How I Lost 25 Pounds

I’ve struggled with my weight most of my life. It didn’t help that I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid (Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis) when I was just 10 years old. That’s no excuse, but it does make the struggle more difficult. A recent change in perspective finally gave me the motivation to make real changes. This is the story of how I lost 25 pounds.

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I’ve been overweight for a long time, mostly since my Dad died. And I put on more weight when I lost my Mom. But I remained strong and in pretty good shape until I went through breast cancer treatment in 2015. The surgery and chemo did not slow me down, but the radiation and the accumulated stress to my body left me with zero energy.

My Dad had Type 1 diabetes. I know what diabetes can do to the body. I saw what it did to my Dad’s eyes and feet, and ultimately, his life.

So, why didn’t I do what was needed to lose the weight? I guess I just didn’t want it enough. So the number one step for me was finding serious motivation to be able to feel comfortable in my body, not just comforted by food.

Awakening

Those of you who know me well, know that I deal with chronic pain. I have chronic inflammation that’s made my TMJ and back issues even worse. I dug into doing research because I thought there must be something more I could do to alleviate this chronic inflammation and pain besides eating ibuprofen all the time.

My research shook me to my core. Inflammation begins in fat cells and belly fat. Learning that I helped cause my chronic imflammation floored me. Combine that with my doctor saying I had to lose weight or I could end up with type 2 diabetes and I knew I had to make serious changes.

Motivation

After discovering the link between belly fat and chronic inflammation, I changed my mindset about food and health. This was a necessary change in my perspective and finally a change in behavior. I want to:

• take full advantage of my years left on this earth.
• be able to move easily, be strong, and be able to do all the projects I want to do.
• eat nutritious food to give me energy, health and vitality.
• focus on my health and longevity more than ever before.

My ultimate goal is to lose enough weight that I’ll have less inflammation and less pain.

I wanted to Know Where My Food Came From

I put up barriers to eating foods that aren’t good for me and to exclude as much processed food as possible. And I focused on fresh garden produce and sustainably raised meat.

My husband loves his fast food. I’ve been asking him to cut down for years for both health and financial reasons, but I also had to ask him not to pick anything up for me. It can be hard to say no when someone waves ready-to-eat food in front of you. My focus on the environmental impact of fast food, from the disposable packaging, driving to pick it up, corporate rather than local businesses, and beef coming from factory farms (read more about food choices for the environment here), helped my resolve.

I have been growing a portion of my own food for years. A few years ago when our budget was really tight, I decided I needed to grow far more of our own food because organics were just too expensive. Now I’m trying to preserve my homegrown food for the winter too. This focus on homegrown food hasn’t just been fresh and delicious, but it’s also raised the bar on the kind of food I’m willing to put in my body.

I began to buy meat from local farmers. Read my article on buying from local farmers here. I wanted meat that had been raised ethically and sustainably. Eating pasture raised meat means it’s not loaded with roundup-ready GMO corn and other grains that are fed to most cattle. I found farms who love their animals and raise them on pasture as cattle are meant to be. Although the prices are higher, the quality of the meat, improved nutrition and zero pesticides was worth it. I then reduced my meat portions using the deck of cards rule. Serving sizes have gotten so big these days, it took a while to adjust to this.

Breakfast

Protein for breakfast has helped me stay on track. We enjoy fresh eggs from our layers around 3 times a week. I try to add a full serving of vegetables to my eggs with chard, kale, onions, peppers, tomatoes or squash. Frittatas are fun to make and sort of like a healthier quiche!

Other days I may have bran cereal or oatmeal with added fruit and nuts. Cereal by itself just doesn’t stay with me.

I rarely have toast or a bagel now on it’s own. Even my old favorite peanut butter toast doesn’t have enough to it to keep me going.

Lunch

My biggest challenge is lunch. I’m often too busy to take the time to eat. I’m doing better about not grabbing junk when I don’t eat properly, but that left me with a new problem. Not eating enough! When you’re not eating enough, you actually stop losing weight. Your body goes into survival mode and holds onto the calories as fat. So when I go ahead and eat even more nutritious food, I’m often able to break through a plateau.

Sandwiches are still one of my go-to lunches. I love whole grain breads, leftover roasted chicken and lots of lettuce and tomato. Soup is a great filling option. I’m making chicken soup from scratch more often since I’m buying whole chickens from our favorite farm. I add as many extra vegetables as I can.

If I’m not having a traditional lunch, I will have an extra hearty snack.

Snacks

Snacking frequently is helpful. But my snacking now is entirely different than it was. One of my favorites is Trader Joe’s organic blue corn chips with salsa fresca or pico de gallo. Now that my tomatoes are finally ripening, I can’t wait to make my own.

I also love hummus — with veggies, pretzels, and those blue corn chips. Since hummus is made from chick peas, it packs a protein punch.

Other handy snacks are a handful of nuts, a yogurt, fruit, or that peanut butter toast with whole grain bread. Smoothies are a delicious way to add fruits and also vegetables to your diet.

I try to choose food from at least two food groups for a more balanced snack. I’ve also learned that eating protein and good fats with carbohydrates slows how the body converts carbs into sugars and prevents spikes in blood sugar and insulin production.

Salads

I try to eat salad every day. Not only does that give me a few servings of vegetables and fruit, but all the fiber helps keep me regular too.

When I have a salad for dinner, I choose to add either meat or cheese, not both. I often add some grilled chicken to make my salad a meal. Goat cheese makes a salad feel a bit decadent. One of my favorites is taco salad, but I had avoided that because it’s best with meat and cheese. But now I substitute beans for the ground beef or turkey, as is from the can or sauteed with onion and peppers and spices.

My new favorite salad ingredient? Blueberries! Blueberries and green beans, blueberries and salmon, blueberries and goat cheese!

I’m adding more ginger and turmeric to my diet because of their anti-inflammatory effects. I love using fresh ginger, turmeric and garlic in homemade salad dressing; it’s so flavorful!

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Dinner

I eat a wide variety of foods for dinner. I really haven’t cut myself off from any food choices unless they’re processed. For instance, I still have meatloaf and potatoes, but I’ll stick to one slice of meatloaf and use greek yogurt on the potatoes. Pasta is still a good choice. I either saute vegetables to mix with it or have a salad first. Then I use a bowl that only holds a cup of pasta so I won’t dish up too much.

When I make cooked vegetables for dinner, I either steam them or sautee in a bit of extra virgin olive oil. Other oils that are generally made from GMOs and have heavy pesticide residue are no longer welcome in my kitchen.

Using a smaller plate helps me dish up the amount of food I need as opposed to what I think I want. That helps me avoid overeating or wasting food. Especially since I try to make vegetables half of what I put on the plate.

Coffee and Treats

I’ve changed my coffee consumption too. I had already cut back to two cups a day. Then, when my favorite big mug broke, I switched to a smaller mug. It’s not the coffee that’s the problem. It’s that I like my coffee sweet and flavorful. But mocha or hazelnut creamer can’t go on unchecked.

I didn’t used to be an ice cream addict, but I became one. The sweet, creamy coldness was perfect at the end of a long day. But I picked a smaller bowl. Then I picked a smaller one still. Now I sometimes save a yogurt snack to have instead of ice cream. And sometimes I just skip the sweet snack altogether. But I’ll be honest, the smaller bowl approach took a year or more. It’s hard to change habits. Especially when they’re so satisfying.

Thankfully I gave up soda and all artificial sweeteners over 23 years ago when I was planning to start a family. Now I’m finally cutting way back on foods with sugar too. Keeping alcohol consumption down is an important part of cutting down on sugars too.

Exercise

I found that going for regular extended walks was too painful. Thankfully, I’m moving between the gardens, house, and chickens repeatedly. That’s a real advantage of having garden spaces in 3 different areas of our property. Since I’ve reached my initial goal of 25 pounds, I’ll get back to walking and hopefully find it less painful.

Raising chickens and growing more of my own food come with additional work. I’m embracing the physical labor of carrying bags of chicken feed, building, painting, and gardening. I have a can-do attitude that helps me push myself to do the work and build muscles as well as skills.

I stretch and do a few yoga positions every night for my back and to keep my muscles limber. It’s incredibly relaxing and helps me sleep better too.

My daughter, Andie, was great about keeping me exercising while she was home this summer. I admit I have not been keeping it up. I know I’ll need to do regular exercise to build muscle and to get past the 25 pound mark.

Results

It’s taken me a long time to lose 25 pounds-nearly 7 months! My hope is that slow weight loss will be lasting weight loss since I’ve changed so may of my habits over time.

Because I’m nourishing my body better, I feel better and I have more energy. I can work for longer periods of time without getting tired or having quite so much pain. I can move so much more easily and it feels great to run across the yard. Dancing is becoming a regular thing for me again.

The weight loss hasn’t made enough of a difference in my chronic pain yet. But it’s made a significant difference in my health, my outlook, my ability to do physical work, and even my mood.

What’s Next?

I’m not finished with this journey to better health. I plan to keep moving in the right direction. Between my gardens and egg layers I’ll keep eating better. These cool evenings are great for walking.

I’m focusing on the positive and how much progress I’ve made. I’m keeping my sights on all my plans and goals for life which will keep me focused on all the positive reasons to continue to improve my health.

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