The diet begins...

So, back to the beginning. In March, I began keeping a food diary. I knew I was overweight and everything I have ever read about dieting said you have to keep a food diary. I also knew I was lousy at keeping a diary so I had never tried it. I found My Fitness Pal online. It was easy and FREE. So I started keeping track of everything I ate (no, I didn't cheat, even a little). By the time I saw Dr. Gahl the first time I had a pretty good idea of where I was going wrong. Most days I was pretty good, but at least once per day I made some pretty horrible choices. So how much did I weigh....It depends on who you ask. That first doctor's visit I weighed 226 pounds. A week later I weighed 223 -- little loss just from keeping the food diary. I started weighing myself everyday -- same time, same clothes and the bathroom scale told a different story. On the morning of my first visit with the dietician I weighed 208 at home, but 218 at the doctor's office. I just didn't believe I had on 10 pounds worth of clothes. I decided to check the bathroom scales for accuracy. Larry weighed a 50 pound weight from the basement and the bathroom scale weighed it in at 50.5. No too far off for a home scale. Using that formula I figured I weighed 216 at the beginning of this journey. This morning I weighed 198. That's 18 pounds in my book. The diabetes drug, metformin, was controlling my appetite.

I have found a nifty walking workout for FREE on the internet. I was now exercising at least 5 times a week for 16 minutes of walking. I have even moved from the beginner walk to the advanced version. This program came from Prevention magazine and I liked its philosophy. Slow or fast, you need to get moving for at least 16 minutes a day. This program has you walking at a slower pace for 3 minutes and then a faster pace for one minute and back to the slower pace again. You raise your heart rate, feel a little burn and then rest. I always come back a little sweaty and out of breath for a minute or so. No copious amounts of sweat or lengthy recovery. I am not so tired at the end that I cannot do something more. The hospital next door to school has also mapped out a 1/2 mile walking course that I can do on my prep time so if the evening is busy or stormy I can always sneak in a walk during the day.

I have also come to embrace hunger. Now that being hungry doesn't give me a headache I can talk myself into believing that when my stomach is empty I am burning fat.