we.survived.guca: September 2014

now

what seems like for ever ago

back in may i wrote a post entitled losing weight, gaining confidence & exploring new worlds and i decided then - or at the very latest with the next post ramblings on growing - to be completely honest about my experiences over the course of the last two years. it is somewhat odd to be that open about my life, my thoughts and the challenges i encountered on my path but it is a well-considered decision.
probably the second most frequent question i have been asked since i lost all that weight was: "i have a friend who struggles with his or her weight. how can i help him or her?" now, this is an extremely difficult question that i try to give my personal answer to - or more of a "on support" post - soon.
in the meantime, my own attempt to help - really any person who stumbles over this little place i claim here - is to talk about my story openly, show that success is possible - and that it is possible in a healthy and responsible way.

this leads me to the most frequently asked question. the question i have been asked time and time again - by friends and family, colleagues and complete strangers - that is regular customers at the store i work in:

"how did you lose all that weight?"

the answer is a long one since i did not do a certain program but composed my very own one that was perfectly suited for the situation i was in and it has been refined and readjusted along the way over and over again and will probably continually be improved and changed further in the future.

(oh and, this is just what happened to have worked for me. i do not claim that this is the way to go for everyone. or that everyone who has a couple of kilos too much has to go and lose weight for that matter - i want to strongly emphasize that. for me losing weight was absolutely necessary and this is my customized program.)

here goes:

1. making it crystal clear to myself that this is not a temporary diet. no, this is how i will eat and behave - obviously as far as possible - for the rest of my life.

2. analysing exactly where i went wrong. being completely honest to myself was difficult...

3. composing a program based on this analysis. a program that is doable - there is absolutely no use in creating a program one can endure for a maximum of two weeks tops.

4. setting goals that are realistic - there is no use in unreachable goals and expectations that are too high.

5. being exceedingly consistent but not fanatic about the rules. i generally approached the whole thing in the following way: there are no exceptions but if i fail at adhering to the rules there is no "self-scolding" allowed. failure forgotten and moved on to a new day of following all the rules. no damage done. (of course i broke every single rule over the last two years but this attitude helped me to keep going and not think, well i already broke this rule, i might as well break all the rules)

6. monitoring progress. in the beginning i kept a diary where i wrote down everything i ate or drank and every workout session i completed. initially, i also wrote down my exact weight every single day, simply because there is nothing more encouraging than to see those numbers change - something measurable, quantifiable. i do not write it down anymore because it is pretty much the same day after day but i still stand on the scale every morning just to be sure.

7. telling a few close friends and family members about your program and establish a kind of "support group". it is not vital to label it as such and they can be as involved or just be somehow in the know - as one likes - but it is vital to have the support from somewhere. i noticed that as time went on and the changes became obvious my "support group" grew to kind of everyone i know and the overwhelming support i have been getting has kind of taken on a life of its own and has been utterly important in the whole process.

so, i have been rambling on for way to long already. it is time to finally come to my program, or my rules, or whatever one might call it:
(again, this is my specific program. everyone has to find his or her own specific program. got it?)

most importantly:

working out. yes, there is no way around it.

i started out with swimming 4 to 5 hours a week. for me personally it was a great way to reintroduce sport into my life: no pressure on joints, low intensity, and i have always loved swimming when i was a child. now, i do strength training 2 to 3 times a week and additional cardio workouts such as running, cycling, swimming 3 to 4 times a week and i plan to start with some team sport, but i haven't really decided what yet. i also enjoy hiking. a lot.

being less lazy in every day situations.

taking the stairs instead of the elevator. walk instead of taking the bus or the tram.

(jep, i'm writing this having done not a single thing for the last two weeks. nothing. nada. sometimes life - or uni - gets in the way. it happens.)

and the rules concerning food and beverages:

no alcohol

not that i drank an aweful lot before but it's just empty calories and it is just not that important to me so i might as well not drink. and also think about the money one can save. just saying.

no meat

now here's the reason why i call it "my specific program". normally, becoming a vegetarian is not on any kind of weight loss list. for me it was important for two reasons, the first one being: i was eating the wrong kind of meat - the heavily processed meat - and i ate way too much of it. for me it is easier to simply not eat meat at all than constantly having to negotiate with myself how much was still okay and what kinds of meat to chose (plus the heavily processed meat is usually way cheaper than the nutritionally beneficient meat). the second reason is that it gives me a kind of empowerment and pride to be able to completely refuse to eat what i before was in a way addicted to.

reducing the amount of processed food

the more i prepare my own food the more i can control what is exactly in everything that i eat. i can adapt every meal exactly the way i want it, put more veggies in, less carbs, less oil, less salt & so on.

obviously not an excessive amount of carbs but: carbs!

this one was vital for me. i tried a diet before that basically said: don't eat carbs. and it worked fine for a short time. for a very short time. however, i need carbs. the important thing is to eat the right kind of carbs and, naturally, in moderation. then again, everything needs to be in moderation so: carbs!

no sweetened beverages

NO sweetened beverages. i have to admit that this is probably the rule i broke most often but it is also one of the most important ones. there is no nutritional benefit in sweetened beverages. i drink water. oh, and coffee without suger. my one addiction left - maybe i can get over the crazy headaches i get when i don't have my two, three or four daily coffees somewhere down the road, but well, it is coffee.

no crisps/chips, no sweets

well, obviously, but let me elaborate: i don't really care all too much about sweet stuff, but i really, really like crisps/chips. now, not eating any sweet stuff is a no-brainer, since it is not really challenging. in the past, i ate sweet stuff mainly when it was offered to me, so i just had to decide to not accept any dessert at all and to learn how to say no to people who were offering something sweet to me. with crisps/chips it was, basically, the same as with meat. if i know i can't have any at all, i just don't buy it and i am not even tempted to have another and another and another until the bag is empty. if i don't start eating it, i don't have to make a decision to stop. simple.

one reward per week. one.

now that i mentioned all my rules there is one more thing. there is one exception. every sunday, i can have one piece of dark chocolate. this piece of dark chocolate is very important. i don't really know why but it just is. but i can only have it if i haven't had anything sweet during the week. so, last christmas i was able to have two of my grandma's famous christmas cookies. not more? no, and it wasn't even difficult. however, it was important that it wasn't a fail but a conscious decision to substitute my weekly piece of dark chocolate. i was allowed to have those cookies and they tasted all the better because of it.

so, i think that is more or less what i have been doing for the last two years. i could have added many more points to the list like "eat more veggies, fruit, lentils", "cut down on dairy" and other things i did but i think this should be enough for now.
one thing i still have to mention, i guess, is that i set myself those rather strict rules to be able to be free to eat what i want in the remaining food categories. if i am hungry i will eat. no starving myself. i do not want to feel hungry all the time and even though i eat smaller portions than before i want to be able to go for seconds if i feel like it.

this is it. this is how i lost 70 kilos or 154 pounds. this is also how i managed to have a healthy attitude towards food because i am not only proud that i managed to achieve the weight loss but also that i managed to do it in a healthy way.