I was enjoying our holiday meal with two friends who had lost a significant amount of weight and kept it off over the last couple years. As I've spent the last 8 years trying to lose the weight I'd gained from quitting smoking, I admired their accomplishment. They were motivated by a family history of heart disease, and as we talked about it, I flippantly said, "Man, I need a health scare to get my ass in shape."
A week later, I had my mammogram, and trust me, I will never taunt fate by making a statement like that again.
But the original sentiment still stands. Something positive needs to come out of this shitty year, and the best thing that will make me healthier and improve my quality of life would be to drop the 50+ pounds I've been carrying around for 10 years, and get my mind and body back in shape.
So tomorrow, I am starting a diet recommended by the Kidney Foundation for people like me who have a genetic disposition to kidney disease. If interested, you can read about it here: DASH Diet
There's nothing terribly weird about it. It's your basic balanced diet that emphasizes more plant based food over animal products (though it's by no means vegetarian). You cut out sugar, excess salt and processed food. Animal fat is limited to lean meat such as chicken and fish. Alcohol only in moderation.
If you want to splurge on something, you do it once every two weeks, and I really like that.
When I was on Weight Watchers, they gave you weekly bonus points. The concept allowed you to splurge on something once a week, as long as it remained within the bonus points allotment. Not only did this put me in a perpetual state of having to weigh and measure everything I ate every day, I found I never lost weight if I used those bonus points. I'd be down 2 lbs by Friday, splurge on a couple slices of pizza Saturday and be back where I started the week before. So this idea that you really need to go two weeks before splurging on something fattening makes more sense for me personally.
If you know me, you know there's very little I do half way. When it comes to work, crafts, hobbies, that's a good thing. But when it comes to eating, it is not. When people say "everything in moderation", I literally don't know what "moderation" is. Does that mean if I have a Sausage McMuffin for breakfast, I can't have a Big Mac for lunch? I'll never forget one holiday season, my Doctor had said, "When Thanksgiving comes around, only have one piece of pie." And I asked, "You mean, one a day or one for the whole holiday?" She laughed and thought I was joking, but I wasn't!
So I very much do struggle with finding that middle ground between over-doing it and never losing weight, and getting too strict, losing 30 only to gain it all back again once I'd exhausted myself by over-dieting.
So I am approaching this next step with apprehension but a lot of hope and promise. I want to celebrate 2018 in a big way. We've got a cruise and a Vegas trip planned and I've got 7 months to get my body in shape for both of them.I want to get back to this place I was before I quit smoking and was hot in leopard skin pants, LOL!
It all starts tomorrow!! Wish me strength and discipline!! (I need that more than luck!)
