What No One Ever Told You About Losing Weight: Part 3

Last summer I wrote a two part series on the things you should know about the untold truths regarding weight loss.

What No One Ever Told You About Losing Weight:  Part One is here.  Part Two is here.

Since that time, I've learned a few more things...and I want to share them here.

The GOOD and the BAD:  Part Three.

GOOD:  What used to be important no longer is.

I used to participate in 101 different activities.

Participating in every activity I could was a coping mechanism for me to deal with my anxiety.  If I was busy, I didn't have time to be anxious.  The activity train was seriously unhealthy.  In March, I shared my story with some ladies at my church's annual Women's Conference.  These are my Size 18 jeans I wore before I lost the weight.

I was a wokaholic.

When I was home, I had no energy and was a complete couch potato.

Now that my focus has changed from doing everything I could put my hands into and from working 10 - 12 hours / day, I use the extra time to take care of myself.  I workout nearly every day.  We eat healthy meals.  And I hardly ever watch TV.  (Although lately I have been catching up on some Netflix.)

I can honestly say I don't miss my old way of life and I feel free from all of the obligations.

BAD:  Constipation

Despite all the water I drink and the vegetables I eat, constipation is a nasty accompaniment to the weight loss.  Not everyone has this problem, but it plagues me.

I've added a fourth macro to my nutrition.  Fiber.  The recommended daily amount of fiber for women is 25 grams.  I eat about 40 grams on average.  I even started taking Metamucil, and that did not help.  So now I take Miralax and it helps sometimes.  But more often than not, I feel bloated and if my weight is up on the scale, chances are it's due to that.  I wish there was a magic wand I could wave to get rid of that feeling.

GOOD:  Cooking becomes enjoyable.

I used to hate to cook.  Maybe not hate, but I really did not enjoy it.

Now, I enjoy looking at and trying new recipes.  It is fun to try new ways to make your own recipes healthier or tastier.  

Speaking of tasty.  Have you checked out any of the Tasty videos?  They have super easy recipes, with few ingredients and they show you how to make it on video.  This is one of my favorites:

Mongolian Beef Crock Pot

Meal planning has become an essential part of my life.  I like to try new things, keeping in mind what's easy to cook, and what my family would like.  I use my crock pot as often as possible.  It has almost made its home upstairs in my kitchen, instead of on the shelf in the basement. 

BAD:  You lose some of your friends. 

Yeah. True story. 

I have friends that I used to spend a lot of time with who did not join me on my road to fitness.  Keep in mind, this has been a two year journey, so while I was working out and trying to be careful about my nutrition, they were living the same way they always had, only I wasn't doing it with them.  When everyone realized this isn't a gimmick for me, that I really mean what I say and my lifestyle really has changed, I think I intimidated some of them.  In fact, I know it. 

I have actually been told, "I'm jealous of you," and "I can't work out with you. Do you look at yourself?  I would be embarrassed to work out with you."

It is a bit hard to accept. But at the same time, I have changed. They haven't. And I can't expect them to do so.  Some of them want to lose weight, but they don't want my help.  They won't read my blog and they tell me, "I can't do things your way, so I'm going to do it this way."  It's as if they want to prove something to me.

I don't judge them. It might sound like I do. But it does hurt to lose a friend, or at least to be distanced from a close friend because they feel disconnected due to my now healthy lifestyle. 

GOOD:  You can stop the roller coaster.

When you develop a healthy lifestyle, food no longer rules your life.  I can eat food that I didn't eat while trying to lose weight.  A couple pieces of pizza don't derail me.

I recently found myself binge snacking at night, craving ice cream and anything sweet I could get my hands on...  I realized this was a BAD habit to get back into, so I stepped back and said, "You are smart.  You can do this.  How can you plan to fit your evening ice cream into your day AND not feel guilty or go way over on your calories?"

Can it be done?  Better question, can it be done without feeling guilty?

The answer is:  YES!

I cut back a little on my calories during the day, left some room in my macros so the carbohydrates and fat in the ice cream didn't wreck havoc on my nutrition.  I intentionally added more water to my day and re-introduced interval training into my workouts.  Guess what!

I lost about 5 lbs. WHILE eating ice cream every night.

Once you become smart about nutrition, you CAN stop the roller coaster.

Question for you:  (Answer in the comments below.)

Are you trying to lose weight or have you lost a significant amount of weight?  What surprises have you experienced as a result?

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