Small Changes = Big Successes

I wrote a blog post not so long ago about how I was no longer focusing on how fast I could lose this weight, but doing it in such a way that I could sustain it forever. You might be wondering why I then decided to start Nutrisystem and have a very strict week to "jump start" my weight loss. I've been sort of wondering that myself.

I've been thinking about why I made such a drastic decision to start a relatively restrictive program when I've been saying all along that I don't do as well when I put pressure on myself. The fact of the matter is I haven't done all that well, period. I can give whatever reason or excuse I want to, but I've fluctuated between 230 and 250 since 2013. Obviously what I've been doing isn't working. What I implemented in September WAS working; but it stopped for whatever reason. I should say, I stopped...for whatever reason. I think it comes down to the fact that I will always stop for some reason, for some amount of time. I think in reality almost everyone does. The difference is how long they stop for and how much "damage" they do when they stop. And perhaps THIS has to be the difference for me. 

In that blog post I said that there are times when food fuels your body and there are times when it just fills your stomach with not much nutritional value and that has GOT to be OK sometimes (for me at least). I still believe that to be true. However, I think I'm starting to realize that that is a great way to MAINTAIN my weight. And frankly, even though it has fluctuated by as many as 20 pounds; I would say that I've done an OK job of "maintaining" my weight for the last 3 years. I'll tell you what; if I can manage to fluctuate between 160 and 180 for the rest of my lift I will TAKE that and RUN! I clearly need to figure out how to get there because I think I have this "maintaining" thing down pretty well. It would also be nice if I could figure out how to not have it take 20 pounds before I decide I need to stop gaining weight!

So here's what I think is great about having made the decision now to try NS: My scale registered as low as 227.4 back in December; but only for a second before I was back up above 230 again. When the scale read 229.6 back on 4/29 and then 229 on 5/6....and STILL 229 on 5/13, I felt pretty determined to not let it go back up. BUT, I could feel myself slipping. I got out of focus due to my life circumstances and could just tell that getting myself re-focused wasn't going to be easy. Hence, I actually think making the decision to make a drastic choice like Nutrisystem was the smartest thing I have done in a LONG time. I made the decision towards the end of May so I had decided I was going to start June 1st because I wasn't going to challenge myself even more by starting on a holiday weekend. This allowed me to have about a week "off" with no guilt and without going too far backwards before starting again. My starting weight for Nutrisystem was 232.8. I was actually totally happy with that since I pretty much wasn't doing much for the majority of May and definitely went overboard eating and drinking the last few days of the month. So, not only did I "only" gain 3.8lbs;  but I knew a lot of that was just bloat and water weight from the days right before starting. Case in point...in one day on Nutrisystem I was back down 3 of those 3.8lbs.  

The fact that this time it didn't even take me gaining weight to realize that I needed to do something different to kick things into gear is awesome. I felt myself losing my focus and really didn't want to move backwards so I did something about it. Yes I went back above 230; but only for a second and only because I knew that I was going to be doing something strict so I was pretty confident whatever I gained would be lost quickly.

So  maybe I use NS for the next 2 months and then move to something else. Maybe I decide I really like it and the weight is just melting away so I stay on it for the next 6+ months. I don't know yet. But what I do know is that I'm no longer embarrassed about making the decision to try something else. I'm actually proud of myself. I'm proud that as soon as I felt my focus wavering I did something to get that focus back.

In the end I'm not changing my tune from that blog post. I still think I need to figure out a way to eat that will maintain my weight loss once I get there. I'm just realizing that I need to get there before I can worry about how I'll maintain it once I'm there. I'm not necessarily saying I need to focus on losing the weight fast or anything. I'm just saying maybe I can deal with being a little more strict now (which, in turn would likely lead to faster weight loss), so that I can get to the point where I am learning how to maintain.

Until next time.......