Feaster…and Suzi Storm

On April 16th Weight Watchers star Suzi Storm had an online melt-down. I was a little surprised at the force of her meltdown, and that it came seemingly from no-where. But as I read back through Tweets and blog posts I saw it there…the strains of snuggling up to complacency. The slipping back into comfy old habits of too much beer, comfort foods, couch sitting.

And the resulting feeling of feeling like crap.

This morning that’s where I’m at. I feel like crap. On the day before Easter (17 days ago, but who’s counting?), I celebrated a 100-pound weight loss.

This morning I’m up six pounds.

And I feel like crap. Not because of the six pounds–that just annoys me–but because I’ve been eating dirty. Giant burritos with flour tortillas and carnitas. Tortilla chips and beer. Oreos. Ice cream. Bagels with cream cheese. Wine. Blueberry tarts. Frozen yogurt. You name it, I thought about it and ate it. A jelly donut.

I’ve gotten to the gym about twice a week, with insistence that I’ll exercise at home if I don’t go to the gym…but I haven’t exercised at home.

And to top it all off, I’m not sleeping much. Oh, six hours a night maybe. But I’m tossing and turning, worrying about the future, and my children’s future, etc. And I wake up…feeling like crap.

That momentary elatedness of “I lost 100 pounds!” has evaporated. I’m left with my normal, grouchy self.

What to do? Remember all the tools I’ve used on the path to 100. Visioning. Planning. Tracking. And reminding myself that nothing tastes as good as thin feels. Really. The physical impact of eating crap and being a lazy lump is HUGE.

So–back to clean eating and exercise. I hope sleep and positive thoughts will result!

How to Lose 100 Pounds

This week I celebrated losing 100 pounds. I didn’t do this by taking pills or following a fad diet. I’ve eaten chocolate, pizza, drank wine & beer, and have completely skipped exercising. How is that possible?

1)  Give it time. I started this journey the first week of June 2009. It’s been two years, ten months. I spent most of 2010 gaining and losing the same 10 pounds–and a lot of the reason behind that is because I was getting comfortable with my first 70 pounds of weight loss.

2) Be honest with yourself. If you really want to lose weight you’ll have to commit to this. Do you want to lose weight, or do you want that Venti Frappuccino? Keep track of what and how much you eat. It’s important you be aware of your daily consumption of food–whether you’re tracking calories, fat or Weight Watchers points. It’s because you haven’t been honest with your eating habits that you’re fat.

3) Feed your family what you eat. Do you have a family that you think you need to feed pizza, fried chicken and gravy to? Do you really need to feed them this, or is it easier for you to give them this food? If you change the habits of how you cook, you and your family will be better off. And, you won’t be tempted to finish off a slice of uneaten pizza as you’re cleaning up.

4) Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. I’ve increased my fruits and vegetable intake these last few months–which has made it easier to lose weight. Apples, oranges and bananas are daily staples. Cauliflower, bell peppers and carrots also show up with great frequency. If you don’t like most vegetables find ones you do like. If you like celery, but don’t like eggplant, try other crunchy vegetables like jicama.

5). Exercise. This is important. Even if you can’t do much more right now than walk to your car, try walking to the corner. If your knees bother you, try crunches or arm circles. It’s true that just moving more can make a difference, especially at the beginning, when it seems like 100 or more pounds is insurmountable.

6) Support. There are plenty of people out there who have lost 200, 300, even 400 pounds. They gave it time, and I wager they had people who supported them. If you live alone, join Weight Watchers. Use weight loss forums, or start following people like me on Twitter. I guarantee there are people out there in the “Fitfluential” world who have lost weight or are losing weight, and want to help you reach your goals, too!

Victory Log #5: Hitting 100

Drumroll….!

I hit 100 pounds lost on Friday night.

I hate to say it, but I’m sure I bounced up a bit after too much Easter candy, tortillas, etc.

My next goal is to make sure I get back to that 100 pounds lost, and lose 7 more.

Why seven more pounds? Because at 160 I’ll be in the “Normal Weight” BMI zone. At that point I’ll get my fat tested with skin calipers to determine how much more fat I need to lose, and I’ll decide what I want my goal weight to be.

I started out saying I wanted to lose 120 pounds. That may not be the case now. I might lose 120 pounds of fat, but gain muscle. If I’m a lean 157, that’s great. Then again, if I need to get down to 145 to be healthy, I’ll keep at it.