Obesity Free Forever Blog™

When it comes to dieting, there is no lack of promises of quick weight loss tips.  From low-carb, to high-protein, to 1800 calorie, to 1200 calorie to very low calorie diets, there is no shortage of advice.

Healthy eating benefits include water and weight loss, feeling full longer and more energy.  Did you ever wonder how to overcome bad eating habits to gain healthy eating benefits? 

Achieving a weight loss of over 140 pounds taught me that eating to lose weight requires calorie reduction.  The benefits of healthy eating and calorie reduction can leave you feeling satisfied, full and full of energy, especially when you choose the right kinds of food.

Water and weight loss can be achieved.  Water is a great way to cut calories.  By substituting water for sugar sweetened beverages you can reduce calories by as much as 800 per day, depending on your portion size.

Fiber also helps to decrease the risk of chronic illnesses including heart disease and colon cancer. 

Vitamins and minerals found in fruits and vegetables help prevent chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.

Lean meats such as skinless chicken, fish and low fat beef lower your risk of heart disease and some cancers in comparison to those higher in fat when baked when prepared without added fat. 

Dieting, especially very low calorie diets,  always made me feel hungry and deprived.  In fact, some days I felt overwhelmed by the hunger.  Feelings of hunger and deprivation often set me up for failure.

When I learned the facts on obesity and finally lost my weight, I realized that I continued to eat a large quantity of food.  I never felt hungry and I stopped thinking about food all day long as I did in the past on very low calorie diets.

What was the difference?

I eat low energy dense foods.  Every obese person on a diet knows this.  We hear, “eat more fruits and vegetables”, “bake, broil or boil meats”.  While that was really good advice for the 25 years I tried to lose weight permanently, it never made much sense.  Understanding the meaning behind this helped me make better food choices.

Energy density is the amount of calories supplied in food.  The lower the density, the lower the calories.  Density is measured in relation to water which has 0 calories.  Foods such as fruits, vegetables and fish have high water content and low energy dense levels.

If you want to eat more and lose weight like I did, try choosing low energy dense foods.

To permanent weight loss success!

Georgene

Good morning!

I could not wait to run this morning.  I noticed I felt unusually stressed and overwhelmed and exercise, especially running, helps me sort things out.   I realized it was an incredibly busy week with many high priority demands.  Also, I had some disappointments that I needed to work through.

During my run, I thought of a phrase I used to recite to myself when I was losing my weight.  We’ve all heard some version of it when we fly.  The flight attendant runs down the safety checks before take off and holds up the oxygen mask and states something like “should we lose cabin pressure an oxygen mask will drop down…place the oxygen mask on you before placing it on your child.”

This is a prhase I used often as I was losing over 140 poungs.  I continue to remember this phrase now through maintenance.  And like today, I use this phrase to help me put things into perspective.

280 Pounds in 2004

When I was obese at 280 pounds, I used to take care of everyone else before me.  Feeling exhausted and emotionally spent, I often turned to food for comfort.  Through the weight loss process, I learned that I could meet the needs of so many other people by taking care of my needs first!

Now at 135 pounds

2007

I learned that I feel better about taking care of the needs of others once my needs are met first.  And, I don’t feel guilty about this at all.  In fact, many comment on my great attitude and unselfish ways as I am helping them.

This takes some getting used to but just for today, try to do one nice thing for you.

Remember, put the oxygen mask on you first!

Have a great day,

Georgene

A weight loss blog is probably the last place you thought you’d find information on wealth building strategies but hang in there, this will make sense.

Wealth building strategies are not specific to money only.  In my experience of losing over 140 pounds and now keeping it off for 3 years, I found there are many things I did and still do to acquire wealth.

While many may think of wealth in terms of dollars and cents, to me wealth is so much more than this.  Through my experience of losing weight, I learned that good health and energy are wealth building strategies that gave me a new outlook on life and increased my earning potential. 

How did I acquire these wealth building strategies?  I looked at the habits that were keeping me fat and made a decision to change one at a time.  I also looked for mentors and role models that I could learn better habits from.

While it took some time to get used to, repeating the good habits and revisiting my mentors and role models every once in a while helped reinforce the changes that led to my new found wealth.

Look at your behaviors and decide whether they are contributing to your wealth or preventing you from succeeding.  Here are some questions I asked myself that helped me increase my wealth building strategies.

Can I stay in the moment and work through a problem without turning to food for comfort? 

Can I choose fruits and vegetables over junk and high fat foods (http://www.obesity-free-forever.com/freeweightlossprograms.html)?

Can I accept myself “as is” today and stop criticizing, blaming and beating myself up for my mistakes?

By paying attention to your habits, you can decide for yourself which ones build wealth or drain your energy and health.  Health is not replaceable but wealth is.  The crème de la crème is that the healthier you become, the more you increase your wealth potential. 

Paying attention and staying in the moment without turning to food when things get uncomfortable is where I started in 2004.  After over 25 years of failure, I am excited that I finally figured out how to manage my weight.  If I can do it, you can too!

Georgene

Hi Everyone,

See if you agree with these statements:

A designer suit means the person is wealthy.

People always act out during a full moon.

In nature, the better looking of the animal pair is always the female.

All overweight people lack self control.

These are all false statements, however, many people believe them because someone may have told them to be true.  That someone may have been a person in authority such as a parent, guardian or teacher.  When we’re young, those in authority are difficult to question and often times we take their word as accurate, unable to challenge the information.

As obese and overweight persons, we have many faulty beliefs and thoughts that lead us to overeat.  Some we were told and accepted as true growing up.  Others we conclude on our own through experience. 

One major belief that overweight and obese persons share is all or nothing thinking.  All or nothing thinking is when we declare a situation as one extreme or the other, failing to see the middle ground.  Some examples of all or nothing thinking include a situation is labeled as either good or bad; that always happens to me; or things are never in my control.

This faulty thinking leads to faulty actions, often turning to food for comfort or to feel better quickly.  This faulty action leads to weight gain and overtime can lead to obesity.

To lose weight permanently, it is important to become aware of your faulty thoughts and beliefs that lead you to overeat.

A food diary is a great place to start.  A 24 hour recall of your intake, emotions, locations where you eat and activity level will help you gain insight into your unhealthy eating habits and what drives you to eat.  Once you identify unhealthy trends, you can begin to make corrections and introduce new healthy habits to lose weight permanently. 

Let me know if I can help you in any way.  I can be reached at georgene@obesity-free-forever.com.

I love rumors!  They make me feel popular.  Recently I was asked how my surgery went.  After looking dumbfounded, I had to ask what surgery the person was referring to.  The weight loss surgery, she said.  “I hear you’re the poster child for bariatric surgery”.  I just started laughing.  While I know that morbid obesity surgery works for many people, my weight loss had nothing to do with surgery or drugs or hypnosis.  After clearing up the confusion, I shared that my 140 plus weight loss was done the old fashioned way, through healthy life style changes.

At first, my old personality crept up and my thoughts were “ooooh people, they really can be mean talking about each other like that.  But then I realized what a fabulous opportunity this was for me to educate one more person on healthy lifestyle behaviors! 

At 280 pounds, any rumor was a blow to my ego and would have placed me into a loop of self-criticism for days and led me to binge and emotional eating!  At 135 pounds, I was grateful for the opportunity to help another person.

Becoming obesity free allows you to change both externally and internally.  There is a wonderful transition when you lose your weight and no longer worry what other people think of you.

Have you ever had a rumor started about you?  Feel free to share (not too personal) information about this.  How did you handle it?  How would you handle it next time?

Looking forward to your thoughts,

Georgene