Life Between 0 and 1

You know it’s been a long time since you last wrote when you go to log onto your account and need to reset your password….  Writing has been furthest from my mind that last several months as I hit a stage of burn out.  I just didn’t have the motivation to sit down and write anything in favor of doing other things that involved anything that didn’t have a computer related to it.  Job is good.  Family is good.  I’m good.

Since February, I’ve been really working hard on making better choices on what I shovel into my mouth.  For a second I had considered the whole surgery thing to lose weight, but after seeing the options and talking to a few people, I quickly moved onto medication assisted weight loss that didn’t involve knives or stitches of any kind.  To my astonishment, I’ve kept my appointments, followed their regimen well into the high 90% range and even joined AND a gym that I attend regularly 4 times per week.

My first weigh in was 358 pounds with a rather embarrassing body-mass-index that can easily be figured out for those that wish to know.  It’s now the end of June and we’re heading into the summer and my last weight check I was topping off at just over 315 pounds (that’s 43 pounds).  The medication I’m on doesn’t make me lose weight, rather, it helps my brain control the stomach monster growling and screaming at me that I need to eat.  Basically it makes it easier for me to not snack and eat regular meals at regular times.

Over the last 4 months, I’ve experimented with different types of food intake and have settled into something that doesn’t make me feel slothy and slow or like I have constant noro virus.  The breakdown, which is around 2,000 calories per day where 50% comes from fat, 30% from protein and 20% from carbohydrates.  Not quite the rigid “you must not consume more than 25g of carbs per day” Keto thing people are on, but also not the “in bread we trust” thing I had done for so many years before.  It’s a happy medium that I can live with for the long-term.

The other massive change I’ve made, that has definitely impacted the entire family, is that we PREPARE all of our food now.  There is nothing in the house that comes in a box, bag, or can if we can help it.  Something about buying something in a box that says “All Natural” that just makes me bust out laughing now, I swear.  Is a plastic bag “organic”?  Yeah, I used some common sense (and my eyes) to realize that fresh and natural food LOOKS fresh and natural and by its very nature, has a need to be prepared just before being eaten.  In the end, I’m spending about the same amount of money on groceries as I was before, but I’m shopping at farmers markets and butcher shops instead of grocery stores.  Fresh meat and vegetables actually stay longer because they’re not wrapped in air tight plastic and foam containers.  Who would have thought?

Overall, I’ve learned one very simple and easy lesson from all of this.  To lose weight, you must:

• Eat less
• Move more
• Repeat