- Messages
- 67
- Type of diabetes
- Treatment type
- Diet only
Why I Couldn’t Lose Weight
The problem was never a lack of motivation. Too often people ascribe the reason someone is fat as simply because they are lazy and/or unmotivated. That may be the case some of the time, but most of the time it is much more complicated and motivation may not play any part at all. Sometimes there are health issues which keep some people from losing weight, but more often it is because they don’t have the habits, skills, and tools, to lose the weight and keep it off. Some of the skills and tools they lack may be; understanding how to eat healthy on a budget or what should be included in a healthy diet. Quite often they don’t believe they have the power to do anything about it.
In my case, it was a combination of issues. Every time I tried to lose weight and eat less, because of my diabetes, associated blood sugar levels, and intermittent depression, my head would seem to go into a deep fog. I had difficulty concentrating, focusing, and communicating. I have a family to support and couldn’t work in that condition. The other problem was I didn’t have the habits, skills, and tools required to make the critical change needed.
Research
As the adage goes, when applied wisely, knowledge can be powerful. For many years, and I continue to do this, I read and learned almost everything I could about the following subjects:
Alzheimer’s: because of my fears, family history, and intense motivation to avoid this disease.
Weight Loss, Obesity, and Diabetes: because of my fears and my desire to change.
Autism: because of my career.
While I won’t get into it here, there is a strong line of commonality which runs between, Alzheimer’s, Obesity, and Diabetes and even an occasional thin interesting line of commonality with some forms of Autism (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
One of my sons is an avid physical fitness and health enthusiast. He also provided me with additional research and information on weight loss which turned out to be extremely helpful.
As a graduate student in Educational Psychology I took an excellent and extremely demanding class in research and statistics. It was a summer block class and there weren’t a lot of class choices. This professor was considered to be the toughest for this subject in the college. When I tell the story about how tough the class was I always have to add that the professor even held class at 6:00 a.m. on the 4th of July. He moved the time to early in the morning so we would still have time with our families or friends the rest of the day. About half the class, including me was there that morning. (By the way, I was one of only 3 people who got an A in the class. One of the other A’s was my study partner who was an older student. At the time, she was about my age now.) While I don’t remember most of the formulas, one of the things I do remember from that class is how to tell the difference between good research and garbage. A lot of research many people hear about and report on is garbage! This understanding has proven to be extremely valuable over the years and has helped me find solutions in both my professional and personal life.
My Old Eating Habits
While I would eat some healthy foods, such as oatmeal in the morning, I would also eat a lot of sugary, fatty, simple carbohydrate foods, just the kinds of things to make me even more ill. I would often find myself trying to eat myself out of depression, lethargy, or fogs. It seemed to work for short periods of time, but never lasted. I loved pastries, ice cream, chips, bread, and many types of candies such as licorice. I love high fat fried foods such as fried chicken and hamburgers. Not only did I have diabetes and high blood pressure, but fatty liver too. Many of the numbers from my blood work were either too low or too high.
My Low Point
Not only was I morbidly obese but I would be in terrible pain for days after doing simple things for even short periods of time. I especially remember helping put chairs away after a church event, and on another occasion teaching someone swing dancing, something I loved to do in spite of my morbid obesity. (When I would swing dance I would usually dance one song then sit out three or four before I could dance again.) The tightness and pain I would feel after simple activities, coupled with depression and difficulty concentrating were my low point.
What I was eating and how I was caring for my body were also in stark contrast to my values and beliefs.
Eureka
My “eureka” moment came when I discovered some anecdotal information related to Alzheimer’s. As mentioned previously, every time I had tried to eat healthier in the past...and eat less...my brain would go into a deep fog. I wondered if something I had read while reading about Alzheimer’s might help, and it did. (I’ll refer you to the types of meals I now eat in a subsequent chapter. I’m putting this off because, without the habits, skills, and tools, which are my focus here, it wouldn’t have been enough.)
I put together a plan based on years of research, wrote my goal in detail, and started my new life. While there were plateaus and some ups and downs, I lost 115 pounds in just over one year and due to the habits, skills, and tools, have kept it off, within just a few pounds.
The problem was never a lack of motivation. Too often people ascribe the reason someone is fat as simply because they are lazy and/or unmotivated. That may be the case some of the time, but most of the time it is much more complicated and motivation may not play any part at all. Sometimes there are health issues which keep some people from losing weight, but more often it is because they don’t have the habits, skills, and tools, to lose the weight and keep it off. Some of the skills and tools they lack may be; understanding how to eat healthy on a budget or what should be included in a healthy diet. Quite often they don’t believe they have the power to do anything about it.
In my case, it was a combination of issues. Every time I tried to lose weight and eat less, because of my diabetes, associated blood sugar levels, and intermittent depression, my head would seem to go into a deep fog. I had difficulty concentrating, focusing, and communicating. I have a family to support and couldn’t work in that condition. The other problem was I didn’t have the habits, skills, and tools required to make the critical change needed.
Research
As the adage goes, when applied wisely, knowledge can be powerful. For many years, and I continue to do this, I read and learned almost everything I could about the following subjects:
Alzheimer’s: because of my fears, family history, and intense motivation to avoid this disease.
Weight Loss, Obesity, and Diabetes: because of my fears and my desire to change.
Autism: because of my career.
While I won’t get into it here, there is a strong line of commonality which runs between, Alzheimer’s, Obesity, and Diabetes and even an occasional thin interesting line of commonality with some forms of Autism (Autism Spectrum Disorder).
One of my sons is an avid physical fitness and health enthusiast. He also provided me with additional research and information on weight loss which turned out to be extremely helpful.
As a graduate student in Educational Psychology I took an excellent and extremely demanding class in research and statistics. It was a summer block class and there weren’t a lot of class choices. This professor was considered to be the toughest for this subject in the college. When I tell the story about how tough the class was I always have to add that the professor even held class at 6:00 a.m. on the 4th of July. He moved the time to early in the morning so we would still have time with our families or friends the rest of the day. About half the class, including me was there that morning. (By the way, I was one of only 3 people who got an A in the class. One of the other A’s was my study partner who was an older student. At the time, she was about my age now.) While I don’t remember most of the formulas, one of the things I do remember from that class is how to tell the difference between good research and garbage. A lot of research many people hear about and report on is garbage! This understanding has proven to be extremely valuable over the years and has helped me find solutions in both my professional and personal life.
My Old Eating Habits
While I would eat some healthy foods, such as oatmeal in the morning, I would also eat a lot of sugary, fatty, simple carbohydrate foods, just the kinds of things to make me even more ill. I would often find myself trying to eat myself out of depression, lethargy, or fogs. It seemed to work for short periods of time, but never lasted. I loved pastries, ice cream, chips, bread, and many types of candies such as licorice. I love high fat fried foods such as fried chicken and hamburgers. Not only did I have diabetes and high blood pressure, but fatty liver too. Many of the numbers from my blood work were either too low or too high.
My Low Point
Not only was I morbidly obese but I would be in terrible pain for days after doing simple things for even short periods of time. I especially remember helping put chairs away after a church event, and on another occasion teaching someone swing dancing, something I loved to do in spite of my morbid obesity. (When I would swing dance I would usually dance one song then sit out three or four before I could dance again.) The tightness and pain I would feel after simple activities, coupled with depression and difficulty concentrating were my low point.
What I was eating and how I was caring for my body were also in stark contrast to my values and beliefs.
Eureka
My “eureka” moment came when I discovered some anecdotal information related to Alzheimer’s. As mentioned previously, every time I had tried to eat healthier in the past...and eat less...my brain would go into a deep fog. I wondered if something I had read while reading about Alzheimer’s might help, and it did. (I’ll refer you to the types of meals I now eat in a subsequent chapter. I’m putting this off because, without the habits, skills, and tools, which are my focus here, it wouldn’t have been enough.)
I put together a plan based on years of research, wrote my goal in detail, and started my new life. While there were plateaus and some ups and downs, I lost 115 pounds in just over one year and due to the habits, skills, and tools, have kept it off, within just a few pounds.
