In 2020, I began the Optavia program and I successfully got down to 168 pounds (yay! That's a "normal" BMI of 24.8 for me!).
I have lapsed again. Thank goodness, I've caught myself before I get back over 200 pounds, but today I'm at 190.25, which is a BMI that is "overweight," but not "obese" (the BMI number is 28.1 ... ugh). So today I start with my old friend the Diet Center's diet as described in my old Diet Center books. Diet Center has changed since I was there in the early 1980s, but the program they had then has always worked to peel the pounds off of me and it will work again ... as long as I remain accountable.
This is my accountability blog. And yes, I will share it with my therapist this time.
Weight gain is brought on by eating too many calories for my metabolism to handle. I know this. I get it. I understand that. I've known this for a lifetime. But oh, those extra calories taste sooooo GOOD going in. I love to eat. It's almost a sexual release I get from putting food down my gullet. I love to eat carbs. I love to have honey in my tea. I love cookies and buttery crackers and cakes and pies and pastries and chocolate. All that (except for cocoa powder, which has 5 calories/tbsp) has to go.
I can figure out how many calories something contains by reading the label. I know this. I get it. I understand that. I've known this since they started putting nutrition labels on food. I even know how to read a nutrition label.
I can add up the calories as compared with the nutrients each and every day. The goal is to maintain a 1000-1200 calorie per day intake of health-promoting foods. The Diet Center diet does that for me automatically and healthfully, which is why it works.
I can peel off the weight. I can avoid eating processed foods. I do not need to order pizza. I can eat protein and veggies. I can not put butter on bread. I can leave the honey jar in its place. I can make the Diet Center bran muffins (that recipe alone is worth all the money I paid to Diet Center back in the day). I can drink sufficient water. I can get a bit more active once my second hip replacement heals (until then I'm pretty much stuck with walking fairly slowly). I belong to the Y (thank goodness for Silver Sneakers), where I can swim and use the treadmill and lift weights to my heart's content. I can get my garden into shape this year (my hips will have healed enough for that by the time spring actually arrives in Upstate New York).
So. I can do all that. I can get myself down to 145 pounds (a BMI of 21.4); if I stick religiously to the program, the weight historically has come off at about 10 lb per month, which puts me at 145 in mid-July 2022. That's easy. Chicken 'n' fish, chicken 'n' fish, chicken 'n' fish. The challenge will, as ever, be maintaining the loss. Therein lies my lifelong downfall. So I need to fix that. That, of course, means I need to heal from all the emotional crap I live with and shedding the baggage. I need to get over the feeling that I'm worthless. I need to heal from the rape. I need to recover from all the bad relationships. I need to grow some self-worth. I can develop self-worth by looking at accomplishments rather than at failures (and yes, I have accomplished a lot over a lot of time, and I'm not done with that list). This year, I can develop self-worth by actually getting my private pilot's license (yes, I am learning to fly a plane ... and spending all my money in the process).
Sadly, some of my baggage can't be just dumped since the people who contributed to my emotional crap are, for the most part, dead or unreachable. But I can work to heal myself even without confronting them in person; I have a very active imagination and I can confront them and tell them of the damage they did and forgive them and release that damage in my own mind.
That's one place where my therapist and this blog can help.
Measurements. Let's get the starting point for this go-round.
| 7/2/2020 Baseline | 10/24/2020 Last Time | 2/26/2022 Today | Difference | TOTAL Difference | Week % Lost | Total % Lost | |
| Weight | 227.75 | 193 | 190.25 | 3 | 37.75 | -1.58% | 15.26% |
| Neck | 16.75 | 15.5 | 15.5 | 0 | 1.25 | 0.00% | 7.46% |
| Bust | 47 | 43 | 42 | 1 | 5 | -2.38% | 8.51% |
| Waist | 48 | 42 | 40.5 | 1.5 | 7.5 | -3.70% | 12.50% |
| Hips | 47.125 | 42.125 | 42.5 | -0.375 | 4.625 | 0.88% | 10.61% |
| Upper Arm L | 14 | 12.125 | 12 | 0.125 | 2 | -1.04% | 13.39% |
| Upper Arm R | 14.75 | 12.75 | 12.5 | 0.25 | 2.25 | -2.00% | 13.56% |
| Mid-Thigh L | 21.5 | 19 | 18.5 | 0.5 | 3 | -2.70% | 11.63% |
| Mid-Thigh R | 22.5 | 19.25 | 19 | 0.25 | 3.5 | -1.32% | 14.44% |
| Calf L | 15.25 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 1.25 | 0.00% | 8.20% |
| Calf R | 15 | 14.25 | 14 | 0.25 | 1 | -1.79% | 5.00% |
| Total Body Inches | 245.125 | 218.5 | 215 | 3.5 | 230.5 | -1.63% | 10.86% |
| Inches Lost | 0 | 26.625 | 30.125 | 3.5 | 14.625 | 11.62% | |
| BMI | 34 | 28.5 | 28.1 | 0.4 | 5.9 |
