Mirror, Mirror

Mirror, mirror on the wall…do you shutter when you pass a mirror or do you ask “who’s the fairest”? I don’t ask who’s the fairest nor do I shutter, but I have asked how and why I let myself get fat. Many weight loss gurus say you need to figure out what drives your eating habits so that you can change them. I am not an emotional eater, I’m the exact opposite when I get emotional I don’t eat. I’m a sometimes boredom eater. Mostly I have been lazy about what I eat and the exercise I get.

A few years ago I lost 50 pounds and today I’ve gained those 50 back plus 10 mostly because I chose to eat poorly and skip my daily walk. I’ve decided those excuses are no longer valid and I’m wasting precious time being fat and making excuses for not eating better and not getting out and exercising. If I’m able to stop making excuses in my writing career then I damn well can apply that work ethic to my personal life and health.

I won’t be using a weight loss program like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers or Nutri System because I don’t want to spend the money. I’ve decided to try following Oprah’s weight loss guru Bob Greene. I’m currently reading his book Best Life Diet. He’s broken his plan into three phases and I started phase one this month with doctor’s approval. Since I have a few medical problems I needed to be sure what I plan to do won’t hurt me further. I had a full blood work up and check up. I get my blood results next Tuesday and one test has me nervous and that’s my cholesterol. I have a suspicion that it’s not good. But I plan to turn that around with eating a more well-rounded diet and loosing weight.

For the next four weeks I will implement Phase One of Bob Green’s Best Life Diet. That includes doing the following things-

•    Increasing my daily activity.
•    Eat three meals a day consistently and one or two snacks.
•    Set an eating cut off time. (Mine is 8 pm)
•    Wake up hungry for breakfast.
•    Drink plenty of water. (No problem here, I already drink 48 to 64 ounces or more a day.)
•    Choose a daily multivitamin/mineral supplement.
•    And reveal my weight. Okay so there are few things that scare me but revealing my weight does. But if Oprah and other women that appear on her show can do it I can too. As of April 10th I weighed 211 pounds. There, I said it out loud as I typed it. Not as scary as I thought.

My phase one start date was April 10th. I will not weigh myself again for a full month. My goals during this month are not to actively lose weight; they are to create new habits that will help me during phase 2. If I happen to lose weight that will be a bonus. You’ll probably notice that my above list doesn’t say anything about cutting out foods from my diet and that’s because with the Best Life Diet that doesn’t take place until phase 2.

I know that the changes I am about to make will not change the fact that I have emphysema but losing the weight will help by making it easier for me to breath. Recent reports say losing weight can help people with asthma and I do have it. Losing weight will hopefully have an impact on my cholesterol and blood pressure and keep me from having to take any medication. My mother died at age 59 of a heart attack and my father died at 76 from a stroke and I want to do my best to avoid both.

There! I’ve revealed I am fat and gave you the number to prove it. Next week when I get my blood tests back I will reveal my cholesterol (LDL/HDL and triglycerides) and blood pressure and I will share my progress on Phase One.

Until next time may you find all you’re searching for!