Living Healthfully: An Arrival of Sorts

Editor's Note: After taking my journey with calorie-restricted diets and and restrictive food diets, I no longer feel that either are healthy. You can read my hard-fought-for, hard-lesson-learned food philosophy here. 

Stunned doesn't begin to describe it.

But thankful does.

This past weekend, I met my final weight-loss goal when I weighed in at 136 and noticed a total body fat loss of more than 5 percent of my body weight since May.

When I met my last goal -- reaching 141 -- I shared that I couldn't even remember ever being at a healthy weight during my adult life; I'd always weighed into the category or overweight or obese. My lightest adult weight prior to Curves was 168 pounds during my college running stint.

Seven years and two babies birthed later, I'm within the parameters of a healthy weight for my frame and height.

It's been a really long haul, but it's been a worthy battle to wage.

It's been a lot of making the harder choice, but it's been rewarding at seeing how the harder choice, over time, actually becomes the easier one with which to live.

And it's been a total shift of attitude, habits and allegiances.

Changes, however, I'm so glad to have embraced by the grace and power of God.

Because inquiring minds wanted to know, here's my transformation in pictures.

That's me with the short dark hair in the middle at 200 pounds in 2004; I didn't readily pose for the camera then.

188 after college, pre-Curves, post running {June 2006}

Just a full-body shot at 188 {June 2006}

175 two months after G's birth, worked out at Curves during pregnancy {October 2007}

166 one year after G's birth, consistently working out at Curves {Sept. 2008}

156.8 1.5 years after E's birth, consistently working out at Curves {May 2011}

141.6 after Curves Complete {nutrition+exercise+motivation} {July 2011}

136 after Curves Complete {November 2011}

If you're thinking of changing your allegiances from satisfying food cravings to achieving health, can I just say one thing?

Don't wait. Do it now. Because a day from now, a week, a month, a year, you'll wish you had made the harder choice today. I know I sound like a motivational booklet ... but, you know, strength and encouragement is transferable and shareable.

Consider this an open invitation if you need to borrow some of mine right now; someone once did the same for me.

Living Healthfully: Choosing my Allegiances

Editor's Note: After taking my journey with calorie-restricted diets and and restrictive food diets, I no longer feel that either are healthy. You can read my hard-fought-for, hard-lesson-learned food philosophy here. 

As promised ... my final results from the Curves 90-Day Challenge:



Also, quickly, because I know I rambled on and on {and on}, more than a few people have asked me what my secret was for staying motivated during the entire 90-Day Challenge, so I'll writing about that this week at some point {in a regular writing blog post -- because really I get a little passionate about that, and we don't need me recorded forever on video talking about it!}

Before:


After:


And exhale ... two things I never thought were realities-- weighing 140 and publishing a vlog -- both accomplished. So at that, I rest.

{And I must give credit where credit is due: G took my after picture. Kid has an eye, don't you think? ;) }

Living Healthfully: This is Really Happening

Editor's Note: After taking my journey with calorie-restricted diets and and restrictive food diets, I no longer feel that either are healthy. You can read my hard-fought-for, hard-lesson-learned food philosophy here. 

All right, bear with me.

I'm in a state of almost disbelief coupled with shock and complete estaticness. {Is that a word? If not, I claim ownership!}

But.

Tonight we went to Target {because we're very fancy}, and as we were walking by the clothing section, a cute pair of shorts caught my eye at almost the exact minute I had to hike the pants I was wearing back up to my hips.

And in a moment of complete abandon for time, toddler attention span and normal panic when it comes to clothes shopping, I asked/told John I was going to try those shorts on.

And I took with me into the dressing room a size ten {the currently baggy pant's size} and a size eight.

That's right -- SINGLE digit clothing and I went into the same dressing room with the intent of us mingling in a super close kinda way.

Mind you, I didn't actually expect for said size-eight shorts to fit.

I haven't worn a size eight, well, um, ever.

As I slid my legs into the shorts and slipped them up my things I expected to meet my normal major speed bump: the hips.

But there was no major bump -- just small ones! And the shorts flew over them.

I almost cried/died/squealed like a schoolgirl/called my sister in the dressing room at Target.

But instead I got a handle on it all, and I simply just asked for husband approval of the shorts before we bagged them up and called them mine.

I think the most shocking part is that I've only lost 9 pounds almost five weeks into the Curves 90-Day Challenge {a challenge issued to Curves owners and coaches to walk the walk by the Curves founders at our spring regionals}.

I still have about seven more weeks left for the challenge and -- seriously, I cannot even believe I'm about to utter these words, so I'll whisper them -- I might make it to a size four.

I cannot even begin to unwrap what that really means because I could gush on and on {and on} about the health benefits of being at a weight that fits into size four -- my BMI would fall into the good range, my organs would be under much less stress, less risk for diseases like cancer and diabetes and high cholesteral, all of which run in my family.

And this? This is coming from someone who has had food issues ever since she can remember -- from the same person who invented The Fat Kids' Club in college and dubbed herself president. And the same person who hate, hate, HATED exercise with a passion until she was 21.

So far, I've been highly motivated to press into this kind-of-tough journey. A lot of people have come along side me and given me courage and encouragement, as well as celebration, insight and comraderie.

Ironically, some of these very confidants have been the same people who've been nudging me to jump in and do a vlog {which would be a video blog post, for those who don't speak bloggese}.

I'm committing tonight to doing that vlog July 31 if I do, indeed, make it to my goal weight by then.

So, that's roughly 9 to 11 more pounds to shed in about seven weeks.

And, perhaps, by July 31, I will have accomplished two things that have seemed completely overwhelming and terrifying -- taking these last, long steps toward true self-control and real health.

And talking to the interwebz using my actual voice {and I'll tell you in the vlog why I'm so hesistant about the art of vlogging}.

Without further ado -- the emotion-provoking single-digit Target shorts [that I likely will keep forever and frame as a momento}:


{Before picture here.}

Thanks for listening and celebrating with me. :)

Healthy Living: An Experiment in Eating

After G. tried to con me into feeding him processed, packaged "unfood" last weekend, I wrote about making the hard and often unpopular decision to eat mostly real foods -- non-processed, un-enriched and preservative-free foods {though we have our moments, just like everyone else, where we've been known to eat a Frosty or something}.

And Jade, a smart, witty writer who is currently working to stop sex-trafficing of women in Thailand, left an amazingly insightful comment on that post detailing her struggle with weight and experience with food of both America and Thailand.

Totally intrigued, I asked her if she would please fully share her experiences here. And thankfully for me {maybe you, too?}, she obliged. I think you'll be happy you stopped by today.

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Do you ever feel like, despite your best efforts to be healthy or lose weight, there is something beyond your control sabotaging your efforts?

That, no matter how hard you try to make informed decisions about the food that goes in your mouth, there is some hidden power greater than yourself working against you?

Meanwhile, you’re left beating yourself up for the times you “slip”?

I do. All the time. And I’m kind of thinking that maybe I’m not the only one who does.

Hyacynth most graciously asked me to write a post on this topic because I, like she, have come to distrust what the American food industry tries to tell us is “food”.

Let me explain the angle I’m coming from here. If you knew me in real life, you’d probably know that weight is an issue that plagues me.

I’m one of those people about whom well-intentioned family members might (and did) say, “If she just lost a few pounds, she could be pretty.” Almost there, but not quite. I used to try really hard to eat healthily, choosing fresh fruits and vegetables from the local Farmer’s Market, cooking a lot at home so I could weigh and calculate every bite, and fighting with myself to exercise regularly.

I also had an insatiable sweet tooth, and every night was a battle with myself between soothing the beast craving sweets now and hating myself or being plagued with guilt later. I could be good all day, and then lose it come 8 p.m.

I blamed myself. A lot.

But there was a quiet part of me that kept popping up and saying, “Being a healthy weight shouldn’t be so friggin’ hard.” And a suspicious part of me noticed that when my skinny Thai cousins came to the U.S., they all started putting on pounds.

They all started having to do exercise and watch what they eat. Meanwhile, everyone I knew who spent a significant amount of time abroad came back having lost weight. And we’ve all wondered about the French who consume a steady diet of cheese, and bread, and cream and wine and still manage to walk around looking svelte.

I began to think that maybe it’s not food that’s the problem. It’s something in the food. We can see all the chemicals and preservatives, corn and sugar, and all kinds of unnatural things listed right on the side of all our packaged foods.

I can eschew the packaged stuff. But I still eat meat. Meat that has been fed on a diet of corn because it’s cheap, and stuffed with growth hormones to make it look plump, and additives to make it look pretty on the shelf longer. (Food, Inc. is a really good documentary that goes into this, if you’re interested in looking into the subject further. I also highly recommend Barbara Kingsolver’s book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.)

So, three months ago, when my husband and I packed up and moved to Thailand, I made a secret deal with myself. I wouldn’t make a special effort to control my diet here. I would eat what I want when hungry, stop when I was full, and when our scale arrived in our package of stuff shipped from the U.S., I would see what happened.

We ate out almost exclusively. This is a big shift for someone who used to almost always cook at home. But we’ve been eating mostly food served at the street stalls or local mom-and-pop style restaurants. A lot of it is fried. I’ve eaten way fewer veggies and way more rice. Meat is probably about the same.

Portion sizes here are significantly smaller, but here’s the kicker: I actually like that. In the States, I would eat until full and sometimes until stuffed. If food is in front of me, I can’t say no to it. But here, the food tastes amazing, but I happily stop at “satisfied”. There’s room for more, but I prefer not to feel full. I might eat less at a particular meal, but I probably eat more over the course of the day.

Meanwhile, we also enjoy desserts (donuts, pastries, coconut snacks…the gelato here is fabulous) on a fairly regular basis. (Before we came, I think it had been at least 5 years since my last donut.) We don’t hold back on the sweets. If we want them, we’ll eat them. BUT I don’t have the crazy sweet tooth I used to have either. Most times, I’m not interested, or I’ll think “maybe in a few minutes.” And then forget about it entirely.

This is not like me.

And also? We’re totally not exercising. By all accounts, the way we eat and don’t exercise, we should have gained weight. I could barely wait for our scale to arrive to find out what the effects were.

And then on Monday, our moment of truth came. Our stuff was delivered and we pulled out the scale. My husband, who is naturally pretty skinny, in three months without even trying lost FIFTEEN pounds. (!) (Full disclosure: he also drinks significantly less beer here.) The pants he sent in shipping? None of them fit anymore.

And me? I lost between 5-8 pounds. And this is me, a person for whom losing weight without trying ranks right up there with unicorns on the scale of likelihood.

I won’t take this as license to eat unhealthily. Because I do care about my health and heart, even if the pounds continue to drop, I will be more circumspect about the food I eat from here on out. But there is definitely something I learned about how the food I used to eat created cravings, while the food here seems to satisfy them.

All right, so we can’t all get too excited because this experiment is in no way backed up by real science.

It has a test group size of 2.

And very little in the way of controls.

But I share this because all my instincts are telling me that all that extra junk our food industry puts in our food has a real effect on our health. These things the industry adds to cut the costs of production or increase sales, I really am starting to believe have an effect on us. Even if they don’t necessarily add calories directly, they may still have an indirect effect.

Particularly, what I suspect could be the case is that they change the nature of cravings. They make us want to eat more, especially of things that contain sodium and sugar.

I don’t blame the farmers. (Ok, maybe I do give an evil side-eye glance towards the mega-corporations like Monsanto.) But I do think the costs for our health could be given a higher weight against the bottom line, even in economic times such as these.

The problem is, honestly, these are tough choices to make. It’s a difficult truth, but often we have to make a choice between nutrition and convenience. It’s made even more difficult when the convenient choice is also the cheaper, more affordable one (at least at face value), especially when you’re raising a family and are short on time and money.

However, the real question is: would we choose differently if we knew more? If we really knew about what effects those extra chemicals and preservatives and additives have on us?

Maybe we would choose differently.

Maybe we wouldn’t.

But at least the power to make that choice would be ours. We would no longer be fighting some unnamable force.

And we wouldn’t be sabotaged by the very hands that feed us.

Jade blogs at Tasting Grace. If you don't already know her, I hope this served as an awesome introduction to a very talented woman.