I've Lost 400 pounds!!

Really I have. Well, not necessarily recently. But throughout my life. There have been about 2 times in the past 20 years that I successfully dropped over 100 lbs, several other occasions where I lost 40-60 lbs, and a few 20 lbs lost here and there. I added it all up, and it is about 400 lbs. Close to what I weighed the beginning of 2008. Amazing. If only I could have kept it all off, I would weight about 3 lbs today. :)

But seriously, I mean what is wrong with me (and most of America), that we can't keep weight off after we lose it? I think that what all those health experts have been saying for years is true....diets don't work. Lifestyle change does. But here is the funny thing. I still see the WW plan as a "diet". To me, a diet is a plan that has rules and restrictions about what you can eat, and when. The points system w/ WW does have a limit of how many you can use in a day, week, etc. The Core plan is better, but still has rules about what is, and is not, considered Core. (And I know they actually don't call them that anymore, that it is Momentum.)

So actually, for the past year, I have been working with a Fitness coach from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, to "become healthier." I do kind of follow a "health plan", and do a certain minimum of exercise weekly. For the first time, I truly don't feel like I am on a diet. Mainly because I am telling myself that I don't have to be perfect. I do want to change my lifestyle...I want to eat leaner proteins, less fat, better carbs, and almost no sugar. And I do that most of the time. But occasionally I will have a piece of cheesecake, or whatever, and I don't "count the points for it and move on", I just move on. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not putting down WW. It is an amazing, amazing weight loss company that has helped millions lose weight, myself included. But I am just not sure it is the greatest at helping people maintain. When you get down to the maintenance part of WW, it is really tough!! I have seen so many of my friends from the WW boards struggle with this. I think there has to be a better way.

One problem I had in the past, after I lost those 100 lbs twice, was that I was PERFECT on the plan during my losing period, and the weight started melting away. Once I deviated from the plan even a little, (both times it was deviating on vacation that started it), I could not get my act back together for the life of me. I struggled so much to get back on plan, and finally gave up. Thus, the weight returned.

This time, I know the weight is not coming back. Because I really have learned to choose the healthier foods for feeling my best....and even though I occasionally pick some foods that aren't the best for me, I don't get that negative feeling of "oh, I have blown my whole diet - what a loser!" . And my mindset for once is not on the amount of weight lost, but on how I feel. And I feel good. I would love to lose weight rapidly, but for myself, perhaps that is not best. I'd rather not focus on the number, because I know the weight will continue to go down, as long as I choose the healthier way to eat. There's no "race" that I am competing in...there's no reason I have to weigh such and such a weight by a certain date. And I am glad.