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Re: Before and during - From 400 lbs. to 247 lbs. Not done yet!!!
Hi Jill!!!!!!!
I'm so happy to hear you've arrived back to China safely, I hope all is going well. Are you all situated and settled in now?
I have missed talking with you soooooooo much, thank you for stopping in to say hello and thanks for such a lovely compliment....you have always inspired me as well....you're my buddy!
I think of you daily and wonder how you're doing.
I'm so sorry for not writing sooner, we have been away for a while...went to Seaside Oregon and absolutely LOVED it there! I had VERY brief Internet access (1 minute of being connected) and could not respond to emails and messages.....I'm so sorry for the delay!
Congratulations on getting back on the horse and getting back to business with your health, well done. These slides happen to many of us and the most important thing is not to beat ourselves up....we don't get anywhere beating ourselves up except for perhaps feeling more depressed and discouraged and before we know it we're face first into a GIANORMOUS bucket of ice cream "licking" away our feelings of guilt, however, the truth of the matter is, we're just "licking" them up in the most harmful and self destructive way when we end up stumbling or falling off the wagon and continuing down that unhealthy and destructive path or even worse....just plain giving up.....good on you Jill for using that energy in a healthy and productive way, I'm really proud of you!!!!!
Like I have always said, no matter what....NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER give up.....that is just NOT an option....giving up has never accomplished a better result than if we choose to get back up, dust ourselves off and continue on down the path to peace and great health. Not that I'm saying you've given in because nothing could be further from the truth....I know you haven't. I'm just trying to make a point so don't take that personally. Sometimes I add things because I know others are reading my posts and I want them to hear a concept that maybe they've not thought of before. If I was given $10.00 for each time in the past I gave up on trying to work towards getting healthy, I could have retired comfortably at 30 years of age I kid you not!!!!!
As far as emotional eating......DING DING DING, PICK ME, PICK ME, PICK ME!!!!. I am SUCH an emotional eater.....don't you just hate it?!??!?! I talk with so many others that say, "when I'm upset, I lose my appetite" good grief, I WISH!!!!!! But you know, the odd thing is that this did actually happen to me recently when I was stressed....TWICE in fact....first time in my life!!!!! I've never experienced that before....but you know...it was short lived
So yes, I am an emotional eater as well...having said that, I was doing pretty good not being one this past year but I have found that the last six months I have struggled and have fallen into the bad habit again of turning to food when stressed. I'm so glad you've brought this up because as of this week I have really worked hard on digging down deep and problem solving this serious problem. I find that what has helped me is to try to get to the heart of the reason and in the moment when it is actually happening to determine "why" I'm wanting to turn to food.
I started out last year turning to exercise when I was stressed and wanting to eat and comfort myself......I found myself running my BUTT off on the glider an aweful lot each day....maybe that's why I've been so successful with weight loss....lots of stress meant lots of exercie LOL!!!!!! Just kidding but I did indeed turn to exercise when I was stressed instead of food. Over the last six months I let that slip and found myself turning to food again (but continued to exercise just as intensely). Although it was food I was allowed, I found that I was justifying my eating (when I was stressed) with the fact that I was allowed the foods I was eating during those stressful times and found myself falling into a very, very bad habit.
As of recently, this week in fact....I have been very strict and have got my portions under control again (I eat from a salad plate each meal like I use to instead of a dinner size plate....I fell into the habit of doing that again....eating from a large dinner plate). Regarding the stress....I have really been talking through my times of stress....voicing my frustrations rather then stuffing them and letting them fester which turned into me comforting myself with eating. My poor family and friends.....I was a mouth piece before but now it's even worse!
The deep down pains and hurt that still bubble to the surface from time to time I am now working through...different ones this time...just when I thought I had dealt with a couple of major ones, new ones have recently surfaced and I have had to dig down deep, stop kidding myself (that I've dealt with them) and work on facing and working through them which leads to healing. Although they are difficult, I have come to the realization that I will never be able to reach my weight loss goal until I heal the pains from within....so that is something else that I am working on.
On another note, I have also re-worked my ENTIRE workout routine and workout in the mornings and in the evenings again 6 days a week like I use to (I had stopped working out in the morning). That way my stress level at night isn't off the scales due to trying to fit in my workout routine which ended up being three hours each night. I have created a VERY intense workout that actually is cut into shorter periods of time that allows me to get even better results in a shorter period of time each day. So now I'm exercising for an hour in the morning and an hour and a half in the evening and I'm loving it because the results are even better and I'm feeling less tired and able to actually accomplish other things in the evening because I have more time AND able to catch a movie also at night and relax.
Looking back, I just couldn't get back into the morning exercise routine but I knew I had to and that was really stressing me out. So I took a chance and re-worked my ENTIRE routine and it's awesome now. I share this because I believe it has helped me tremendously in reducing my stresses and it demonstrates what I have done to get to the root of the real reasons I'm stressed.
The time I was needing to accomplish my exercise routine each day was cutting into me accomplishing many other things that ended up piling up and not being able to be accomplish because I was nailing my workouts each night....not to mention I was VERY much lacking a social life and the enjoyment of just kicking back and watching a movie or going out etc because I had to workout for so long at night. This is just an example of what was making me so stressed out and how I managed to turn it around.
I'm thankful I sat down and really evaluated my strategy because although it has brought me this far....I was beginning to spin out of control because I wasn't able to do other things due to how much time I was putting into my exercise routine at night. I work full time and I am many things to many people and I have not compromised my job or responsibilities to others and even though I would get home at 11pm or even as late as 12am, tired out of my tree from a long day of work and then running around trying to accomplish other duties and such right after work, I was strict with myself and made sure I would get in my three hour exercise routine no matter what and no matter how tired I was....and then get up bright and early the next day and off to work I went. This was a huge revelation to me recently and something that I'm glad became quite clear because many of the stresses I was going through were self induced.
So, what I am trying to say is....find out why you're stressed, talk yourself through it with the help of others if you can, feel free to post to me here, or pm me when you're feeling stressed, I'm always here for you and we have the same tendencies so I would be more than happy to help if there is anything I can do. Turn to exercise to keep you occupied (I am doing that again...even if it's just 30 minutes on my stationary bike or doing a few biceps curls or sit ups or wall push ups) to get you through. Also, I find that I want to turn to food when I'm tired, which I have found myself to suffer a lot from over the last 6 months. But I am trying to get to bed (starting this week) by 11 pm so that I don't sit up and start nibbling on things when in actual fact I'm just tired and should be in bed resting and encouraging my body to heal.
I hope what I have written can help you out in some way when it comes to digging down deep and finding a new way to determine when your stressed and how to deal with it.
Man alive, I've done it again Jill....I've written an enormous post when I could have probably expressed what I was trying to say in a couple of paragraphs at the most....sorry for the long winded post yet again.
I find that I evaluate myself in what I've been going through as well as what I've done to accomplish what I have when I'm trying to answer and end up writing many things that come to mind when I talk myself through someone's question....bear with me...one of these days I'll have it down to one paragraph....but then again, I'm not holding my breath!!!!!! 
Hang in there Jill...you're a real trooper and I'm so very proud of you. Lets continue down this path to great health both physically and emotionally together.
I wish you peace, happiness and great health! Keep in touch when you're able, it's always such a pleasure to be able to talk with you....you're a great support and inspiration to many of us here.
Hugs,
Sarina
-------------
Heaviest weight - 403 lbs. (2007)
April 1, 2008 - 387 lbs. (This is when I initially started to lose weight…but was not on Atkins at this point)
Atkins start weight – 347 lbs. (July 19, 2008 – began Atkins)
1st major goal met -----100 lbs. lost as of Oct 2, 2008 - Hit 300 lbs. on this day – From April 1-08 when I initially begin to lose weight.
2nd major goal met - 151 lbs. lost as of Jan 13, 2009 - Hit 249 lbs. on this day.
3rd major goal met - Wed, May 13-09 - Reached losing 200 lbs. in just over a year and a couple of months.
4th major goal met – Reached “Onederland” June 6-09 – 198 lbs.
5th major goal met - My 1 yr. Atkins anniversary - Weighing 184 lbs. this day
Current weight – 174 lbs.
Goal weight - 150 – 160
My personal journey - Before and during - From 400 lbs. to 247 lbs. Not done yet!!!
Originally posted by chinadoll
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I'm so happy to hear you've arrived back to China safely, I hope all is going well. Are you all situated and settled in now?
I have missed talking with you soooooooo much, thank you for stopping in to say hello and thanks for such a lovely compliment....you have always inspired me as well....you're my buddy!
I think of you daily and wonder how you're doing.I'm so sorry for not writing sooner, we have been away for a while...went to Seaside Oregon and absolutely LOVED it there! I had VERY brief Internet access (1 minute of being connected) and could not respond to emails and messages.....I'm so sorry for the delay!
Congratulations on getting back on the horse and getting back to business with your health, well done. These slides happen to many of us and the most important thing is not to beat ourselves up....we don't get anywhere beating ourselves up except for perhaps feeling more depressed and discouraged and before we know it we're face first into a GIANORMOUS bucket of ice cream "licking" away our feelings of guilt, however, the truth of the matter is, we're just "licking" them up in the most harmful and self destructive way when we end up stumbling or falling off the wagon and continuing down that unhealthy and destructive path or even worse....just plain giving up.....good on you Jill for using that energy in a healthy and productive way, I'm really proud of you!!!!!
Like I have always said, no matter what....NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER give up.....that is just NOT an option....giving up has never accomplished a better result than if we choose to get back up, dust ourselves off and continue on down the path to peace and great health. Not that I'm saying you've given in because nothing could be further from the truth....I know you haven't. I'm just trying to make a point so don't take that personally. Sometimes I add things because I know others are reading my posts and I want them to hear a concept that maybe they've not thought of before. If I was given $10.00 for each time in the past I gave up on trying to work towards getting healthy, I could have retired comfortably at 30 years of age I kid you not!!!!!As far as emotional eating......DING DING DING, PICK ME, PICK ME, PICK ME!!!!. I am SUCH an emotional eater.....don't you just hate it?!??!?! I talk with so many others that say, "when I'm upset, I lose my appetite" good grief, I WISH!!!!!! But you know, the odd thing is that this did actually happen to me recently when I was stressed....TWICE in fact....first time in my life!!!!! I've never experienced that before....but you know...it was short lived
So yes, I am an emotional eater as well...having said that, I was doing pretty good not being one this past year but I have found that the last six months I have struggled and have fallen into the bad habit again of turning to food when stressed. I'm so glad you've brought this up because as of this week I have really worked hard on digging down deep and problem solving this serious problem. I find that what has helped me is to try to get to the heart of the reason and in the moment when it is actually happening to determine "why" I'm wanting to turn to food.
I started out last year turning to exercise when I was stressed and wanting to eat and comfort myself......I found myself running my BUTT off on the glider an aweful lot each day....maybe that's why I've been so successful with weight loss....lots of stress meant lots of exercie LOL!!!!!! Just kidding but I did indeed turn to exercise when I was stressed instead of food. Over the last six months I let that slip and found myself turning to food again (but continued to exercise just as intensely). Although it was food I was allowed, I found that I was justifying my eating (when I was stressed) with the fact that I was allowed the foods I was eating during those stressful times and found myself falling into a very, very bad habit.
As of recently, this week in fact....I have been very strict and have got my portions under control again (I eat from a salad plate each meal like I use to instead of a dinner size plate....I fell into the habit of doing that again....eating from a large dinner plate). Regarding the stress....I have really been talking through my times of stress....voicing my frustrations rather then stuffing them and letting them fester which turned into me comforting myself with eating. My poor family and friends.....I was a mouth piece before but now it's even worse!
The deep down pains and hurt that still bubble to the surface from time to time I am now working through...different ones this time...just when I thought I had dealt with a couple of major ones, new ones have recently surfaced and I have had to dig down deep, stop kidding myself (that I've dealt with them) and work on facing and working through them which leads to healing. Although they are difficult, I have come to the realization that I will never be able to reach my weight loss goal until I heal the pains from within....so that is something else that I am working on. On another note, I have also re-worked my ENTIRE workout routine and workout in the mornings and in the evenings again 6 days a week like I use to (I had stopped working out in the morning). That way my stress level at night isn't off the scales due to trying to fit in my workout routine which ended up being three hours each night. I have created a VERY intense workout that actually is cut into shorter periods of time that allows me to get even better results in a shorter period of time each day. So now I'm exercising for an hour in the morning and an hour and a half in the evening and I'm loving it because the results are even better and I'm feeling less tired and able to actually accomplish other things in the evening because I have more time AND able to catch a movie also at night and relax.
Looking back, I just couldn't get back into the morning exercise routine but I knew I had to and that was really stressing me out. So I took a chance and re-worked my ENTIRE routine and it's awesome now. I share this because I believe it has helped me tremendously in reducing my stresses and it demonstrates what I have done to get to the root of the real reasons I'm stressed.
The time I was needing to accomplish my exercise routine each day was cutting into me accomplishing many other things that ended up piling up and not being able to be accomplish because I was nailing my workouts each night....not to mention I was VERY much lacking a social life and the enjoyment of just kicking back and watching a movie or going out etc because I had to workout for so long at night. This is just an example of what was making me so stressed out and how I managed to turn it around.
I'm thankful I sat down and really evaluated my strategy because although it has brought me this far....I was beginning to spin out of control because I wasn't able to do other things due to how much time I was putting into my exercise routine at night. I work full time and I am many things to many people and I have not compromised my job or responsibilities to others and even though I would get home at 11pm or even as late as 12am, tired out of my tree from a long day of work and then running around trying to accomplish other duties and such right after work, I was strict with myself and made sure I would get in my three hour exercise routine no matter what and no matter how tired I was....and then get up bright and early the next day and off to work I went. This was a huge revelation to me recently and something that I'm glad became quite clear because many of the stresses I was going through were self induced.
So, what I am trying to say is....find out why you're stressed, talk yourself through it with the help of others if you can, feel free to post to me here, or pm me when you're feeling stressed, I'm always here for you and we have the same tendencies so I would be more than happy to help if there is anything I can do. Turn to exercise to keep you occupied (I am doing that again...even if it's just 30 minutes on my stationary bike or doing a few biceps curls or sit ups or wall push ups) to get you through. Also, I find that I want to turn to food when I'm tired, which I have found myself to suffer a lot from over the last 6 months. But I am trying to get to bed (starting this week) by 11 pm so that I don't sit up and start nibbling on things when in actual fact I'm just tired and should be in bed resting and encouraging my body to heal.
I hope what I have written can help you out in some way when it comes to digging down deep and finding a new way to determine when your stressed and how to deal with it.
Man alive, I've done it again Jill....I've written an enormous post when I could have probably expressed what I was trying to say in a couple of paragraphs at the most....sorry for the long winded post yet again.
I find that I evaluate myself in what I've been going through as well as what I've done to accomplish what I have when I'm trying to answer and end up writing many things that come to mind when I talk myself through someone's question....bear with me...one of these days I'll have it down to one paragraph....but then again, I'm not holding my breath!!!!!! Hang in there Jill...you're a real trooper and I'm so very proud of you. Lets continue down this path to great health both physically and emotionally together.
I wish you peace, happiness and great health! Keep in touch when you're able, it's always such a pleasure to be able to talk with you....you're a great support and inspiration to many of us here.
Hugs,
Sarina
-------------
Heaviest weight - 403 lbs. (2007)
April 1, 2008 - 387 lbs. (This is when I initially started to lose weight…but was not on Atkins at this point)
Atkins start weight – 347 lbs. (July 19, 2008 – began Atkins)
1st major goal met -----100 lbs. lost as of Oct 2, 2008 - Hit 300 lbs. on this day – From April 1-08 when I initially begin to lose weight.
2nd major goal met - 151 lbs. lost as of Jan 13, 2009 - Hit 249 lbs. on this day.
3rd major goal met - Wed, May 13-09 - Reached losing 200 lbs. in just over a year and a couple of months.
4th major goal met – Reached “Onederland” June 6-09 – 198 lbs.
5th major goal met - My 1 yr. Atkins anniversary - Weighing 184 lbs. this day
Current weight – 174 lbs.
Goal weight - 150 – 160
My personal journey - Before and during - From 400 lbs. to 247 lbs. Not done yet!!!
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