I don't like writing about my own personal weight loss journey, because it's been a two-steps-forward, five-steps-back process over the last 20 years. Ha, ha.
But a few years ago, I found something that actually worked. Remember? I lost around 60 pounds on a program that I won't name, not because I don't like it (au contraire, it obviously worked very well!) but because this isn't a commercial and it also wasn't a good long-term solution for me because once I went off it I, um, kinda gained all that weight back. Easy come, easy go, as they say. Only it was the opposite in this case. Easy go, easy come back.
Anyway, I've found something that works again, and it's not a program that I won't be able to keep up this time. Well, I mean, maybe sometime the effects will wear off, but hopefully by that time the better habits will be fully ingrained and I'll continue to make better decisions. To be fair, the program I was on before had a component where we were supposed to be learning how to make better decisions so that we didn't gain all the weight back, but I glossed over that part because I didn't want to have to buy my food online from a certain website for the rest of my life.
I'll tell you what started my current "program", but I don't recommend it for anyone playing along at home: COVID. More specifically, losing my senses of taste and smell due to COVID. When food stopped tasting right, it really made me stop and look at what I was eating and why. Especially the junk food. I used to hate the fact that I binged on junk food when I was stressed out because it only made me feel worse about whatever I was stressed out about in the long run. But when I could no longer taste the yummy goodness of whatever I was bingeing on, it was really like, Why am I doing this? This hurts. I don't want to do this anymore.
And pretty much just like that, something clicked and I stopped doing that. Pretty much. I can look at junk food that I used to binge on and it just doesn't look appealing anymore, because I know that it won't taste good like it used to, and I know that it will only hurt me. I can still have some sweet things (my kryptonite) in moderation, but I don't binge on them any more. So far. I'm always afraid I'm going get my old sense of taste back and relapse, but I'll deal with that if it happens. One day at a time, right?
So, that's my secret. That, and being on mood-stabilizing medications that also have appetite-suppressing side effects. :D And drinking lots and lots of water. With food not tasting right anymore, I'm more mindful about what I'm actually eating. It's easier to cut back on carbs this way. I think I had to eat 10 dozen eggs to lose 15 pounds, but hey...whatever works.
I'm not talking about it now to get attention. I don't like drawing attention to myself. I just wanted to take a few minutes to write about the little things I'm noticing, like how my pants are fitting better again. And my shoes, too. It's weird, I know, but apparently I lose weight in my feet when I start losing weight. I know, it's probably edema, but I'll take it. And my elbows don't hurt anymore already. That's a new one, the elbow pain thing. My elbows had NEVER hurt before, and it was starting to get annoying. So I'm glad that's starting to go away.
I'm also amused by these little things I found on the internet that equate a weight in pounds to number of random objects. That's the real reason I wanted to share. 15 pounds is the same as 10 dozen eggs. It's a darn good start. My birthday is in about 5 weeks, and I hope to be at 25 pounds lost by then. I also hate giving myself goals like that, but, we'll see.
TTFN!
