Shape article (OT from Tae-Bo)

[Guest guest]

Awhile ago, I shared part of a story from Shape's " success stories "

section where they were following one girl's weight loss journey for

a year. Her name was and when I posted her diary from

before, I think it was right after she had run a marathon and had

kind of fallen off the wagon and gained some of her weight back.

Well, I guess it's been a whole year now...in all she's lost 39

pounds and regained 19 of those pounds. I thought I'd share some

more of her thoughts cause I thought they might be helpful to some of

you! Alot of the stuff she says, are things that we say here all the

time

" This time last year, I thought I'd be thin by now. I imagined my

awe-inspiring " after " pictures, where I'd wear something sleeveless

and impossibly hip, preferably from a shop I walk by every day but

only once have had the nerve to enter. I thought my life would be

perfect.

I certainly never thought that a year after I began this project, I'd

still be fighting a lot more than the last 10 pounds, and that even

with professional support I'd still be struggling. So what have I

learned this year? Lots of things I'd heard or read but had never

hit home, mainly: Not achieving my goal in a year doesn't make me a

failure. Instead, it's a (sobering) reminder that I'll be working on

healthful food and exercise habits for the rest of my life.

This year I've road tested some version of what feels like every

weight-loss tip ever written. Here's my (very unscientific) list of

what REALLY worked for me and may work for you, too. (Yes, results

may vary!)

1. To borrow from Geneen Roth's terrific book " Breaking Free From

Compulsive Eating " , being hungry is like being in love: If you don't

know, you're probably not. Can you delay eating that chocolate chip

cookie for 20 minutes? Maybe you'll find you don't want it, after

all. (But if you do, go ahead and eat it).

2. Never let yourself get too hungry. Carry those granola bars or

apples in your bag. If you're too embarassed to whip them out (you

shouldn't be, but sometimes I still am), eat them in the bathroom

once. You'll feel so silly sitting there with a mouthful of carrot

sticks that you probably won't have to do it again.

3. On days when you'd rather get a root canal than workout, tell

yourself you can stop if you don't feel like it after 15 minutes or,

if you're a runner or walker, one mile, whichever comes first. More

often, than not, you'll put in the whole workout.

4. Expect to screw up, and big time. Losing weight is like ice

skating: If you're too afraid to fall, you can only creep along so

far. The key is to ask yourself every day: What went right? What

went wrong? What would I do differently?

5. Think like a man. In other words, get on with it. Sitting around

berating yourself for skipping a workout or eating too much isn't

going to do anything except make you feel crummy and, if you're like

me, make you overeat.

6. Don't eat foods you don't like just because you think you

should. It makes you feel grumpy and deprived and puts you on the

road to binge city. And the flip side, which we chronic dieters often

ignore: Eat what you crave. As nutritionist puts

it, " If you crave a food, that means it has power over you, and you

need to eat it more often. " For me, that meant eating peanut butter-

in, here's the key, APPROPRIATE portions- two and three times a day

until I could have it in my kitchen without it calling out to me

until the jar was totally empty.

7. Reward yourelf- and I'm not talking ice cream sundaes. Buy a new

CD or something that makes you feel good (besides food) to celebrate

losing 5 pounds or a month of consistent workouts.

8. Get professional help. Even one session with a nutritionist or

trainer may surprise you with what you don't know: shortcuts, myths,

and tips. It's the cost equivalent of, say, a couple of dinners out,

and lasts much, much longer.

9. Get by with a lot of help from your friends. At the risk of

sounding like a bad speech, I can't imagine what this year

would have been like without , a and Abby, who alternately

have been exercise buddies, cheerleaders, commiseraters and, of

course, baby carrot sharers.

This year I've learned and achieved some incredible things. I ran a

marathon. I tried five new sports. I'm getting pretty good about

figuring out when I'm really hungry (even if sometimes I still eat

when I'm not). And I put a chocolate bar away after eating one

square, not feeling the need to finish the whole bar.

So, I haven't quite conquered the food and weight issue yet, but

except for my week with the flu, I never went more than five days

without exercising, and usually, never more than two. No matter what

I ate, I never stopped running and I know that's a major

achievement. Maybe life isn't perfect, but it is pretty darn good. "

who apologizes for the length of the article, but thought it was

really good and worth sharing