Losing weight

[Guest Sally G.]

I am using this topic to record my progress losing weight and the things that worked for me.

One of the goals I set myself this year was to lose weight. After a false start losing 2-3 kgs and then facing a situation where I spent several weeks responding to an emergency and being focussed on other things I regained the weight. In May I had my first appointment with my endo and one of the things the nurses did was weigh me. I got a shock when the (very accurate) scales came in at 106.3 kgs! (On my bathroom scales at home I weighed 100 kgs).

When I went home I played around with my bathroom scales and discovered I could 'change' my weight simply by changing where I stood on the scales. On my scales I found if I stood so that the scales gave their highest reading I was 105 kg. The difference between this and the hospital weight is due to daily fluctuations in weight - I generally weigh myself first thing in the morning (when I am at my lightest) and at the hospital I was fully clothed - took my shoes off though.

Anyway since May I have now lost 6 kg - this is the lightest (99 kg) I have been for six years and I have reached my first milestone (to weigh less than 100 kg). I have gone done a waist size in jeans (yay!). My next milestone is 95 kg as this will give me a BMI of 30 (moving from being clinically obese to merely overweight). My long-term target weight is 75 kg. I have been on anti-androgens since mid-July and hope to get e soon.

I remember watching a British documentary on 10 things to do to lose weight. The list is on my fridge and although I don't yet do all of the things on the list I am steadily losing weight. In fact it is nice to know that if I get to a plateau (as I inevitably will) that there are still some tools in my bag of tricks.

I have lost the weight so far by making small dietary changes slowly over a period of time. I would describe my diet as low-fat, low-refined-carb (sugar and white flour) and relatively high in protein (beans, eggs, fish, meat) - largely based on a CSIRO study (Aussie Govt Science Research). The initial focus has not been on removing fat from my diet but removing refined sugar. For example I now eat far fewer sweet biscuits and cakes and although I was nominally removing sugar from my diet this has also removed a large source of fat as most biscuits are baked with butter.

Aroha

Sally G.

[Guest Sarah Miller]

Hi Sally,

I'm into week 8 of the CSIRO diet and have lost almost 12 kilos. I used to weigh about 73-75 in my 20s and of course everything goes out the window after 30!! At one point I to reached 100kg. I started at 93kg in mid-August and should get below 80 by this weekend for the first time since about 1998. 73-75 is my goal. Good luck and keep at it. I have cut out ALL pastries, most sugar, only 2 small glasses of wine on the weekends, replaced rice and pasta with veggies. All dairy I eat now is lo fat even the milk for my coffee. I know it's hard and I still get hunger pangs during the day but my goal is to be able to fit into size 10 and 12 womens clothes.

Keep it up!

xxo ciao Sarah

[JJ]

Sally that is wonderful! Congratulations. ! And congratulations to you Sarah as well. Losing weight is difficult.

I have lost 57kgs over the last year while also gaining muscle mass from T and there are a couple of things that really help me. One is that in spite of disliking the whole idea it is absolutely true that exercise is essential to maintaining any weight loss. Physiologically the body will adjust to what you are eating and eventually become more efficient at burning the calories you take in. As it does weight loss slows or stops. Exercise forces your metabolism up. And 15 min. of aerobic exercise a day can cause you to burn calories faster for 24 hours! I am limited a little in what I can do because of old injuries.

I do eat a 90 calorie Quaker granola bar either before a swim if I swim (an hour at a fast pace with large fins-about 2 miles) or midway if I hike (3 hours in mountains) which gives me the energy to complete the exercise but also keeps me from starving when I'm done. Doesn't do much good to exercise of it causes you to hit the fridge except that you will still burn more faster all day.

Another important thing I do is have one day a week where I eat anything and everything I want without worry or guilt.That also keeps the metabolism up and keeps your body from going into starvation mode where weight loss becomes impossible.

And the last thing is that I keep a daily journal online of both what I eat and exercise. There are a lot of places you can do that for free but for myself I have found Livestrong.com to work best and be the most complete.Keeping track seems like a pain but actually it makes me feel more in control and makes me more responsible to myself. Not to mention that many foods are really surprising in the calories they contain. Like one kind of boneless, skinless chicken has almost twice as many calories as another or that a McDonalds shake has more calories than I eat in 2 days! And having to record what I did stimulates me to do more.

Many Drs and many sites say it is impossible to lose as much weight as I have at my age-but they are wrong. T also makes it more difficult because you body wants to bulk up but it is possible and because transitioning has changed my relationship with food I am sure that I will never regain the weight. I like the way I eat and I like the feeling of being fit. The challenge will be to increase what I eat one I have lost the additional 25kgs that is my target.

And I like that sometimes now people don't believe I am me even when I tell them.

And stress? This past year has been many times over the most stressful of my life because of a financial and home situation I cannot control. But that hasn't caused me to eat-in fact I never think about it when I am upset anymore. I had not always been large but stress and some serious health issues and despair had added 45kgs in just a few years. I had gained 75kgs from a medication for Lupus about 15 years ago and had battled my weight down time after time afterwards because the medication can stay in your system for a very long time. Food was my comfort and I always gained it back.

Not anymore. Being me is my comfort now.

Johnny

[Guest Maria_B]

I found great results with that myself, but, unfortunately it is currently too expensive to keep up.

One day, though, I'll go back on that, that was my lowest (healthy) weight. My goal is around 90kg (as that'll put me on borderline overweight, which is my preferred).

I'm very happy you've had the same fantasticness I found with it, and wish you even more results, girls!

Also, -squeals for JJ-

[Guest Sarah Miller]

Ok, my weigh in today; 79.1kg. I've lost exactly 14kg in 2 months. 6kg to go and I will be happy, 12 week plan finishes on November 6

Hope your weightless is going well, Sally

xxo Sarah

[Guest Sally G.]

Thanks for the support. I have had the kids for the last week during part of their school holidays so my strict diet has had to be modified to make sure I feed their growing bodies.

Just before the kids came to stay I had reached 97 kg which is still ahead of schedule (I am aiming for only 2 kg/month loss). I checked again this morning and I was still 97 kg so no gain but no loss while the kids were here. Back to my routine this week so hopefully I will get to 95 about mid-November which is six weeks ahead of my schedule.

Sarah - I am not following the strict CSIRO diet but using the basic principles around kJ intake and carb/fat/protein ratio. I have found it useful to make small modifications each week to gradually change my dietary lifestyle. I started with my breakfast and am now well settled into a routine of porridge, yoghurt and fruit at about 1600 kJ which I find keeps me going to lunchtime. For lunch I changed from sandwiches to a wrap with at least 100 g protein (tuna or cold meat) and lots of salad veges . If I want to reduce the carbs further in the future I can dispense with the wrap and bulk up the salad. My current change is to replace potato crisps (40 g a day!) with nuts. So small changes over several weeks is altering my diet to a much healthier base and enabling weight loss.

John - I haven't yet added systematic exercise to my weight loss routine although I am starting to take opportunities for exercise as they arise - bike rides, frisbee golf, farm chores. I can also relate to transitioning changing my relationship with food - it was my comfort, now it is my fuel and I am enjoying it more because I am no longer smoking and my taste buds are starting to work again.

Aroha

Sally