Short Term Maintenance Begins

My brother Jeff has been a great sounding board for me throughout the years and with all my false starts and stops at weight loss he hung in their with me listened to me, offered advice and never chastised me. He always was honest with me about my downfalls whenever I was on a diet. And on starting Medi in December, he gave me some great advice on how to be successful and told me not to be ashamed because I needed medication to help lose the weight. "They have medication to help people stop smoking and to stop drinking" he said. "Why not take medication to help you lose weight if it is available."

So now for the news of the week:

My counselor today at my weigh-in appointment told me to wear something spiffy next week because they are going to take my AFTER picture. I can't tell you how awesome that feels. As I am typing this I am actually welling up with tears because finally after 12 years I have attained a weight loss goal. This is a very emotional for me. I have lost 39 pounds since December 29, 2009, almost 5 months ago. Today, Yancy told me to make sure I get my 500 calories of protein a day and add a fruit serving along with my 2 servings of vegetables. I now will slowly start adding food back into my diet until I get to my calorie requirements for maintenance. She said I can expect to still lose while I am making this transition. This will be fine with me. I actually would love to lose about 5 more so I can use 135-140 as my range. I thank all of you for following this blog and supporting me throughout this process. The blog and talking about it was part of my strategy for being successful.

You have to see this news item. http://www.newscentralga.com/news/local/93626474.html It is about Medi-Weightloss Clinics. I echo the sentiments of the 2 patients featured in the item.

Being overweight is nothing to be ashamed of. It is a medical problem and can be treated with a medical program. It takes a team of doctors, nurses, dietitians and counselors along with the right support of medication and nutritional supplements. Just like any other medical problem. Because I have lost the weight, my health risks for diabetes and coronary disease are greatly reduced. If I had continued at the weight I was I could have ended up with diabetes especially since I was already a high risk factor being that I was gestational diabetic when I was pregnant with Steven. If I would have ended up with diabetes, I would have had to take medication and watch my diet and see doctors, nurses, and dietitians so I decided to use those resources for weight loss instead. I have the angel on my right shoulder to thank for my success. When the devil on my left shoulder would whisper in my ear to eat something not so good for me, I had the angel whispering in the other ear "that's not you." and "You are better than that." Self-talk was a big component. Being accountable was the other component. Knowing I would be going to the clinic visits, writing this blog and talking to my friends and family, kept me accountable for my actions. Another big factor I think is that I saw results quickly. I loved to see the results each week. It always spurred me on to maintaining myself 100% on the program each week. Now that I will be having my after picture taken, I am going to have the same commitment to maintenance as I did with the weight loss portion. This took me too long and I worked to hard to gain it all back.