My Epic (or not-so-epic) attempts to lose weight. Attempt #896ish

Five months since my last post.

Have I lost weight? Actually, yeah.  Just not as much as I wanted.  I'm down to 300.2.  What is that? Like 6 pounds?  Well, if you're Trying to lose 10 lbs, an six pound loss is pretty good.  If you're trying to lose 160ish, then eight pounds is paltry, at best.  Sigh.



In the last five months, I started working as an addictions counselor.  And I wouldn't consider myself a good counselor, unless I took the information I shared with my clients, and applied it to my own life as well.

Many of my clients have been in and out of the judicial system, and dealing with addiction for years or decades.  When you've been living a life like this on repeat, experiencing the same cycle over and over again, it is easy to get the F-it's.  Why try again? Why go through the hassle, if you know you'll end up right back into addiction?

One evening,  I handed this quote out to each person.  The explanation behind it is:  If you give up, you've lost already.  It's the person who keeps trying over and over and OVER again who will succeed.

And that is why I'm back at it again.

How I survived a Weekend Out of Town Without Completely Trashing My Diet

OK, let's get one thing straight right off the bat.  I still gained weight. But, I'm not set back two  week's worth of dieting because of a weekend out of town. Meh.

But when the dust settled, and I weighed myself, I was only up 2.9 lbs, which in my estimation is friggin' FANTASTIC considering I had to eat out THREE MEALS per day, and couldn't work out. So let me tell you about my weekend.

My oldest son had a basketball camp in Montana, and we decided to go watch him play.  The weekend consisted of 6 hours of driving and 6+ games.  When we originally made the reservations for the hotel, we chose a basic hotel without a swimming pool with the understanding that just my husband would go and I'd stay home with the little kids.  At the last minute, Nate expressed interest in having me come support him and I willingly agreed.

So, off we went on a little family trip to watch big brother play basketball.  When we walked into the hotel room, we discovered that not only was there no pool, but there was no mini-fridge or microwave. There was no means of food prep or fresh food storage.  Ugh! Time to get creative.

In the past, the whole trip would be a catastrophe from the moment we got in the car. Snacks would be junk food and pop, consumed on the go until we stopped for fast-food along the way.  This time around, I had a bottle of water and a couple handfuls of trail mix.

Dinner was a grilled chicken sandwich from Wendy's and anther bottle of water. It was the best option considering the circumstances.

We stopped by the grocery store for food when we got to town, but what are your options when there's no fridge or microwave?  So I picked up a case of bottled water and some grapes for myself, juice for the kiddos.

To spare you the boring list of foods I ate, I'll just say that some choices were good and some choices were bad (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't have gained weight!).  But, it was progress from past trips, and I managed to consume almost zero soda pop, which is huge for me!

 I have several weekends this summer that will require me being out of town.  And now I have a baseline. The goal will be to make each trip better than the last until it no longer affects my weight and I can make the best possible food choices even when I'm away from home.

So tell me, what do you do to stay on track when you go out of town?  I'd love to know so I can use them for myself next time!

Fat Girls Don't Run Triathlons

OK, whose bright idea was it to sign me up for a triathlon?

Oh. That's right.  It was me.  I was the idiot who agreed to do one.  Brilliant.

In case you didn't get the memo (because I apparently didn't), 300 lb women don't run triathlons.  OK, to be fair, I'm sure there's probably SOMEONE out there who does.  But I don't.  I'm too FAT.

Lucky for me, it's only a Sprint distance triathlon.  Though that may be enough to kill me off.
My little sister, after seeing some of my blog posts, suggested I join her in this truly amazing (cough cough) endeavor and train so that we can both do the triathlon together in September.

Apparently, I was still on my walker's high and thought that, after walking an entire 18 minutes on the treadmill, I was invincible.  Maybe I should restrict my Internet time after my evening work-outs.  Apparently I'm a hazard to myself. But I digress...

5K run? No problem.  I can walk if I need to. 10 mile bike ride?  Sure. No problem.  1 mile swim?  Yeah, I'm gonna drown.  Mebbe I should dust off my floaties, or strap on a life jacket.  At least they'll find my body that way.

In all seriousness though, this triathlon scares the CRAP out of me. Why? Because I CAN'T run a triathlon at this weight.

But you know what?  I don't intend to.  I have 2 1/2 months to train like crazy and lose as much weight as possible so that I can participate.  The goal isn't to win. Not by any means.  It's merely to compete...and not die.  Yes, life after the triathlon would be good.

I can lose a lot of weight (in a healthy way) in 2 1/2 months.  Besides, I had made a goal 10 years ago to do an iron man by the time I turned 40.  Guess what? I turned 40 two weeks ago and am no where close to doing an iron man. Maybe this idiocy of mine is just the shove I need to get me started down the path of completing a bucket list item I've had for more than 10 years.

Wish me luck!  ...I'm gonna need it.

Adding Fish Oil To My Diet - Finally one I can stomach!

I've tried to take Fish oil off and on over the years for a variety of reasons. First off, I know that it's good for me. Secondly, I'm aware that I don't get enough of it in my diet because I'm the only one in my family who likes fish. And, since there are six of us, I'm out numbered.

 Fish oil has been connected to a variety of health benefits - anything from helping your periods, to obesity, to helping you gain weight, avoiding stroke, etc. For me, I was most interested in the prevention of stroke and heart disease because two of my children have congenital heart defects, my 19-year-old daughter had a TIA (mini-stroke) 6 months ago, and my father had a stroke when he was 55. Yeah, I'm not remotely interested in toying with any of that stuff. Anything I can do to keep my heart and blood healthy, I'm going to try. The problem I've had with fish oil in the past has been burping up the fish aftertaste. I could never last a day or two. But, when I had a chance to try a brand that promised no fish aftertastes, I was willing to give it a try.

It has totally lived up to its promises in my estimation.  I'm about a week into testing of this product and I'm very happy with it. For those who are interested, I found it on Amazon. The shipping was fast and the service good. I'm blogging about it because I'd recommend it. I hope you get the same out of it as I did!

 Suz

Rockin' some Kinesiology Tape

So one of the hardest parts about beginning a weight loss program is that everything HURTS!  A body my size is not designed to be running and doing high-impact sports.  In anticipation of all the aches and pains I'd had from my previous weight loss attempts, I ordered some Kinesiology kinesio tape.  

If you've never used kinesio tape, I would HIGHLY recommend the stuff.  No. Seriously.  It's unbelievable.  My daughter is a Division I athlete and was ranked #14 in the Junior Olympics for Hammer.  She also played varsity volleyball and worked like a beast.  She was the one who introduced me to kinesio tape  because she had it all over her body.

Kinesio tape for her rotator cuff

After a year of dubious observation, I found myself fighting shin splints and was willing to try anything to stop the pain.  I kid you not, the kinesio tape stopped the pain in MINUTES and kept the pain away for as long as I kept it on.

So, needless to say, when faced with working out again, I wasn't going to be without my kinesio tape again.

kinesio tape for patellar tendonitis

I got my roll in the mail last week through Amazon.  Before I could use it, my husband asked for some on his ankle to relieve some swelling.  So we went to YouTube, learned how to get rid of swelling on an ankle and I put it on.   Then today, he asked for something on his Achilles heel.  YouTube again, and viola! Happy husband.  My 6-year-old saw me working on 'daddy' and swiped some strips for herself and spend the rest of the evening with bright turquoise tape on her leg, but loved it.

My brand new Kinesiology kinesio tape in action!  It's a hit!

Needless to say, I've spent more time applying my tape to others than to myself, but if the others are any indicator, I'm sure it'll be fantastic.

Now...time to find a good hiding spot for my tape!

Let the Epic Games Begin! First official Day of my Weight Loss

30 minutes on the treadmill feels like an hour on the trails!!

As of this morning (Sunday the 17th), I'm weighing in at 296.2, which is already a loss of 7.2 lbs.  But the weight lost up until this point has been due to sporatic attempts to be or eat healthier.  Today is what I would call my official "Day 1" because I'm journaling my food and working out. 

I like starting on Sundays because I don't eat out on Sundays, which forces me to eat healthy(er) and allows me a little more time to focus on myself before jumping head first into my week.

So just a couple quick heads-ups for those who either don't know me, or have never had this much weight to lose: 

1)  I have little or no filter.  I think filtering this experience gives a person a false sense of simplicity when it comes to losing weight of this proportion and to leave out the undesirable components of my weight for the sake of the 'eww' or 'TMI' responses keeps those who are struggling with the same issues as I am from feeling isolated because they won't identify completely with my experience.  So, for those who are faint of heart, be warned.  And if you find a particular post disturbing I'll tell you a secret:  You can delete it!  I'll never know and nobody will tell.  Just come back the next day to when things are normal :)

This is what I concentrate on while I'm on the treadmill.  Hundreds of motivational quotes!

2) I can get a little hard core at times.  I have an all-or-nothing personality. This means that in order for me to successfully lose 160 lbs I will need to be 100% all of the time.  I cannot fudge.  Not working out even ONCE will cause me to fail.  This is a personality flaw.  I understand this.  And it has taken me years to come to grips with it.  If you are NOT all-or-nothing, that's OK.  But this is who I am.  Thus, there will be lots of posts on some days because I tend to obsess on occasion to stay focused on the end goal. 

3) I will NOT be following any specific diet.  They are too restrictive.  However, I can say that of the weight loss programs I have used (and I've used nearly all of them), I will probably adhere closest to the 6-week-body makeover, which is what I was using 6 years ago when I lost 80 pounds.  I would have succeeded in that program if I hadn't gotten pregnant half way through and forced to stop.  

I am not following any specific diet, but am instead choosing to take bits and pieces that have worked for me and incorporating them all into a method that I will be able to maintain indefinitely.  The problem with diets is that they are temporary.  I am looking for a way of living that will be permanent.  Nothing less.  I have NO intention of regaining this weight back. Ever. 

4) I will be eating a LOT.  Why? Because it requires a lot of food to maintain a body this size.  So, a normal person might be on a 12-1500 calorie diet to lose 2 lbs a week.  Me?  I'm on an 1800+ calorie diet and I'll be losing nearly a pound a DAY.  Never fear, though.  The smaller I get, the less I'll be eating - in spite of the increased exercise.