Saturday, November 2, 2013

Obestity Rates trending higher- the reasons I chose a lower maintenance weight

Dr. Berkeley, MD shared a link on her facebook page to the most current US obesity rates. Here is a direct link to the article 

Click on the link for a larger graph
 My 2 cents; It's sad that the rates are trending higher and as a health care worker myself, I've seen the medical side of diabetes, heart attack and stroke up close and personally in the hospital. The financial cost, the physical pain, the emotional pain. Diseases related to the biological response to obesity were personally very costly in many ways.

I'm that person: I was part of the obesity statistics from 1971 until 2011.



More than a statistic....
1. I was that person:  who struggled with obesity as a kid in the 1970's (it's not fun to be overweight in elementary school, it completely sucked),
2. I was that person: with yo-yo dieting in my teens, and as an early adult (emotionally painful)
3. I was that person:  as an overweight parent 30's-40's who was limited in what I could do with my kid from a play and just starting to go down the expensive medical care road.  ( physical pain, emotional pain,higher health care costs)

I get it. I've lived it and I was so done with it.

I purposely picked my goal weight so that I would maintain at the middle of my BMI and have the least amount of visceral/abdominal disease causing fat possible. One of the goals of weight maintenance was simply to get off the weight loss, re-gain cycle I had been in for 40 years. I was very, very deliberate about choosing effective ways to maintain my weight loss. I wanted more than just a stable range on the scale, I went for long term wellness this time around.

So much of the conventional advise  was just terrible and I blamed myself for not being "strong enough". Once I was able to get a clear mind, I could connect the dots and build a long term strategy to lose, transition, and maintain. It had nothing to do with a personal fail. I was strong enough. I didn't have the right tools, education, or a clear brain to sort out the process. I had to battle the message of Big Food and Bad Science and my own self talk to pull out of the conventional wisdom and connect the dots. 

I did many things completely different this time around to ensure I would not go back to being at high risk.  Look for up coming blog posts on these topics:

"Backwards" for many, problem solving & life changing for me:

I AM that person, and I love it!

0. Getting the right self-talk in my head, the answers were inside there
0.5 The evolution over time- I white knuckled it
1. Packaged diet plans- WW, Medifast- what worked, what did not.
2. Removing a food group or two- bye bye wheat and diary
2.5 Continuing education 
3. Being tough about eating trigger foods
4. Daily weighing, what it does do, what it doesn't do- you decide
5. Problem solving in general

Staying head of the wave and getting to the point to ride the wave- it's an evolution


9 comments:

  1. Wow! Look at the new you! Your body got thin and your hair got fat:) Time to celebrate the new you with a new door mat...It'll dress up the front door;)

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  2. Well yes I say WOW too.

    You have done brilliantly and are an inspiration to so many.

    Perhaps the doormat should say 'Look what you can do too'

    Well done Karen

    All the best Jan

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  3. Great post as usual, Karen! As you know, this past week I have come to terms with facing the music about chocolate and sugar as trigger foods. Grain was quite easy to give up; chocolate/sugar not so much. I'm past day 3 with no chocolate. Been walking by it at home, and just say to myself now 'toxic. inflammatory. loss of control. no way; I don't do chocolate anymore.' I'm day two with no sugar...and cravings for it have lessened as well. I'm very excited to break what feels like the last barrier to permanent maintenance of a healthier lifestyle now. :)

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  4. Trending higher? No surprise there. It's just so sad though because many people simply don't know that the foods they think are OK for them, are actually the foods making them fatter. Lots of good information coming out though so hopefully it will filter through more and more to those who need it.

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  5. You do look great!!!!! I can't wait for your upcoming posts. You are one of the best writers in this area. Your analysis is awesome and practical. It makes me think. Overall, it would be difficult to miss that you are happy. Nothing sells a health message better than happy does. :D

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  6. Loved that you mentioned BMI as a tool.

    High end of normal BMI (for me) meant I still had a lot of dangerous belly fat. Lower end of BMI ( - 20 lbs) meant flat belly.

    I also am observing a lot of weight loss bloggers who are dealing with severe fallout with obese parents. These are the same parents who (in a real sense) taught these women the habits which made them obese. Parents never mended their own ways. Massive health problems, financial problems, early/complicated deaths. I am seeing it more and more. Any of us can have health problems, I understand but I am talking about self induced that is having a severe impact of the adult children and grandchildren. A of these adult children are probably never going to get out from under the burdens this has caused in their own lives. It is very painful.

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  7. Awesome post! And I share your obesity statistics. You look really, really good Karen. Such an inspiration:)

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  8. My goal weight was actually 150. After losing over 100 pounds, I eventually got down to 142 at my lowest. I liked keeping that "buffer" between my weight and my goal weight. It gives me some wiggle room, I stress less and if I start to get too close to 150 I reign in the food. I'm currently about 145 and my body likes that weight.

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