Phase 1: Start with small things
Phase 2: Change habits one at a time
Phase 3: Investigate your physiology and trouble shoot
Phase 4: It’s time to hit the gym hard and count calories or
points or carbs….just count.
Phase 5: For me, skin removal! For you, this may be irrelevant.
Phase 6: Finding new interesting physical challenges, just
make it fun for you!
Phase 7: For me, helping others to achieve!
When you begin the path to health you
can find endless amounts of literature with titles like 30 days to your bikini
body or 10 days 10 pounds. You will also
find a plethora of miracle diet plans, pills prescriptions about specific foods
not to eat. If you take pieces from
everything you may find something sustainable until then it is important to
understand that you don’t get directly from 300 pounds to 160 by doing the same
things the whole time. Often the quick
fix can make things worse in the long run because by taking extreme measures
all at once you cannot sustain the changes.
Weight loss has many phases and
they are unique for all of us. When you
are beginning “Morbidly Obese” small changes can make a fast yet manageable result. For me, this phase was from 300 to 250
pounds. I analyzed my diet, activity
level and medications. At first, I was
in such bad shape that the medications had to remain but by the time I lost
that first 50 pounds I was off the primary weight gain related substances. I investigated dietary changes I could manage
and stick with and began moving my body more.
It worked! I lacked funds to
attain any expert help or even join a club, so it required more patience than
anything.
The next phase required more work,
walking combined with less fat and sugar was not enough. I had to find the next set of changes. I took everything up a notch by adjusting my
actions every 14 days. One small change I
could stick with for 14 days and then another small change. The key was I had to change my habits. I think this was the hardest part of the
entire journey because progress was sluggish resulting in waning motivation many
times. It took me a year to lose 15
pounds and it was discouraging!
I had to seek out the expertise of
a Naturopath to begin making real progress again. For me stage three began and
ended with specific medical guidance. Tests
were completed that western medicine does not support. With the results of the tests physiologic
repairs were made. Hormones were
balanced specific to my needs and my adrenal glands regained enough function to
make a difference. They will never
function at 100% again but through very tightly managed adrenal rehab I was
able to regain 40% function. These major
adjustments resulted in another 45 pounds loss that led into the more active areas.
Once I reached 195 pounds it was
time for phase 4 to begin. Challenging workouts at the gym early morning and
again in the evening while watching what I was eating. It may seem like this would be more difficult
than earlier phases but by this time it was fun, and I was mentally ready to
challenge myself. I was doing cardio and
lifting weights and seeing less weight loss but my body shape was noticeably changing,
and it was changing quickly. I had to
stop focusing on the scale because the numbers were barely budging even though
I was dropping pant sizes.
Phase 5 was something that I never
thought I would do. I was disgusted by
the idea and told everyone I would NEVER do it.
Weight loss was to get healthy no for esthetics! After I had so much
skin hanging off my midsection and could no longer see a belly button I developed
a disdain for my new body. I was more self-conscious
than I was before I lost the weight and I looked fat even though it was just
loose skin. I ended up last year having
major plastic surgery to remove all this excess. It took so much preparation but was necessary
to move forward (there will soon be multiple posts related to surgery).
Now I am in phase 6 were I focus on
real fitness goals and less on the way my body looks. Obviously with greater fitness comes more
muscle toning and fine tuning the body but it is the farthest thing from my
focus. I hired a trainer to get me
started working out in new ways. It has
worked immensely well! I had no idea I
was capable of the things he has taught me to do. The first time he told me about squat jumps I
could not get my feet to get off the ground.
I never would have even heard of them without a trainer. The number of things that the trainer has introduced
me to will keep me challenging myself for a long time!
The 7th phase will be
when I am able to transfer what I have learned to help others regain their
health. To motivate without judgment and
constantly encourage. Once I complete my
trainer certification my focus will always be positive and to support the mental/emotional
struggle as much as the physical.