Author: HeatherLynn

When you begin a journey to shed unwanted pounds, you start to envision a thinner healthier version of yourself.   All weight-loss success stories show you the “before” and the “after” phots and they touch on how they got there.  Once someone has reached their goal, they will rave about how great they feel, how amazing it is now that they have dropped some weight.     What I cannot find in my reading and research, are the stories about the changes you will encounter as you are traveling this new path in your life.

There are of course the obvious ones that you can find plenty of reading material about.   The better energy, they smaller size, the self-confidence and all the health benefits.   However, there is next to nothing discussing the subtle, yet very real mental challenges you encounter.   Frankly, I am surprised by them myself, but in the realm of everything changing, it makes sense.

 How I look at food. – this one you can find research on.   You basically become obsessed with nutrition and calories.  You question everything that is edible as to if it is a healthy choice for you or a poor choice.  

You make a new circle of friends/acquaintances – you will tend to drift towards people who are on a similar journey.  Its natural to flock to others who you can share ideas with and get advice from.

You will question why people treat you differently.  –  At first you will believe it has everything to do with them being fat-phobic and it took you losing weight to realize it.  The more you read into it, you will notice that you are happier now, you walk around with a new sense of confidence, and it projects on other people.  That is what they are responding to.  It has absolutely nothing to do with your size.   Be very aware of this and don’t allow your past hurt and prejudices jump in there and make quick judgements.

Until you reach your goal weight, you will have no clue what size clothes you should be wearing.  Plan on hitching up your pants or buying a belt for as long as you can.  It can be frustrating and expensive to purchase new clothing only to find it won’t fit right in a month’s time.   The exception is underwear, you should probably buy new underwear as often as necessary – there is just something awkward about your underwear sliding off your butt when you’re just trying to walk across the parking lot to your car.

Body Temperature – have blankets and jackets on hand.  That thick layer of fat that has been insulating you is disappearing, and you are going to be colder than you are accustomed to.  

Physically – you are changing.  Moving is different now, take things cautiously.  Yes, you can move around easier, but you can also hurt yourself because you are not used to this new body.  You don’t know it like you knew the plump version of yourself.   

Are there any I might have forgotten?  Drop me a comment and let me know!

A reality of life is that we are carrying inheritable genes.  There is a very good reason for doctors to ask about your family medical history!  The odds of you being susceptible to the same conditions are very likely.    My family has a history of heart problems, hypertension and the inevitable decline of cognitive ability commonly known as senility ( not Alzheimer’s ).  As I hit my late 30’s, I was put on my first high blood pressure medication; by my forties I was on my second.    Despite my love of greasy diner cheeseburgers and fries, my cholesterol hasn’t been horrible, but the doctors have certainly made mention of it on more than one occasion.    

By the time I turned 50, I was on seven different prescriptions for various ailments.    That’s rather young to have so many!   My weight was the determining factor for most of those, but my inheritable genes contributed as well.   I was doing a lot of reading then and I knew diet and exercise would be the key to getting off the prescriptions.   Too bad I wasn’t willing to do the work whole-heartedly at the time, I might have saved thousands of dollars!

I was convinced that I would be on the hypertension medication for the rest of my life due to my family history.   It was this very thing that caused the aneurysm that took my mother’s life, it was the thing that my father was constantly battling, and it was the thing each one of my brothers had been diagnosed with.   My doctor informed me otherwise.   He told me, that with hard work and a lifestyle change, I might get off the medication.  Even then, I had my doubts.    Then I was taken off one of the medications last week.    It was liberating!   I have new inspiration and motivation to get these last 40 lbs. off and shed the other medications as well!  Imagine a world without all those pills every morning! 

Now that I’m done patting myself on the back, let’s talk about how to get off medications.

First, understand that there some medications that you may not be able to stop taking.  No amount of mindful eating, exercising or lifestyle changes will eliminate some conditions, like seizures or allergies, migraines, etc.   It could be a genetic thing, or it could be due to damage already done.  You will need to accept that.

1. List your medications and do some research.  

Figure out why you are on them. – you should know this already, but this ensures you are being treated for an ailment you need to be treated for.  Doctors make mistakes too.

  Look at the various things they are usually prescribed for  –  I am on a migraine medicine because I am a life long sufferer, as was my mother as is my son.   I was surprised to find the medication I am on is often prescribed as a weight loss aide with paired with another medication.   On its own its just for migraines.

Look at the side effects – it might surprise you.  Weight gain, lethargy, dizziness… all things you may deal with on a daily basis and think it’s “normal”, never realizing your medications are the real culprit.

• Find out what you need to do.

      Talk to your doctor and get their professional opinion on what you need to do to get yourself off of the medications

        Discuss the medically acceptable levels of blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.  so you have a clear understanding of your goal

        Start researching foods and exercise that will help your journey

• Write down your plan

         How are you going to do it.   What changes will you make.   

          Get a journal, Food Diary, Family Support

• Be patient with yourself.   

           It has taken nearly a year for me to drop enough and make a big enough change to come off of one of my medications.   Changes don’t always happen overnight and its easy to get discouraged.   Keep your long-term goal visually posted on a wall or the mirror to remind you every day.

These are all good talking points as well for things that are not treated by medication but are surely inheritable or rather, they are a part of the family history.     Alzheimer’s,  arthritis,  heart issues, diabetes…   

Mindful eating, daily exercise…. LIFESTYLE CHANGES… you have the power to change the course you are on!   

In 2023 over 2.1 billion dollars were spent on weight loss.   This encompasses supplements, diet pills, gyms, weight loss coaches, wearables for fitness and ready to eat meals.   People are concerned about their health and there are plenty of entrepreneurs out there willing to bet on the fears of heart attacks, obesity, and pulmonary issues to make some money.   It’s easy enough to someone to buy into their product, just tell them what they want to hear.  “We have the solution to your problems!  No diet or exercise needed! Eat whatever you want and watch the pounds melt away!”   Any of these slogans sound familiar?    They are designed to appeal to your desire to shed those pounds quickly.   News flash!  It took a while to pack the pounds on, it is going to take a while to take them off.   There is no such thing as a magic pill or instant result.   You are going to have to work for what you want.    

Losing 1 to 2 lbs. per week is the reality you will need to accept.  If you lose weight rapidly right away, it is most likely just water weight.   The magic pill is not going to teach you good habits, you will need to learn them.   This means portion control, calorie control… SELF- control.   There are no pills, supplements, creams or machines that will be able to give you control. That is all up to you and you are alone.      

Exercise is important as well.  You cannot sit on the couch and just eat.  You need to get up and moving to efficiently burn those calories and build muscle.   Walking is one of the most popular and the easiest of all exercises you can practice.   After dinner, instead of flopping down to binge watch the latest show, take 20 minutes to go for a walk.  If weather isn’t permitting, find a YouTube video that’s fun (I highly recommend kids videos for exercise like Danny Go) and follow along for 20 minutes.     

If you have injuries, like a bad back (I tend to suffer from this myself quite often) walk as much as you can or find exercises that are strengthening exercises for your particular ailment.   Don’t use an injury as an excuse to skip this part of your journey.    We literally have everything we need in the way of information at the tips of our fingers.  If you don’t know how to do something, simply do a search on the internet using your favorite search engine.     I live at minimum 15 minutes from the nearest gym, so it is far easier for me to exercise at home.  Not being able to get to the gym is also not an excuse, you can find a way to exercise.  

Bottom line is, you are faced daily with advertisements promising you a better tomorrow if you buy their products.  They give you a lot of promises and false hope.   You have all the power without purchasing the gimmicks.   The only thing that stops you is yourself.     

On the weekends, its not difficult to stop and take a minute to throw a quick snack together when you get the munchies. On the working days, time is much more constrained and the temptation of the easy stop at the convenience store is much more alluring than putting together something at home before that snackish feeling comes on. FIGHT THAT TEMPTATION! I know the stores are doing better about offering healthier selections for travelers, but you owe it to yourself to take the time to set up your snacks for the week just as you would meal prep.
First, invest in some sealable toss-away snack bags. They come in boxes just like sandwich bags and it helps you keep your portions under control. You should visit a local discount dollar store as well and pick up some small sealable containers for your perishable snacks, no sense in paying a lot of extra money, a container is a container.
Now, let’s go shopping for the good stuff!
Roasted Chickpeas, mixed nuts, trail mix, pumpkin seeds
Jerky, Popcorn, String Cheese, Whole Grain Protein Bars
Tuna and Cracker Kits, Hummus and Vegetables
Fresh Fruit, Hard-Boiled Eggs, Wheat crackers and cheese

Manufacturers have jumped on the health train and are hearing that society wants healthier choices. You can now get baked chips, and vegetable chips. Be certain to read the ingredients though. The names of the snacks can be misleading as some claiming to be vegetable snacks are made up of a good portion of potato. Technically potatoes are a vegetable but if you are trying to avoid starches and sugars you should be aware these are just potato snacks in disguise, no matter how tasty they are. Just don’t overindulge!

As always, manually portion out your serving sizes, don’t go by what the label says on the package. If it tells you 20 pieces are one serving, you should probably cut that in half since serving sizes have doubled in the past few decades. Portion it out into your baggies and put the big bag away so you are not tempted to graze!
My go-to snack is usually one serving of Colby cheese and 3 woven-wheat crackers; it is my all-time favorite. I do mix it up and have fruit or popcorn, however, most days I won’t even snack between my break fast meal and my dinner. It all is dependent on how large the meal is and whether or not I succumbed to the whim of a smoothie.
Its okay to have a snack, if you’re hungry, you should eat something. We are not meant to starve ourselves to lose some weight, we are meant to choose better eating styles.

I’ve always enjoyed the fact as an adult I do not look my age.  This comes from knowing my mother looked much older than her 47 years when she passed away and I vowed to myself to do better.  In a way, its sad how this motivated me to do better, in a way its good.   It bothered me greatly that my mother looked at least a decade older than she was and I never wanted that.  

Being overweight certainly helped me maintain a younger appearance.  My “fat” plumped out the wrinkles!   Sure, it gave me a double chin, forced me to buy bigger clothes, made moving difficult and no chocolate cake safe, but I was looking ten years younger than my actual age!

As I drop weight, wrinkles appear.   It is becoming more apparently that I truly am in my mid-fifties.  Those fine lines are more defined, and holding my head at a certain angle so the wrinkly neck isn’t so noticeable, isn’t that funny anymore.  There is a small part of me that is bothered, and I find myself looking up “cures” for wrinkled skin.   Guess what?   There isn’t a cure.   It called getting older!   It’s just been lurking beneath a few layers of fat. 

Of all the great things about dropping the excess weight, this is the one thing I’m not super excited about.   I know I’m in the mid-fifties.  My body has a way of reminding of the abuse I’ve put it through over the years (back, knees, joints etc.).  Each day is like reaching into the Cracker Jack box to see what new and exciting ailment has decided to make an appearance!   I understand this, I have the wisdom and experiences of someone who has lived fifty plus years.  I don’t particularly like looking like it though!  

When I whine about it to my brother, he tells me, “Sis, I’d rather see you healthy and full of wrinkles than to see you overweight and looking younger.”     Have I mentioned we are on this journey together?   He’s my biggest supporter!  And he’s right.   We are so much better off this way. 

 He always ends the conversation with, “We are just going to be happy, old, wrinkled healthy people hanging out together.”    Humor always did see us through.

I’m learning to love the newer version of me, wrinkles included!