I have tried so many times to loose weight. So many people assume that fat people don't know about nutrition and weight loss... well that's wrong. I know more about dieting, nutrition and weight loss than than most. I mean, think of all the pounds successfully lost by the average obese person! I know I have lost a whole lot of weight in my life... just never kept it off.
So, what makes this time different? Did I find an amazing miracle diet? Did I have weight- loss surgery? Was I prescribed the magic pill? Have I finally had my "AH HA!" moment? NO. NO. NO. NO. It just doesn't work that way for me. What is working? Therapy. Research. Treatment. Trial and Error. Support. Healthful Eating. Moderate Exercise. Friends.
Part of my renewed commitment to weight loss has been some serious thinking on food addiction and what my diet has been composed of (sugar) and how my life revolved around it. For instance, on August 14th of this year, my 5,260 calorie day included: four cups of rice pudding, forty-six ounces of Dr Pepper, six chocolate-chip cookies and an entire bag of ranch rice cakes. I ate more than just those items that day but I consumed the majority of my calories in sugar/starch. I have kept a food journal before but it has been especially helpful to me since I started keeping it last August. The patterns are the same. SUGAR!
Last weekend I made my decision (it took longer than a weekend to get to the decision) to "go off" of sugar for thirty-days, white flour for twenty-days and dairy for fifteen days. It kind of sounds like some of the diets that are out there but my decision was purely to release my addictions. I plan on incorporating dairy into my eating plan and having the occasional treat or desert in the future. I have switched to whole grains for good due to the nutritional benefits. I might extend the sugar boycott if it feels necessary when my time is near, but I will cross that obstacle when I am closer to being done.
So to end my lengthy post I will give you these facts:
1. I have been on my plan for six days.
2. "Healthy" weight loss tends to be about 1% of body weight a week. I have made this a goal of mine.
3. In the first five days of my sugar boycott I lost 2.5% of my body weight. My body's reaction was surprising and I assume that the weight loss will slow down because I was not short enough calories each day to loose the amount of weight that I did.
4. I have posted how much weight I need to loose but I am not ready yet to post how much I currently weigh. As I become more confident I might find that I will be ready to show the numbers.
5. I have had actually physical withdrawal symptoms from sugar: headaches, sweating, irritability, digestive issues and the worst of all was THE CRAVINGS!
