This blog explores how I lost 100 pounds (and kept it off, ta very much) without gastric bypass. There are a lot of weird but common myths regarding obesity and diet. To lose weight, I had to ignore these crazy ideas about weight loss. I used what I call mind over platter mental resets to retrain my brain. I had to reteach myself healthier habits I followed before I got overweight. Here are some crazy ideas to side-step if you want to lose weight.
1) I need a gastric bypass surgery because I "can't" lose weight alone. This is a common myth perpetuated by patients on shows like "My 600-lb Life." "My 600-lb Life" participants have morbid obesity and arguably gastric bypass is necessary. But they still have to lose weight before surgery. And they have to keep up with the 1200 calorie diet after surgery or they'll fail weight loss.
2) I need a weight loss drug like Wegovy to lose weight for me. Wrong! An appetite suppressant doesn't lose weight. It curbs hunger but you still have change eating habits. (May I recommend, again, the 1200 calorie diet? It's how I lost 100 pounds.
3) It's okay, this weight loss drug is natural. Okay first, define natural: not synthetic or pharmaceutical. So yes, some are. But then, they are not a weight loss drug but fruit supplements (apple cider vinegar, green tea, garcinia cambogia, raspberry ketones). However, others, like DHEA, proclaim to be natural but are in fact, a steroid or stimulant hidden is some quasi-natural stuff.
4) I will steadily lose weight if I diet right. You might, but most likely you'll plateau occasionally, especially as you near your goal. It's easy to shed weight when you first start a diet. The more overweight you are, the easier that first part is. My first 50 pounds just fell off. That's why "My 600-lb Life" Dr. Now sets 30-50 in a month goals. I was about 20 pounds from goal weight when I plateaued. I panicked. Because I listened to the next crazy idea about weight loss.
5) Scale and BMI are right and I'm wrong. When I couldn't shake those pernicious pounds I did a crazy thing. I took DHEA, foolishly assuming it was safer than a weight loss drug. It was sold with supplements. But DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) is a steroid. Notice the last half of the word -osterone?! I was taking freaking testosterone of some chemmy equivalent.
6) Steroids are monitored in natural supplements. NOT! DHEA was in with vitamins, which always have that CTB (cover their butts) disclaimer about no proven effect, yada yada. Long and short there was no way to know how much was in it because it was not a prescription. I could be--probably was-getting double to triple whammy of the recommended dose. Ipso facto, I turned into one nervous, irritable, miserable lil camper. I thought I was having a heart attack!
7) I can lose weight without calorie restricting. We've all read those pie-in-the-sky (pun intended) diets that promise you can forget calorie counting. Well, they're pie crust promises: easily made, easily broken. So you may not have to do the 1200 calorie diet. But you have to change eating habits and to do that ya gotta track food intake and control portions. Either keto, or the Zone diet (40-30-30 diet) or intermittent fasting, something. Otherwise obesity nags us to mindlessly overeat.
8) Being overweight isn't my fault. Correct. It's not a fault but it is a problem. Maybe I do have a fat gene or trouble curbing hunger. But I can always eat less.
9) I've tried every diet and nothing works. Wrong. Diet works if you work it. And therein lies the rub. We don't want to "work it." We want to eat. A lot. We shield our eating and lie to ourselves. We fudge numbers (what second slice of pizza?). We round calories down. We ignore or don't check calories. WE ignore recommended portion sizes. But you can't fool mother nature. Our bodies know how much we're eating.
10) I'm hopeless. No, and I'm not helpless either. Biggest untruth of all. Repeat. I can lose weight if I want to, with calorie restricting. Or I can going on kidding myself about how much I eat and how overweight I am. The choice is mine.
So those are some not-to-do's, you're thinking. Why don't you give us to-do's, Ms. Smartypants? Well, here's how I lost 100 pounds.
1) Start and don't stop calorie restricting. Sure it's tempting to believe I can lose without effort. But that kind thinking got me overweight in the first place. Yes, I get sick of calorie restricting but not so sick as I was before I lost 100 pounds. And if I keep doing what I've done, (overeating) I'll get what we've always gotten--overweight.
2) Stop looking for shortcuts and start rethinking food, hunger, portion size, self control. Use my mind over platter tricks found in this blog. That's how I lost 100 pounds.
3) Stop listening to others so much and start trusting yourself to do what you need to. If some people don't need to count calories, well, bully for them. They're the exception, not the norm. Do what works for you. For me it was intermittent fasting combined with a little keto and 1200 calorie diet.
There's a lot more, so keep stay tuned for more on how I lost 100 pounds and how you can lose weight too!
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