Tuesday, June 5, 2012

CELEBRATE! I've lost 20 pounds!!

I really can't believe it. On the one hand, I feel like 20 pounds is not that much, considering the amount of fat I want to lose. On the other hand, holy shit! TWENTY POUNDS! I haven't lost this much weight on any diet or lifestyle change I've tried in about 20 years. And trust me, I've tried them all. The last time I remember losing this much fat was when I was about 16.

Has this been difficult to lose? Yes and no. I started with a personal trainer back in December, 2011. I figured that with the additional exercise I was doing, regardless of what I was eating, that I should lose weight based on simple math - more calories burned than calories coming in = caloric deficit. That premise doesn't work for my body. I think I lost 3 pounds.

At some point I decided to put into practice what my trainer had been trying to get me to do, which was eat less carbs. I was kinda freaked out about what to eat, but eventually figured it out. When I was ready, I took the next step to lowering my sugar consumption to 12g or less per meal. As my trainer and I continued to talk about nutrition, I started looking up some of the stuff she was talking about, mainly The Paleo Diet. I knew she ate a lot of meat and few carbs, but I wanted to know more. Somehow I found myself over on Mark Sisson's blog about The Primal Blueprint, and it resonated with me. I bought the book (The Primal Blueprint) and gave it a good read.

The things Mark talks about in his book really make sense. While it wasn't easy to give up sugar, I've found the lifestyle fairly simple to maintain. What I'm struggling with now is how to get my kids on board. What makes it especially hard is one of my kids is egg-allergic, which takes away a great source of fat, protein and other micronutrients. Getting creative with alternatives for egg has been fun, but I also want to keep the carbs down, so it's been a little iffy too.

Something else that has been interesting is seeing what foods my body likes and doesn't like. For instance, when I eat cheese, my weight loss stalls. But I can eat guacamole and sour cream with no problems. 

Anyway, I feel great. My energy level is high, I go to the gym or walk outside pretty much daily and I can't wait to see my Dr. in August.

I actually feel as though I can continue living like this indefinitely, and can watch the fat continue to disappear.

I've actually met 2 goals - 1 to lose 20 pounds and the other to start getting off all the meds I take because I'm fat. I got rid of my Metformin (which I took 2x a day) last week. 

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