Sometimes people ask, "What are you doing?" (I always assume that they're asking me what I'm doing to lose the weight, not what am I doing at that second, which is having an out-of-the-blue conversation about my body. This assumption is correct.) I always answer the same way: "Calories in, calories out." There's not much else to say. I don't tell them I'm training for a half marathon very slowly; I don't tell them I eat the same thing for breakfast every day of the week and for lunch every weekday; I don't tell them I count my steps or use a calorie tracking app.
First, typing that out makes me sound terribly obsessive. I assure you, I'm not. If I don't exercise one day, I still try to stay at or below my calories (1630, by the way, and to prove how NOT obsessed I am, I had to check the app on my phone for the exact number), but I don't exercise twice as long the next day. Today, I had some of my husband's fries at lunch and didn't bother recording them on my phone because it's not that big of a deal. I eat dessert every single night. I like my breakfast (pina colada oatmeal, if you're curious).
Second, weight loss is made out to be a practically-impossible act of willpower. It wasn't for me. I just stuck to my calories for the day. I added a word I kind of hate, "JUST," but it's apt here for describing my emotional state about it. I downloaded the tracking app and when I started figuring out how many calories certain things were, I took a pass on those things. When I knew I was going to have dessert at night, it was easier to not go crazy during the day. I figured out that veggies have few calories and loaded them on, and I did some research to understand the best, lower-calorie foods to eat so I would stay full.
This did take some figuring, but the figuring was both eye-opening and fun. Before this, every day, I would eat two eggs scrambled with some Parmesan cheese and two whole wheat pieces of toast with peanut butter on one and jelly on the other. When I figured out that was over 500 calories, it was easy to make the oatmeal switch, which is about 300 calories. I rarely eat eggs now; they're great protein, yes, but they aren't that enjoyable, and I'd rather spend my calories on something else. I figured out that Hidden Valley has this ranch dip mix you can make with plain Greek yogurt. It is so delicious and at 24 calories for two tablespoons, I'm piling the veg on my plate with a side of the dip--deliciousness. My dessert choices? Boom Chicka Pop Salted Caramel Corn (80 calories a cup), Nestle Toll House refrigerator cookies (80 calories a cookie), Yasso frozen Greek yogurt bars (100 calories apiece) and/or Diana's Bananas chocolate-covered frozen bananas (130 calories apiece). I write "and/or" because it's usually a combination of two (or three!!) of these things every night.
So, my weight loss has been mostly about educating myself. I don't drink my calories unless it's my morning coffee with milk and sugar. Low sugar jelly is just as good as the regular stuff. Moving more, whether it's a training run or making my step goal for the day, feels amazing. I feel healthier than I have been in a very long time, and weight loss has been a side effect. It's been nice, yes, to get the compliments, but after I've said a polite "Thank you," I usually also add, "...but you know I looked good before, too." With that kind of confidence, they cannot help but agree. Losing weight is fine, but feeling good is better.
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*Note: I am not, objectively, SO skinny. I am in the normal range for my height and was only slightly (by five pounds or so) over the normal range when I started. Don't think I lost fifty pounds or something. I did not go from a size 12 to a size 4. If I did that, I would probably be unhealthy for my height.
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