Struggle with Weight

Why is it that I have trouble losing weight?

After reading, "It Starts with Food: Discover the Whole30 and Change Your Life in Unexpected Ways," by Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig, I found that structure is the biggest factor in good nutrition.

1.  The human body needs food in intervals.  Three times a day works best.  Meal 1 within an hour of waking and every meal after within 4 to 5 hours. 

As soon as I started following this plan, I noticed more structure within all areas of my life like bedtime, getting up at a consistent time, and over all better organized with my life.  The old saying: 

“Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

― Benjamin Franklin

Taken from URL: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/33937-early-to-bed-and-early-to-rise-makes-a-man found by Google search, early to bed on 3/9/14 at 6:45 p.m.

has merit today as well. 

2.  The body needs right sized portions.  For meat about 4 ounces - with 2 servings of vegetables - I picked up some frozen greens (mustard, turnip and collard) and found for these a serving size is 1 cup and for other types (broccoli, kale, squash) about 2/3 cup.  

 

There are recipes in the book but I mostly use some herbs to change the flavors - like basil, savory, Italian, thyme and poultry.  Be sure to get enough fat with the dishes.  The body won't burn fat if it isn't taking fat in so use accordingly.  I use 1 T olive oil or butter - you can clarify but I don't find to many milk solids in organic or unsalted butter.

3.  Some types of foods the body wasn't designed to eat.  Beans, peanuts, and grains are non-digestible and tend to cause fat to store when you try to eat them.

I stay clear of gluten mainly because I had many side affects when I ate it and also found out later I had the genetic marker for Celiac Disease which irritates the bowel causing fat to absorb but now nutrients.  Basically starving of nutrients while getting greats amounts of fat stores.  "It Starts with Food...," also suggests not to use gluten substitutes this has also been a help.  Sweet potatoes and squash make up for the loss of breads and noodles.

4.  The body doesn't need added sugar such as from cane or honey. 

I lost weight from July to October then decided to have some sugar over the holidays.   Big mistake.  I didn't put more weight on but noticed I lost muscle tone, so now I ration my honey for tea to 2 T per day.  I try not to have any sugars for breakfast which includes starches or fruits.

5.  The body does need enzymes, calcium and magnesium to function properly.  

I use what is suggested in "It stars with Food...", Super Enzymes from Now, Vitamin D-3 5,000IU from Now, Natural Calm 2 tsp once a day with my calcium powder Citracal also from Now, 1 tsp of Fish Oil.

The only thing I take with every meal is the Super Enzymes.  The rest are once a day with my suggestion of Ester C one 500 mg per day.  

6.  Why listen to me?  I'm no expert but since last July, 2013 I've lost 43 pounds with no added exercise.  

Background:  My height 5' 2" start weight as of July 23, 2013 was 252 pounds, weight today is 209.  My goal weight is around 126 to 120 but will adjust as needed - this is ideal weight.

43 pounds is as far as I could go without exercise, so have started walking now since February 24.  I'm able to do about 1 mile in 30 minutes.  Afterwards, I use my stationary trainer bike for about 10 minutes to cool down and do a small amount of interval work by increasing the tension.  

So far I've been able to maintain without too much soreness and that's a great plus for me.  In the past when I tried exercise I had bad flare ups in my hips and trunk from inflammation.  Icing and stretching is helping with any issues I've gotten since walking this time.

To support this effort I signed up for a March for Babies walk at work scheduled for April, so I know I have to get in shape for that - great motivator since this money is needed for healthier babies.  I've also had the support of my Facebook friends - you know who you are:)

7.  Meditation helps with unwanted thoughts.  

Meditation principles calm my thoughts - so when I get the idea I'm too tired or don't want to exercise or I'll just end up with messed up hips again, I say my mantram (in my mind only) over and over until the negative ideas have gone.  Its great to use the mantram when you're walking or working on your dishes or laundry.  

The more you use the mantram the more the mind will use it to stay calm.  It even helps me sleep better when I say it before bed.  If you want more information about the mantram and how to select one for yourself I have a book review on my blog (melissablanchard62.wordpress.com) for the best teacher I know, Eknath Easwaran.  His books are easy to understand and he uses real life examples of how meditation is applied.    

So now I'll be keeping you up-to-date on my progress (another incentive).  I'll be posting my blog for the March for Babies if anyone is interested in giving, stay tuned.

I hope you now believe it is possible to lose weight after 50 and that some of my journey will help you as well.  Comments are welcome.