Here I Go Again, But Not on My Own - IP Journey

Here I Go Again, But Not on My Own – IP Journey

Well here I am again. Blogging about the struggling journey through weight loss.  If you have read my last blog, Ideal You, please don’t call me out on the fact that I wasn’t able to make it to the goals I set last time, or the fact that I thought I would not gain back the weight I lost the last time I was on Ideal Protein.  I mean I have a good excuse this time.  I got pregnant.  But I am back now.   If you read my blog the last time you will remember that I am a yo-yo dieter and I put on all the weight I lost and about 40 more that did not come off when I breastfed.  Probably because I still ate everything I wanted to.  But I am back now.

It never fails.  Everyday someone in our office looks up at our BMI chart and scoffs or guffaws.  And I have to always remind them that the BMI chart is just a guideline.  It is not an end all be all measure of your health.  According to The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute your Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measure of your body fat based on your height and weight. It has certain thresholds that will either categorize you as underweight, healthy, overweight or obese.  But it is still just a guideline.  I have seen many skinny looking people come in and according the BMI chart were considered overweight.  In fact I have been that person.  So what I tell people is that it is a guideline and should you fall into an unfavorable category it is just a heads up that you should look at your health and ask yourself if you are where you should be.  Use this link to calculate your BMI https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

I had a birthday in December.  At that point I knew I had not only 6 months till my sister’s wedding but just 12 months till I had to renew my driver’s license.  The last time I did that was just after my wedding.  My license said I weighed 141.  And I lied. Great.  Well ok I got at least 6 months to lose weight.  I had a check-up with my doctor at the end of January.  I stepped on the scale and it said 219. Crap. Commence lecture from my doctor.  Okay, well I still have like 4 months till the wedding.

I started by calorie counting.  I knew Ideal Protein was there for me but I figured that would be my last ditch effort because I knew I could lose a lot on it.  But I wanted to see how much I could do on my own. And I did super well. I lost 28 pounds 12 weeks. Now, I had just under a month till the wedding.  It was time for me to do Ideal Protein again.  I really thought it was going to be hard jumping back in to such a strict diet but it turned out it was really not that bad.  I think by calorie counting first I was able to curb those hunger pangs that normally show their ugly face when you start a diet.

Now the first time I went on Ideal Protein, I lost 26lbs in 6 weeks.  I foolishly expected the same results.  I did get lucky that my body right away realized what I was doing and I went into ketosis right away.  But if I cheated (which I don’t suggest – but was unavoidable leading up to the wedding), I was knocked out of ketosis right away.  But even having done that, and now 3 weeks post wedding I am surprised at how much I can lose on Ideal Protein.  8 weeks into the diet and I have lost 24 pounds.  I didn’t even expect to continue on Ideal Protein after the wedding.  But I decided that for the health of me and my family maybe I could try to get as close to that weight on my driver’s license as I can before I actually have to renew it. So here I go again.  But for real, not on my own.

Now should you find yourself in an unfavorable BMI category chances are you know if you belong there or if you don’t.  And we can come up with a lot of excuses.  “It is my genetics”, “I am just big boned”, “I have always been overweight”, “I don’t have the time to eat healthy”.  Believe me I have used every one of those excuses. I know what you are going through.  Sometimes it is so much easier to just finish my kid’s mac and cheese or finish their kid’s meal at restaurants.  Because let’s face it, then you get to eat comfort food but feel like you are still in control of your portions.  Believe me, I have three kids and a husband, and a house to clean, and a full time job, and I commute 6o miles daily.  Sometimes it is easier to stop at Zippy’s or McDonalds.  No one wants to cook separate meals for kids, husband, and self.  Believe me I have been there. But If I want to be there for my kids and my husband for a long time, something had to change.

Why should we be trying to fit into these “ideal weight” categories?  Forget about social constructs that we think about when we think about weight loss.  Think about health and health only.  When we are overweight we want to watch out for visceral fats. Visceral fats are very dangerous.  At a basic level, visceral fat is the abdominal fat (www.diabetes.co.uk).  Visceral fat surrounds important internal organs like our liver, and our pancreas. Because of this, visceral fat contributes to increased risks of diabetes type 2, high blood pressure, hormonal issues, and cardiovascular disease (www.livestrong.com).   In addition to that, according to Physical Therapist Jae Santiago the extra weight we carry in front can change our pelvic tilt and lead to low back pain.

So what is Ideal Protein exactly and how can it help me lose visceral fats?

According to OSR Weight Management,

“The Ideal Protein Weight Loss Method is a supervised weight loss method with personalized one-on-one weekly coaching support and education. Our protocol burns fat, while supporting muscle mass – why is that important? – because if muscle is lost during dieting it inhibits your ability to burn calories post diet. As a result, dieters regain almost all of their lost weight within 5 years after dieting. Therefore, all of Ideal Protein’s food products contain an average of 15+ grams of protein to assist your muscle retention while you shed your excess pounds.”

 

“Additionally, Ideal Protein empowers dieters with the knowledge to develop better eating habits and smarter lifestyle choices by providing an education on the relationship of carbohydrates to insulin production how weight gain occurs, and what to do to avoid it. Our dieters are not left with the “Now what?” question after their excess weight has been lost.”

 

osr weight management

So at OSR Weight Management we have a scale affectionately named Tanita.  Tanita can measure my hydration levels, my body fat composition, my muscle mass, and the weight of my bones even.  So I can get a full idea of how my body is composed.  In addition to that I get my measurements every week so I can see that I lost an inch in my waist or half and inch off my thighs.  But the best part is I can see that I retained my muscle mass and I lost fat.

 

People sometime ask me, “but how do you feel?” Honestly I feel great.  I have so much energy now since my body is making ketones as fuel instead of working off of sugars and starches.  What the heck are ketones right? Ketones are small fuel molecules that are produced by the body when the glucose (blood sugar) supply is low.  To achieve a state of ketosis, when our body is producing ketones in the liver, we eat a low carb diet with more focus on protein.  The result is our body uses our fat reserves for fuel and we burn the fat faster, and the protein is so we keep our muscle mass which also aids in calorie burning.  I actually feel like I have more energy and almost never feel sluggish and have stopped dozing off on my long drives to and from Ewa Beach.

Ketogenic Diets

So why can’t we just do the increasingly popular “ketogenic diets?”  The truth is you probably could.  I Googled “ketogenic diet” and had so many options to choose from.  Some allowed fruit, others allowed dairy, and some allowed vegetables that are restricted on other ketogenic diets.  But it comes down to ease and accountability. Do which one will work for you and that you will stick to.  I choose Ideal Protein here at OSR Weight Management because of its convenience for me and for the fact that it is like a ketogenic diet on steroids.  It takes out all of the guessing.  On Ideal Protein, I do not have starches, dairy, fruits, or sugar.  By eliminating it all I don’t have to do an elimination process.  Furthermore, I have three kids and a long commute.  It is just easier for me to eat the packaged foods rather than creating a whole new meal for me.  And the packaged foods come with so much protein that I really do not find myself hungry between the meals.

I thought it would be harder going back on this diet this time around.  But it really is not.  I am fortunate enough to have what we affectionately call “accountabillabuddies.”  I have colleagues that have joined me on the Ideal Protein Journey and we playfully compete with each other and keep each other accountable.  It is a whole support team which is separate of the great coaching I already get from OSR Weight Management.  It makes the whole process much more enjoyable. Call us today for more information at 488-5555!

Resources:

https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm

https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto

http://www.diabetes.co.uk/

http://www.livestrong.com/article/173780-how-to-burn-visceral-fat/

https://osrweightmanagement.com/

 

 

 

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