My Weight Loss Story Part 2

Phase 1 - Conquering Addiction

Being over 100 pounds over weight makes eating and life in general very different than when you are at a healthy weight.  At that time food addiction took complete control over me.  I couldn't go a single day without eating sweets at night or eating almost triple what I do now.  I didn't have the ability to stop.  Food itself wasn't the problem, or even willpower.  My body itself was almost thinking on its own.  I knew I needed something drastic if I was going to conquer this.

My hubby and I decided to do the HcG diet.  It was one month of the most boring foods possible and constant 24/7 focus on food.  By the end of it, the thought of eating or smelling cooked cabbage again made me want to vomit.  But, it worked.  I lost 30 pounds, and my husband lost even more.  Just like all diets, though, if you don't make permanent changes to your eating habits, you will gain the weight back.  I gained back 15 of it.  Eating normal food again, was just too wonderful.  However, the habit of restricting my calories did stick and I was able to keep off at least that 15.  That month was horrific and exhausting so I kind of "burnt out" and took some time off from dieting. I documented some of that experience starting here.

What I learned from this experience was being so extremely overweight required a drastic measure to be taken. Some might disagree with this, but of any diet or even TV show I've seen, they always make a drastic change in the beginning. This seems to be the only way to break free from addiction. Addiction to food or sugar, is so all-consuming, it seems to take a major shock to the system to start being able to think without thinking of food/sugar first.

After I did the HcG, I had learned a lot about myself   I knew I needed help, and I couldn't handle another round of the HcG diet.  Diets like the HcG diet are major shocks to your system. This can help stop cravings, but it also requires 100% focus. I still felt powerless against sugar and carbs. Some friends of mine had gone to a bariatric doctor that specializes in medical weight loss. Essentially, through his classes, and through my own experience, I know that when you are obese, you can't expect to lose weight on willpower alone.  Sure, some people have, but most don't.  Our country is filled with obese people, and even more on diets.  The percentage of people successfully losing large amounts of weight is small, and most of them have had help of some sort.  Some people are very judgmental and scared of taking medication for weight loss, but if you want to truly conquer the addiction aspects, taking a pill can sometimes be the answer. I chose this route, because I wanted help fighting addiction, but also learned that taking care of health problems is essential to losing weight, too. Taking a pill is also more than just popping diet pills from a drug store. I'm talking about medication your doctor prescribes and monitors.

For me, though, what helped more than anything, is getting my PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) under control.  PCOS makes you insulin resistant, and high in testosterone.  Going to this doctor, I not only got the classes and encouragement they offer, you get blood tests and continual monitoring.  I was able to get on Metformin (a type II diabetes medication), which helped more than anything.  I also took Phentermine.  I never took the recommended dose, always much less, mainly because I didn't want to become dependent. I only wanted to use when I absolutely needed it. The doctor didn't like that I didn't follow the plan like he outlined, but because I kept dropping weight, he couldn't argue with how I was choosing to do things. I also started back on Chromium supplements and other vitamins.  But, the combination of all of those helped get my hormones back in balance and get the addiction under control.  I also take herbs, but that is a whole other story for later (it also how I manage things now, without medications).

Phase 1 consists of a major shock to your system. It also, in hindsight, was not the hardest Phase to be in. I think your body knows it's out of balance, and wants to let go of the extra fat. Also, essential in Phase 1 is to find and take care of health problems, and find the diet that fits those issues. Any sort of insulin resistance seems to need management like diabetes to a certain extent (in my opinion). Seeing a doctor during all this helps you monitor your levels so you can get the help you need, and make sure your diet fits your body's needs. I would also strongly suggest a doctor specializing in weight loss. They are far more in tune to those specific needs. Checking thyroid issues, or other health problems can be the reason it's hard to lose weight. I scoffed at TV shows or clips on TV that suggested seeing your doctor for everything, mainly because I believe natural health is better than Western medicine, but in this case, blood tests and treating PCOS was essential to my success.

One side note - I never exercised at all during Phase 1. My only focus was food. It was all I could do at the time. Plus, I was too heavy to exercise comfortably. I decided that it was not necessary at the time, and I was right. Not putting too much pressure on myself was key to staying on track and being successful.

On to Phase 2. Phase 2 consists of Food,  mainly.

My Weight Loss Story Part 1
My Weight Loss Story Part 3

My Weight Loss Story Part 1

I felt like I needed to document my weight loss story. So many people ask me about it, so I'm writing it all out, and then I'll throw in a few thoughts I've had on it. It's long so I will divide it into parts.

Through my sister-in-law, we had the opportunity to "try out" for the Biggest Loser t.v. show.  She had tried out before and made it on the show as an extra.  Because of that the show gave her a "front of the line pass" to come back and try out again.  She recruited my hubby, but they ended up liking a husband and wife team instead when they found out he had an overweight wife.  I was not keen on being on the show, but tried out for my husband's sake.  My sister-in-law was able to try out with a friend.  We all got on-camera interviews, but none of us made it on the show.  I was happy about not making it, but sad for my husband and sister-in-law.  They were both super excited about the opportunity. (This is the extremely condensed version of many months of our life.) The long version can be found here.

So, after eating freely with the prospects of being on Biggest Loser, and wanting to be as heavy as possible for the show's sake, we gained even more weight.  We were both miserable, and now with not making it on the show we were ready to diet hard core.  Plus, I was now officially 100 pounds overweight. This takes me to my first "phase."

Phase 1 - Conquering Addiction, & Handling Health Problems