Make a choice and stick to it - no matter what!

Today I have decided I am going to throw in the towel. Give up you say?? No – not give up. I am going to decide TODAY (one more time) to do this thing. I have been going up and down on a weight loss roller coaster ride for the past few years. I am going to throw in the towel on negativism, on using food for comfort, etc. etc. you get the jest of it.


I think the hardest part for me is knowing I have to do this for the rest of my life. Why can’t I just be skinny. Why wasn’t I born skinny? I don’t know the answer to that. I do know that I will have to struggle with this weight issue forever and I don’t like that thought. But, I can take comfort in what I learned in treatment when I was trying to quit drinking – ONE DAY AT A TIME. Why do I find that so hard to do? I should be able to do anything for just ONE DAY. Including listening to my stomach growl, thinking I am going to die if I don’t have that {fill in the blank} food I am craving, wanting that fried or sweet thing so bad that I could cry but not wanting to give in.

I started this blog a while back hoping to give encouragement to others in their weight loss journey and also to get some encouragement. But unfortunately I don’t feel I have been much encouragement. I have not done the things I started out to do. I have “slipped” back and forth between weight loss and weight gain therefore not really making any progress other than staying relatively close to the same weight for a few years.

I am working out like a demon on most days so the only thing I can up with is I must be eating a tremendous amount of calories to not be losing weight. And there is no guessing to that. I KNOW I am doing that. Just one meal at a fast food joint can wipe out my calorie allotment for the day. I know this but I do it anyway. I am sabotaging myself. Why? Why do I do this? And I know that the first bite will lead to another one, and another one, and another one. That first bite is what does me in. It’s like drinking – if I don’t have the first drink I will never have the whole fifth or the whole bottle. Simple, but oh so hard to do sometimes.

When I quit drinking some 20+ years ago I had resolve to never drink again no matter what. And I made it! When I quit smoking some 18+ years ago I had the same resolve – to not pick up that FIRST cigarette – no matter what! Why oh why is food so much harder? I guess because I have to eat. I don’t have to smoke or drink but I have to eat to survive. There is no way around it!

I read a great blog the other day and she talked about retraining the brain. You can read her blog  here. I think that is what I need to do. I have lived with overeating and the “diet” mentality for so long it is second nature for me. I live to eat when I need to eat to live.

I meant to weigh today when I got up but I did not. So I will weigh in the morning and that will be my starting (again) weight. And I will post it here. No, I don’t want to. But I feel it will help me be accountable. I NEED and WANT accountability. That is the only way this thing will work.

And I want anyone who reads this to feel free to post comments and encouragement and anything you think will help me. I will work up my stats tonight (hopefully) and post them on tomorrow.

Right now I am starving!!!!! No, not really, but my mind tells me I am and I am going to stop listening to my mind lie to me. Because I know it will. It did for years when I was drinking and drugging. I don’t have to listen to that today. I don’t!! In reality I know that if I don’t eat that donut or pizza or whatever that I absolutely WILL NOT DIE. Even if my mind tells me I going to.

So tomorrow will be day 1 and I will post my weight and maybe what I am eating and the exercise I am doing. And I will certainly include my races that I compete it. I love running but I hate that I am so overweight that I am not a little faster. I competed in a 5K yesterday and I finished last. Don’t get me wrong – I have finished last before and it’s no big deal. At least I am out there doing something and not sitting on the couch. But I am tired of just getting by. I want to do better. I want to improve – not just get by. I don’t necessarily want to win, I just want to improve. After all, I am 55 years old and I had never exercised in my life until a few years ago. So I have improved since I first started this journey but I want to continue to improve. Not die a fat old lady in terrible health but I want quality of life for the few years I have left here on this earth. That’s not too much to ask is it? But – it’s all up to me. I am the captain of my ship. I am in control of my destiny. I can do this thing or I can continue to whine about why it’s not working.

It is about quality of life for me. Do I want to just merely survive or do I want to live life to the fullest?

It’s my choice.

Make a choice Betty and this time STICK TO IT!!!!!!!

I've been reading an Awesome blog.  You should it out if you haven't already.  He has given me some great ideas and also some great encouragement.  He started his blog weighing 505 pounds and lost a lot of weight and has blogged about it from the beginning.  I have not been able to read but a few entries but what I read has been so inspiration!!  I plan to come back to the start and read from day 1.  

I think I will start posting on my blog more often so I can have some  accountability.  I would like to post my good days, bad day, weight loss and weight gain, in other words, the good, the bad, and the ugly!!  Maybe it will inspire someone else but maybe, just maybe, it will keep ME accountable to ME and if  others chose to read and comment that will help me and them as well!

When I weighed yesterday and realized (no surprise there) that I have gained weight I was sick, disgusted and depressed!  Not sick enough to change, mind you,  but sick enough to bitch, complain, and moan about it.  But what I want is to get sick enough to DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!   I can talk the talk all day long but I'm not walking the walk!!

My official weigh-in day is on Wednesday.  Why? Because I usually eat large amounts of pizza on Thursday night and I don't want to weigh after that!!  I am discovering that every choice/decision I might revolves around food.  Food is the center point of my life.

I have been listening to an OA big book workshop and I am learning a lot and have been really impressed with it.  It is opening my eyes to a lot of things I had not thought of before.

I suppose I will weigh in the morning and report it here.  I have been brutally honest on here so far.  But I don't believe I have posted my weight, especially on a regular basis.  I love showing my ticker than says I have lost 40 pounds but that was 2 years ago!   Yes, I have kept it off but I still have 50 more pounds to go.  I have been goofing off for the past few years.  Lose 1, gain 2, lose 5 gain 10, lose 10 gain 5....well, you get the picture.

I am not sure if I can post every day but I will try to .  Wouldn't it be great if I could just abstain completely from food like I do drugs and alcohol?  But we all know that is impossible.  I believe that is why I have such a struggle with it.  I have been attending OA again for a year now and very little has changed.

But I will go for now and hopefully be able to post again soon.  Good or bad, I plan to put it all out there. . . . and why not?  Everyone sees it anyway.  It's hard to hide 50 extra pounds on a 5'4" body frame!!

Had a great OA meeting last night. Today I texted my OA friends and told them I was committing my abstinence to them and they should text me back at the end of the day and see how I did! And............drum roll please........I did great! I stayed abstinent and within calorie range.  

Did a 3 mile run and did my best time for not being in a race; 40:25 minutes. I ran/walked 30:45 instead of my usual 1:1 so maybe that helped with my time. Sat. was my 19th sobriety birthday (no drugs or alcohol in 19 years) so on the way home from my run my husband called and said he wanted to take me out to eat. Yikes!! But I was prepared. I texted by friends again and told them I was going out to eat and to pray for me!! We went to our favorite Italian rest which is owned by friends of ours. My hubby told them it was my sobriety birthday so they brought me bread pudding for my birthday!!! Oh no!! I had one bite and then had her put in a to go box. I am proud of myself, I did pretty good! 

- I did not get appetizer. 
- I did not eat the bread they put on table. 
- I ordered grilled chicken salad with dressing on the side. 
- Ate one bite of bread pudding dessert and threw the rest away as I was leaving because I knew if I took it home I would eat it!!! 

And of course my OA friends texted me and asked how it went and I could give them a good report that I was proud of! 

    

But I must remember - ONE DAY AT A TIME. Now, lets do the same thing tomorrow!!!

Why am I sitting her wanting something to eat? (November 3, 2009)

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 I have decided that if I have access to a computer at the time and I get this feeling, I will blog about it and maybe that will help me to figure out these feelings. Right now I am sitting her with a strong craving for something to eat. No - I am not hungry. I am tired though. I have had a headache most of the morning and I have been hurting all over since stopping the Mobic. I know there are cupcakes right down the hall in the kitchen and I am trying so hard not to to get one. When I looked at them, I said to myself, "if I eat that, will it help or hurt my chances to compete in the New York Half Marathon?" Of course the answer was hurt and NOT help. Sometimes I think maybe I am thirsty and that is why I long for something to ....I don't know.....put in my mouth, chew on, swallow....I don't know what it is that I want. I can't figure it out. What makes me have this feeling...wait...is it maybe my blood sugar? Could that be what makes me feel like I need "something" or I will absolutely DIE if I don't get it! And that is exactly how I feel and I am trying so hard not to succumb to this feeling. It is a hard struggle. It is almost like the craving I used to have when I first stopped using drugs and alcohol. But I got through that - one day at a time - praise God! I just figured that if I could write down how I was feeling and put on paper all these thoughts that are in my head, maybe it would keep me from eating what I don't need (but what my brain thinks I will die if I don't get !) I think I will just get up and get some more water to drink. That will probably help. It surely couldn't hurt. ----but I won't get it from the kitchen where the cupcakes are sitting quietly for everyone else, but to me they are SCREAMING my name! I won't listen to the siren of the seductress. I won't! Get that water girl and get it now!!

Race Report 300 Oaks (September 22, 2009)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

I am excited about my first 10K. It was great. I was the last runner for the first 2-3 miles and the police car was following behind me. That drove me nuts. As I would walk he would slow down, when I ran he would speed up to catch me and then slow down again. It was worrying the mess out of me. But I told myself that it was okay. I only had to finish - not finish fast! And that man driving just wished he could do what I was doing. That helped me. I finally stopped focusing on him and concentrated on my race. But it helped that I passed a few people and then he followed them instead. Of course all the walkers passed me again, I think. When I came in I thought there were three behind me but when I checked the MS Track Club site it showed me as being last. I wonder what happened to the others. One man I knew, I did not see his name anywhere. He was running along side me for a while. He had been sick and he said that this race was probably not a good idea. Every step he would take his chest would hurt. So maybe he had to DNF.

The scenery was beautiful. It was overcast (I got sunburned) and it was not too hot. All in all a nice day. It had rained every day the previous few days and we thought it would rain this day but didn't. I thought about sunscreen but then just as quickly forgot about it. Forgot that you can still get sunburned on cloudy days.

I started out too fast. My mind said walk at the beginning but my feet took to running! The first two miles were pretty hard. I keep focusing on that darn police car on my butt and the fact that my breathing was pretty fast since I started out too fast. But I made myself slow down and it got better. At about 5 miles I got really tired and thought "are you crazy? What are you doing out here?" Then I told myself - "you only have a mile to go. You are over half way. Keep going. You CAN DO THIS!" (That seems to happen to me a lot at mile 5) When I came in I think I was the only one still running. But there were people there that cheered me on and it felt good. I am still a little self conscious about how I look when I run but I am slowing getting over that.

I am still at a quandary as to why I am not losing weight. Even if I overeat a few times you would think I would still lose a little. But I have not gained. I have been around the same for months. But I sill need to lose 50 more pounds. I do well for a few weeks and then blow it all. Me and a friend are having the same problem. We are trying to work on it and help each other. I thought the Biggest Loser would motivate me more but it hasn't yet.

But I will just keep plugging along. After the half marathon in December I might start working on my speed. But I have been told that it is the long run (more miles) that gets the weight off so I might need to concentrate on that. I am having a hard time finding time to run. I would have to get up at 4 am to get in more miles since I am so slow and getting in the bed early the night before has been nearly impossible due to extenuating circumstances at my house.

As I was running the 10K I passed a young lady in a wheelchair sitting on her driveway. I waved at her and she smiled as best she could - it was obvious that she did not have use of her arms or legs. I could not help but think - what would she give to be able to take one step???? And here I was grumbling about how I was feeling. At least I can walk. I think that is when I began to feel better. I was reminded, one again, of God's grace in my life. Considering my past alcohol and drug use, it is only by the grace of God that I am here today. Just to be alive is a true blessing and to be able to run, no matter how slow, is icing on the cake! I must never forget where I came from and what "could have been." My life is so good today. I have many restored relationships and most importantly I have a relationship with Christ that keeps me strong. Thank you God for keeping me humble and thank you for the many ways you show yourself in my life (even in my running) and I pray that the young lady in the wheelchair found some measure of happiness as she watched all of us run by. There but for the grace of God go I.

This is the day that the Lord has made.

MAKE it a great one.