43 Pounds Lost! Discover an Answer

Well, it is fitting after a year away from blogging, the first thing I do is write about my 43 lost pounds.  I have tried off and on for about three or four years to lose weight.  I found an old graph in January 2011 that told the story of being unsuccessful.  In January 2011 I weighed 208 pounds, the weight fluctuated between there and 216.  In January 2012, the graph still read 208 pounds.  I believe I was done fooling around.  Everyone has to have that moment that they say this is really, really dumb.

I 'd told myself over and over, I had "narrow" shoulders, I had "fat" arms, I was a "big" girl.  The excuses just kept coming.  Creeping up on a size 20+, at 5'5" (what some might consider on the verge of being petite) something had to change.  July of 2012 I discovered the much overlooked understated mantra:

"Calories in, Calories out."

I began to use a calorie counting website July 31, 2012.  Caloriecount.com has been the answer.  The only answer.  In six months I have lost more weight than I lost in the other two-plus years of trying to exercise enough to justify eating whatever I want.

I learned through process of elimination, for me, it's going to be a pound and a half at a time and not without sacrifice.  I can't "not eat" and lose weight.  when I eat about 1200 - 1500 calories a day, I lose weight.  If I eat more, I don't lose.  If I eat less, I gain.  Yes.  That's right.  I gain.  I try for about 600 - 800 calories of activity a day for between five to six days a week.  When I'm tired or don't feel like it, I don't.  I double up in a few days or just don't worry about it.  Still, I've lost about three and a half pounds a month for the past six months.  For now, I have plateaued at the the 170 mark.  Everyday I think "this is the day I will weigh 169", the scale reads 171, 172, or the mind screaming, 170.2

Based on the calculations on the website, I do best at about 700 - 800 calorie deficit.  I try for a 1,000 calorie a day deficit and I get grouchy, weak, and can't work out at my best.

My suggestion for everyone is to skip the schemes and pills.  Join something that counts the calories for you, take a thirty minute walk or an hour bike ride on the weekend.  Remember, you have to want this for yourself and be willing to do this even when no one else cares or notices.