Tuesday, May 6, 2008

The 198-pound Weakling


Well, it's time to stop being that cliché—overweight mother-of-two. Sedentary, overeats, etc., etc., etc.

Today is day one on my journey to lose 68 pounds. Anyone who knows me and reading this is going to say "68 pounds???" Yep, that's right. My 5'5" frame is 68 pounds overweight. I currently weigh 198 pounds, with a BMI of 33. YUCK! That's me to the right. All 198 pounds of me. How embarrassing. That's why it's rare to see me in family photos anymore. I can't stand it. And it's not just seeing myself in photos. Cleaning the house makes me ache for a day afterwards. Granted, there's a lot to do in a 1636 sq. foot house to keep it clean, however, there's no reason to need 3 Aleve the next day.

I can't keep up with my kids—I'm too embarrassed to run. Who wants to see that fat in action?? I know I wouldn't.

Zachary comments that "mommy, you're pretty, but you're fat." OUCH! That one hurts. So, time to get in gear!!!

How did I get here?

That's a really good question. Fortunately, I know the answer, which is the first step to solving the problem. These are the steps to my "fatness":

  • Two kids
  • Change from fairly active lifestyle (some light exercise, waiting tables 3-4 time a week), to a completely sedentary lifestle (no exercise, work at a desk all day)
  • Poor eating habits (no breakfast, high-calorie, high-carb lunches, too much time between meals, portion sizes)
  • Drinking habits (maybe too much beer :-) and not enough water)

I'm sure there's more, but I think the list above spells out the worst of it.

What do I actually do right?

Let's take a break from the negative and talk about something positive:

  • I do like water, for some reason, I don't reach for it enough
  • I don't eat a lot of suger (I don't really like candy, chocolate, doughnuts, etc.)
  • I don't like breakfast cake foods (waffles, pancakes, doughnuts, etc.)
  • I don't really like potato chips, french fries, or most fried foods
  • I love red meat, milk, cheese, vegetables, and fruit
  • I actually enjoy working out (if I had the time)

So, remove the negative and enhance the positive. Easy, right?

Right, I'm laughing too. If only all of the positives were so easy. There's just not enough hours in a day to cut up fruits and vegetables, exercise, work 40+ hours, make awesome SBD meals every night, and take care of two kids—one who is with me all day. We'll discuss the plan to change this in a minute. First, let's see where I came from, which is where I hope to be again. ;-)


Ok, so this is my junior year of high school :-)
The glory days, right?


Can you pick me out from this picture? Not
only am I skinny, but boy am I tan!


Life after high school (ok, I'm 19 here).
This is too skinny for me now, but this
pic does help give me some incentive.


Fast forward 13 years, a little overweight,
but all-in-all, not too bad. I'd be happy
getting down to this weight (which is
about 150 or so, if I remember correctly).

My goal, actually, is a healthy 130. That's where I look the best, and what is healthy for my body.

The Plan

Having a BMI of 33 qualifies me for a prescription medication called Adipex-P. It's an appetite suppressant/metabolic increaser (those are both technical terms!). I think it's basically supposed to "eat me from the inside" :-P which means really no eating, or eating very little. The drug helps make up for the lack of food intake by giving you more energy than a toddler. (Trust me, toddlers have LOTS of energy!) This is a short-term, jump start for my body to start losing some weight. According to Ivonne (my wonder doc/sister-in-law) I should see some pretty good results quickly.

Along with the medication, I'm MAKING the time to exercise. If that means at night, when it's dark, and the mosquitoes are looking for dinner, so be it. 30+ minutes a day is my goal. Also, meals will be much different. For the first 3-6 days, there really are no meals. Water, water, water, water. I can't give up coffee (but I use sugar-free cream and Splenda already, so no problem there). I may have to switch to decaf, however. (We'll talk about that later!) After the first 3-6 days, it's one small meal a day, which will be dinner. Man I'm going to miss Habeñeros this month!

Support. Of course some of the family is aware that I'm on this medication and on this journey. I'm going to let in a few friends too. Being that I'm very embarrassed about my weight and how I've "let myself go" I think it will be awhile before I'm ready to go full-share! ;-P But if I've sent this to you, I need your support!

I'm blogging this for two reasons:

  1. To write about my experience. I'm hoping this helps me stay on-track, and I want to document the journey.
  2. Support. I hope that posting my progress and getting positive feedback also helps keep me on-track. I'm going to have some challenges along the way (my trip to Denver being the biggest), but I know I can do this!!
So, that's the story. This post will be followed with "Day One" which is already underway. One hour after taking Adipex I'm already feeling the effects. Go, fat, go!

198 today,

Melissa

10 comments:

web-betty said...

Testing comments. Go Melissa, go!

Anonymous said...

Hi Mel!! I am so proud of you and I know you will reach your goal. I think having this support blog is a great idea and I plan to check your progress every day. Reading it made me even more motivated to get healthier myself. I am on day 6 of South Beach and going strong. Yay us!

nicolecloud said...

Well I must say what I feel and that it much admiration...you know I care for you dearly... my family and I are soooo blessed to have you and your family a part of our lives. This will be a hard journey I do hope you will lean on me whenever you need a friend I am a good listener ( I Hope;) we can exchange our nights of laughs and libations for a chill night in maybe watch movies or just talk.....I am always here for you sweetie.....xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxo

thanks for sharing,
Your Friend Nicole

nicolecloud said...

well I must say what I feel and that is an abundance of admiration.....as you said this will be a difficult journey and I do hope you will lean on me...I am now and hope to always be your friend.... I can be a good listener given the chance. We can exchange our nights out for dinner and libations for a chill night in we could watch a movie and just talk or maybe go to the movies...putt putt..museums...SEAWORLD...there are so many things to do together! Anyway...point is I support you 100% and we are ALWAYS here for you.

Love Your Friend,
Nicole
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

nicolecloud said...

I commented twice sorry didn't think first one went through SORRY!

web-betty said...

You can comment as much as you want. Thanks for the awesome support. You are my dear friend! We have plenty of things to do to keep us busy!

Anonymous said...

Melissa,

I KNOW you will acomplish your goal! It is a huge step to take without support. I know you can't do it alone. When you are taking care of the kids it is usually easiest to take the least healthiest approach to food. If you ever need anyone to talk to instead of craving please call. Who knows you may save me from the bad cravings too! Heck, I gained 35 pounds since I saw you!I know for every pound I have gained I have pulled further and further from my friends until I don't talk to anyone anymore. For this I apologize to you so if there is any support you need I am there! Although I wish I could travel down to Orlando for the support! Once again you will inspire me to be better!

Anonymous said...

I am so happy for you - I two have been taking the same med for weight loss - at first I felt like the weight was not coming off fast enough - I have 2 kids - work a full time job - and have so much to do when I get home at night that I never have time to work out I have tryed but it seems to end up last on the list which means it never happens - so when I went to my doctors and noticed that I had gained 30 lbs in 3-4 months I wanted to die - I have done nothing different so why was it there? Who knows - but yesterday I went back to the doctors to get my blood pressure checked - and to my suprise I have lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks - I was so happy - Now I know the first 10 lbs are water but still 12 lbs in 3 weeks with no working out - I feel thats great - so I asked my doctor to write the dates and the amount I lost on a scrip and when I got home I made 3 copys of it - one of which I put on my fridge - the 2nd on my bathroom mirror - and the
3rd one on the dash of my car - so now when I feel down or just lazy and say forget it I just want that slice of pizza - there is my note reminding me that YES I can do it and have been doing it and the med does work - so keep you goal - keep your spirts high and good luck - it does work it just takes time - the worse thing I have found is the dry mouth but after 2 weeks it does go away - if you would like to keep in touch email me at pattyatses@yahoo.com

Patty

web-betty said...

Thank you Patty! How awesome to receive support from a stranger. As of today I've lost 6 pounds, which is definite motivation to keep going!

Anonymous said...

Yay Mel! I love reading your blog and progress every night. Looks like you are doing good. Yay on finding time for your exercise today - that will really help speed things up. Good for you. Keep up the great work honey!
Love, KB