anyone who accomplishes such an insurmountable goal.  I just don't know how they do it.  What's the secret that seems to escape my grasp? 

I get weighed in with my fellow contestants once a month.  Most of them go home and find even more renewed inner strength to lose weight during the next month.  I go home to my little bubble and worry myself sick about a lack of control...a lack of mind over matter...my lack of strength.  Why does something I have obsessed about for over forty years still seem SO impossible?

Does anyone have any solid answers out there?  

 

Jo

This has been an interesting week....not for losing weight especially, but for being accepted in a University Hospital study regarding stress as it relates to Psoriasis.  Never have figured out how to control either of those things so, this study and the methods we will learn may be quite helpful.  Hope so.  I will be working with the Reiki technique.
 
As for the original purpose of this News-Herald weight event, I am in the land of maintaining, but am not making great strides towards further loss.  Maybe I fool myself with the promise of future experiences...always feeling the next one...whether it's an event, book, seminar, tv interview, article, etc....will somehow form a "turning point" to the ultimate resolution of these life-long weight struggles.  The next thing will somehow dig deep...past intellectual layers...to that buried emotional layer that is denying this weight loss success.
 
Today my hope lies in a movie coming to the Cedar Lee Theatre later this month...."Forks Over Knives."  I wanted to see it when it appeared there earlier this year, but missed getting the information in time and it sold out.  Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and his son, Rip Esselstyn were present at that showing and Dr. Esselstyn plays a huge part in the movie.  I feel this movie and their methodology for losing weight holds a strong key for me.  But again, it's more like an intellectual exercise because I have not been able to follow the diet religiously. 

If you read about Dr. Esselstyn's success with his (over) twenty year study that turned heart disease around by diet alone (plant-based eating), well, I don't think anyone could help but be impressed by his research and the success of his patients over time.  I've also seen both him and his wife, Ann Crile Esselstyn, on DVD's from the annual VegSource health conference.  Their own health radiates and serves as a shining example of the positive outcomes that can result from living on a plant-based diet.

 

So...why can't I do this?  Why can't I turn life around and live by something that appears to ring so passionately true?  I don't have a clue.

 

Jo

Didn't lose gobs this past month, but didn't gain either.  Would have taken bets on a large plus-pound outcome so, was glad for the small four ounce loss. 

 

Have learned that I HAVE TO keep a food journal...a must for keeping my little white lies at bay regarding how much I've really consumed.  Can easily buffalo myself into believing that I didn't eat that much.   Keeping a written record helps.

 

Learned that a plant-based diet suits my particular physical system.  It might not be good for others, but do feel I have more energy while sticking to this type of food plan.  

 

In case you want to know more about plant-based diets, the best information is contained in books by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Rip Esselstyn, Dr. Neal Barnard, Dr. Joel Furhman, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. T. Colin Campbell, John Robbins, etc.

 

As noted in the previous posting, I met with a fellow food coop member earlier this week and he suggested I drink one to two liters of an apple cider vinegar, honey and green tea mixture every day.  Have been doing that since Monday.  I'm using lemons rather than green tea, but once the lemons are gone, will try to find a tolerable green tea.  The tea has antioxidants in it so, I guess it's a necessary part of the brew. 

 

At the end of this weight challenge, really thought I would have at least a thirty pound loss.  My wants are a little simpler now.  Would just like to develop a more disciplined approach to eating...Period.  That kind of control would be a monumental success for me, all by itself.

 

Jo

 

Talked to a member of my food coop yesterday.  Mike is studying to become a personal trainer.  We discussed why I wasn't succeeding in these weight loss efforts. 

 

In simple terms it came down to a lack of discipline.  The first month I did well, but fell off the wagon by discontinuing a written food diary and by slacking off on what little exercise I had been doing.

 

He suggested a drink that he finds both invigorating and health-giving.  He said this drink helped him lose eighty pounds back in 2006 and also helped to clear up some health issues.  

 

The drink consists of apple cider vinegar, honey and green tea.  I calculated the measurement of the ACV and honey according to the container he used and it amounts to about 1/4 cup of each.  He puts the ACV and honey into a two liter soda pop bottle and adds green tea to fill the bottle.  I'm not really fond of green tea so, I'm using a fresh lemon squeezed into the water.  It's probably not as effective, but at least I'm getting some benefits.

 

So, that's where I am as of today.  This morning I began again to keep a food journal with a caloric limit of 2000 calories a day.  I have also added the ACV/honey brew because, no matter what, it will help get water into my system.

 

This "begin again and again....and again" approach to dieting won't bring the weight results I had hoped for at the beginning of this six month challenge.  However, at least it has helped to quicky bring back focus whenever I stray off-course. 

 

My numbers at the next weigh-in will probably not be good, but the only other alternative is to quit and that's NOT an option because I DO want to succeed!

 

Jo

This dieting issue is perplexing to no end.  I'm meeting this week with a fellow food coop member who lost eighty pounds back in 2006 and has successfully kept it off.  Hoping for some positive discussion and insight as to what is holding me back from attaining my own weight loss success story.

 

Jo 

 

"We are grossly overfed and sadly undernourished as a civilized society and still believe we have extended the life spans of humans, forgetting the plethora of drugs we are dependent on to make our hearts keep beating, our stomachs stop growling, our sinuses stop dripping and our intestines start moving."

Asad Shahsavari, N.M.D., Ph.D., M.D.M.A.