Don’t get too skinny

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Viv

I am quite lucky in that both my family and my friends are very supportive of my weight loss. One of the best ways they do this is by choosing healthy restaurants for eating out. Or by cooking a healthy meal together when eating together at home. I don’t think that is something you can take for granted, especially as it is only natural for people to resist change, both in themselves and in others.

A few months ago, I read this article on CNN, and it rang true for me for the most part.

“People who are obese live with obese people. They find obese friends. Most (patients) don’t recognize how bad a lifestyle they have, how self-defeating a lifestyle is. They think that culture’s normal.”

As human beings we have a difficult time with change, Walz continues. So when someone we love alters his or her lifestyle, we have a problem dealing with it — even if that transformation is positive.

“Deliberately or not, the family, the friends, the other people who are part of that individual’s culture will resist the change,” Walz says. “(They) will try to change them back to what the culture tolerates.”

Luckily, I have not found this to be true for my friends. Hardly any of my friends are overweight, though, and they have been very encouraging. I never feel like they are trying to sabotage me nor have I felt any jealousy from them. But then, they already have what I want.

Today, I told my mom about how I am now at 74.7 kg, so under 75 kg (down another 0.4 kg from yesterday), and she told me not to get too skinny because she doesn’t think I am built to be real skinny. I remember getting these comments when I lost weight in 2005/06 (when my lowest weight was 73.3 kg, just a little under my current weight).

I do agree with her that I am not built to be skinny. I have a curvy figure – and I am not using curvy as an euphemism for fat – I mean, I am pear-shaped and I like the fact that I am.

But people, I am also not aiming for a goal weight of 60 kg. I do think that 65 kg is a realistic weight for me, at a height of 170 cm. I am currently still overweight at a BMI of 25.85, and I am definitely not too thin yet. I still have plenty of weight to lose from my tummy, butt, thighs and my upper arms. If I decide that I am happy with my figure at 68 kg, I am not going to force myself to lose another 3 kg just for the sake of weighing 65 kg. If I notice that my body is resisting losing another 3 kg, I won’t torture myself. I do want to be a healthy weight though, with a little buffer. And it may be my vanity talking, but I do want to weigh under 70 kg.

My mom mentioned how slim my face has gotten, and she is right that it has, but I don’t think that it’s too slim, and I also know that my face is one of the last spots I gain weight in so it only makes sense that it would be one of the first spots for me to lose weight in.

I still have about 10 kg to lose, and I don’t think that is overdoing it. I am actually eating a lot. I am working out a good amount but not too much. I eat back the calories I burn during exercise. I am not starving myself or denying myself anything. I don’t feel unhealthy or have a lack of energy. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. And my body is still readily shedding the pounds, it’s not resisting the weight loss and holding on to the weight. I am doing this the right way. It is sustainable, healthy, and consistent. So I won’t stop. I’m not at my goal yet. I don’t think I am getting too caught up in this weight loss thing, and I am not aiming for an unhealthy or unrealistic goal weight. I am doing great and I am doing the right thing.

I explained this to my mom, and I think it reassured her a little.

How do people in your surroundings react to your weight loss? Do they support you? Have they expressed worry that you might be losing too much weight?

How far I’ve come

Image

The weight loss graph on my Progress page only shows the past two months, but I had a look at the weight loss graph for the past 6 1/2 months today and wow, I've come a long way.

A Saturday weigh-in

Posted on February 25, 2012 by Viv

For all of February, I had been hovering between 76 and 77 kg. Ever since the year started, my weight loss has really slowed down. While I hadn’t been doing as well with food as I used to, I also didn’t do that badly. And I was definitely not slacking off with the exercise. There was less running, but I did the 30 Day Shred and Zumba.

My last weigh-in was a particularly frustrating one. I had been down 0.5 kg on Tuesday – completely undeserved really after the Saturday I’d had, consuming roughly three times my daily calories in food and alcohol – but I had lost 0.5 kg. Wednesday, I was up 0.5 kg from Tuesday, putting me at the exact same weight as the week before. So I logged it. Thursday, I was down 0.4 kg again. Worst timing ever, right?

I also realized that I had had some food that was quite high in sodium on Monday and Tuesday, and I knew that Wednesday’s high was probably due to water retention. I decided to stay away from sodium for this entire week, from Wednesday to my next weigh-in on Wednesday to keep this from happening again. I do think I am quite prone to gaining weight when I eat sodium-rich food so I usually avoid eating out and ready-made meals for 2–3 days before my weigh-in.

I have to admit that I weigh myself nearly every day. I only log Wednesdays but I weigh myself almost daily, and some days even twice, in the morning and evening. I think that as long as I don’t go mental over it, it’s okay, and it gives me a good idea of how my body is working, how it reacts to exercise and certain foods. But of course, this week was incredibly frustrating.

Friday, I was down even more from Thursday, and today, I was down a whopping 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs) from only three (!) days ago. I always log Wednesdays but I decided to make an exception this time and log today’s weight as well. I know that I am risking a gain between today and Wednesday or staying the same (especially with TOM due next week), but seeing this morning’s weight on the scale gave me such a boost.

I am 75.1 kg now – only 0.2 kg from my next mini goal of weighing under 75 kg which I really hope to reach either this upcoming Wednesday or the Wednesday after that, at which point I will have less than 10 kg left to lose.

I am also only 2.9 kg from a BMI under 25. My current BMI is 25.99. You have no idea what it means to see that 25. I am so close to being normal weight now, it seems almost unreal.

It has been about 2 1/2 weeks since I went off the Metformin and having a small gain of 0.3 kg the first week off meds, and no change the second week had me a little disheartened. I know that I am much healthier now than I was in August last year but I will not know for sure whether I have kicked the insulin resistance until August when I take an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) to check my insulin levels.

Until then, I am pretty much relying on my ability to lose weight without Metformin as an indicator of my health. Today’s weigh-in showed me that I can lose weight, and a decent amount of it too, without the Metformin, and I feel so much more confident now that I will be able to keep this up and reach my goal weight.