Do You REALLY Want to Lose Weight?

First, I’m going to ask  you again…Do you REALLY want to lose weight?

If so, take note. 

Let me preface with this…I have struggled with being overweight most all of my life. It was in my genes to have challenges. And I have.

How It All Began

I’ve been up, down, up again, down again, up, up, up and so on. To the point that for the last four years I honestly thought that I had stripped my metabolism so bad with all the yoyo weight changes over the decades, that I would not be able to lose again. It seemed no matter what I did, the weight would not come off.

Until last year. Thankfully, a man of great wisdom broke through my thinking and after making changes for a new lifestyle – and I mean a true change of lifestyle, not one where once you hit your goal you go back to eating the foods that caused the weight gain to begin with – I have seen a drastic change.

The opportunity to test this new lifestyle came the last week of 2014. I’ll explain later.

What Will It Take to Lose?

First, let me share what it will take for you to lose if you REALLY want to – and before you say, “I can never do that!” or “I can’t live without ____”, let me ask you again…

Do you REALLY want to lose weight?

Have you felt stuck?

Have you ever said, “I guess I’ll be this way the rest of my life” and really felt that it was the truth?

Do you feel older than you are?

Do you long to have that feeling of being fit, healthy, in shape?

If you said, “yes” to any of those questions, then pay attention to the following:

You will need to eliminate certain foods from your eating lifestyle and they may not be ones that you think you can live without. BUT YOU CAN!

Eliminate, Replace, Drink, Count, Burn!

Eliminate starchy carbs and sugar. Replace them with good, clean, real foods. Drink water, water, water. Count Calories. Burn calories through exercise. That is it!

No, I’m not saying to eliminate all carbohydrates, just the starchy ones that turn to glucose, such as:

• all grains, rice, cereals, breads
• starchy vegetables, corn, potatoes, winter squashes
• sugar, syrups, honey, all refined sugars of any kind
• processed foods of any kind

You can have dairy in moderation, but be aware there are sugars in dairy. You can have milk, yogurt, white cheeses, sour cream, but all in moderation.

Fruits contain natural sugars, so limit these to two per day.

Replace these foods with lean meats, fish, veggies, etc. There are many foods that you can have and other than the list above, not many that are eliminated. You will want to replace with as much organic, clean foods as you possibly can. Eating organic and clean most definitely makes a difference in how you feel and I am living witness to this fact. And no, your grocery bill will not go up with this eating lifestyle. Ours went down.

(This post touches on the basics, if you are interested in more, just let me know.)

Now let me share a brief testimony and the test to prove my point.

As mentioned above, I really thought I was stuck and would not be able to lose again until I was introduced to this eating lifestyle. My Sweet Hubby and I started this new lifestyle the first week of March 2014. He met his goal of losing 60+ pounds by mid July and I lost a total of 80 pounds by mid October.

An Important Point!

When you reach your weight loss goal, IF you have truly changed your lifestyle then you WILL NOT go back to eating the way you did before. You can’t eat the starchy carbs again and expect to keep the weight off and more importantly, it’s not healthy for you to eat those foods! Those foods cause weight gain for a reason, they are NOT HEALTHY! (I could get so much deeper as to how the glucose turns to fat and why they aren’t good for you, but I will save that for another post.)

An Unexpected Issue

I have been learning to maintain since reaching my goal the middle of October. Despite what you may think, it’s not as easy as you would imagine. (And the issue is most likely NOT what you are thinking.) If you continue to eat the exact same foods as you did while losing – only increasing the amounts, without adding the other foods back into your lifestyle, it is a learning process of how to maintain.

I actually have experienced an issue that I have never had to deal with before, ever in my life! And that issue is learning how to STOP dropping weight. I have more than doubled the number of calories I eat per day compared to what I was eating when I lost, only I am continuing to eat the exact same foods. It’s as if my body has become a burning machine. I’ve been challenged with the issue of continuing to drop weight – even when reducing my exercise by more than half and doubling the calories I consume! The middle of December I hit my absolute lowest weight – without trying. I knew with the holidays approaching and the fact that I would be doing my normal holiday baking, at my son’s request, that it would give me an opportunity to put some pounds back on. Boy was I right!

The Unintentional Experiment

I didn’t meant to test it, but it happened. I DID however mean to allow myself some extra out-of-the-ordinary foods over the week of Christmas. I did my normal baking, only reducing the quantities of foods I made. And I ate those foods, yet still counted the calories. Every day but two I managed to stay within my calorie range. The other two, which were Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I lost count and gave up. The entire week I ate within my normal daily calorie range, but the foods I ate were not my normal. I ate sugar in the form of baked goods and my sister-in-law’s most delicious fudge, and grains in the traditional Chex Mix (I call it Scrabble) that has become an annual Must Have for our family. And I ate it and ate it and ate it. I counted the calories in all of these foods and again, stayed within my range for most of the days. The only difference was the types of foods I consumed.

After one week of eating this way when I stepped on the scales, I had gained seven pounds. Yes, seven! The ONLY difference in that week’s time, as I said, was the types of foods I allowed myself to consume!

Now I had mentioned before that I knew I needed to gain a few pounds, so this was not devastating to me. However, it was about three pounds more than I wanted to hold. And guess what? As soon as I went back to eliminating the starches and sugars and added back all of the good, clean, nutritional foods, those extra pounds just disappeared. I’ve been able to hold steady right where I want to be for the past week.

The unintentional experiment proved its point!

If you consume grains and sugars, the body will grow larger (and unhealthy). I have to say the most wonderful part of this past year and changing my lifestyle has been the way I feel – yes, even over the weight loss! I feel healthier, younger, more fit and in the best shape I can ever recall feeling.

The Question One More Time

I’ve shared the basics. Make the necessary changes, give it time and watch your body change. Then please share with me your success. Remember, if you would like more details, let me know. However this information alone will help you, if you apply it.

So, I will ask you one more time…do you REALLY want to lose weight?