Thursday, June 24, 2010

Losing It


They say you learn more from losing than you do from winning. I think this is, for the most part, true - yet depending on what exactly it is you are losing you might just be winning too!

This year I have lost about 55 lbs. I say about because, as anyone who has struggled with weight gain and weight loss knows, this has been a complicated process where some pounds have been lost over and over again. The picture above shows me last July (left)and me this month (right), significantly sized differently. Mostly this weight loss is a result of a medically supervised diet I partook in from January - May of this year, but more important than losing this weight is what I learned while I was losing it. I learned alot but I am going to select five things to write about here.

The first thing I learned is we eat way too much in our culture. We are taking in so many extra calories our bodies have no choice to store them as fat even if we are active. While for the most part this is a straight numbers game (eat calories over what your body needs and you will gain weight, eat less and you will lose) not all calories are the same. You need to choose your food wisely and cut the portion sizes - way down.

The second thing I learned is that we do not drink enough water. While I was on my low calorie diet I was drinking between 60 and 100 ounces daily. It is amazing the affect drinking water can have on your weight loss efforts, but also it makes you feel great and get's your system moving again. Try it.

The third thing I learned is that most of us have a metabolism that isn't functioning properly (mostly due to over eating or eating the wrong/same foods) and that no matter how hard you try to lose weight if your metabolism isn't working you're not going to lose anything. You might just have to kick start it first.

The fourth thing I learned is that sugar is in everything and you have to avoid it. I switched to sweetners and eliminated refined sugars (no junk foods, etc) and tried to focus on the raw foods with the lowest sugar counts. This change made a noticeable difference right away.

The fifth thing I learned is that protein is used by your body and not stored. You need to eat protein as an important part of any diet regime so your muscles can function properly. Since your body eliminates the protein that you don't use or need you can focus on good protein sources as a healthy part of a weight loss diet.

2 comments:

Duncan said...

I'm so proud of you! You look amazing!

Allie Wojtaszek said...

Thanks sweetheart :)