Fadedwords | Weight Loss

Category Archives Weight Loss
First Steps

Posted on January 3, 2014 7:12 pm by Kate Comment1

I have struggled with self-confidence/self-esteem/body image for as long as I can remember. I’ve had times in my life where I have been “chubby”, times in my life when I have been borderline anorexic (although I didn’t realize it at the time), and times anywhere in between. Looking back, I know it was because I had an underlying thyroid condition that was causing drastic shifts in my metabolic rate… not to mention a relationship with a man during my super skinny phase that led me to believe I was “fat” and if I didn’t “get skinnier he’d find someone else.” Granted, he found someone (many someones) else anyway… but that’s another story for another day. Suffice to say that I have had a screwed up relationship with food and my body for a very, very long time that was amplified by an actual health condition.

I had my thyroid gland removed in 2006 and my battle with my body truly began. At the time following the surgery, I had a doctor who wasn’t very supportive. She didn’t listen to me, and instead listened only to blood tests that she ran very infrequently. I was gaining weight rapidly and when I realized this I began using my treadmill religiously. I was walking upwards of 11 miles a day, while also riding 2-4 times a week and limiting my calorie intake. I still gained weight. I gained about 80 pounds after my surgery, and her only response was “Your bloodworm is fine, maybe you should start eating less.” I finally just simply gave up and figured I’d “just be fat.” When I moved to North Carolina I went to my new Lady Doctor and when I told her I hadn’t had blood work drawn in well over six months, she was horrified. She drew the blood and found that my thyroid levels were drastically off. She upped my dosage and explained to me that she felt certain that my weight gain was due to my metabolism functioning at an incredibly low level. She also said, “It won’t be easy to get the weight off now that it’s there, because your metabolism will always be lower than other peoples’.” Great.

I’ve gone through ups and downs with my weight ever since. I had a lot of success with Weight Watchers the first time I did it, and I feel confident that I will experience. However, this post isn’t really about weight loss. It’s about something I realized recently, something very important.

(more…)

This entry was posted in My Little Life, Weight Loss. Bookmark the permalink.
Focus

Posted on September 2, 2013 6:08 pm by Kate Comment

I awoke one day last week with a newfound focus. It was as if a switch had been flipped and I just… wanted to change how I was doing some things. This new focus centers on eating. The past few months were incredibly stressful dealing with the roommate mess, and being home seeing the situation with my brother… not to mention some other things that were on my mind. I had gained back quite a bit of weight with stress eating. I woke up last weekend and it just occurred to me: I don’t want to live that way.

I’ve had a really good week staying focused on making good choices. Good to the tune of losing 5 pounds. It will sound strange, but I’ve made my goal to “eat co-counselor approved meals” especially while I’m at school. My current co-counselor is a vegetarian and eats super healthy. That strategy really paid off this past week. I’m eating lots of vegetables and fruit during the day, and when I get home at night I try to make positive choices here as well. So far so good. I plan to add the gym back in this week, and hopefully get to the barn to ride too.

I’m writing a lot more in my paper journal these days. Much of what I have swirling around in my head is better suited to a private space. All is well, just a little jumbled and complicated. Life is a constantly changing thing. I’m just rolling with the punches.

This entry was posted in My Little Life, Weight Loss. Bookmark the permalink.
More Progress

Posted on July 2, 2011 1:23 pm by Kate Comment

I was back at Tracey’s house last Wednesday to ride again. This time I worked with Huskey, her gigantic dark quarter horse. This horse was originally purchased for her husband Jim, but they quickly discovered that Huskey was just too much horse for Jim. Since then he’s been one of “Tracey’s Boys”, and she began training him for barrels this year. The fact that she would let me work with a horse that she’s currently training for competition is incredibly flattering. At least with the other boys, they’re already pretty finished. Huskey is just starting to learn.

He was a joy to ride. He’s a big guy, and I felt incredibly confident and comfortable on him. Our friend Cat was in the arena doing some farrier work on another horse, but stopped to watch. The first time I picked up a trot she said, “Wow! Did you see what your legs did?” Of course, I hadn’t, because I was riding! She said, “You just sank right into him, moved completely with him and your leg lengthened… it was beautiful!” She is trying to convince both Tracey and me that I need to take Huskey to an English show and enter an equitation class. I’m skeptical!

It was a really nice ride, and I look forward to working with him again. He’s a sweet horse and really takes good care of his rider. As it turns out, my riding him may end up helping his training along. Since I’ve had so much experience riding hunt seat and dressage, I will be able to do some work getting him to bring his head down and frame up a bit.

After I rode Huskey, I hopped on Phoenix on a whim. He’s a horse that Tracey’s son Sam had really liked prior to moving. I can see a lot of potential in him, although he also needs some work. He responds well off of leg and seat pressure, and I really think I could get him to be a cute little mover.

It was a great day!

In other news… I’ve begun tracking points and working out, in an effort to reach my ultimate weight loss goal that I set when I first began WW. I’m proud to report that I’ve lost 2 pounds since beginning a week ago. I feel incredibly positive, and as if I’m moving in a really good direction. I’m ready to focus on this and get to that goal.

This entry was posted in Horseback Riding, Weight Loss. Bookmark the permalink.
Let’s Get Physical!

Posted on August 21, 2010 10:26 am by Kate Comments3

Before I went home to visit, I joined a gym. I knew I needed to start pushing the physical aspect of things in order to start seeing weight loss again. I didn’t have a chance to go prior to leaving, and I kind of wanted to wait to see what the doctor would tell me about my knee.

I had an MRI to rule out a meniscus tear. We really thought it would be based upon the symptoms I’ve been having. On the bright side, the MRI showed no ligament damage. However, it did show chondromalacia patella with effusion. I had surgery in 1996, and they found chondromalacia at that point. It was scraped out and I did PT, and went about my business. Since the surgery though I have had grinding in my knee, as well as popping… it was just never “ok” again. The doctor told me that I need to focus on building my quad and glute muscles in my right leg in order to alleviate some of the pressure on the outside of my patella. This may help with the effusion and perhaps the pain. Or at least that’s the hope. She gave me some suggestions of things I could do.

I came back and due to work starting, and some other things happening personally, I had to wait a couple days to start going to the gym. I went for the first time on Thursday and had a decent work out. It was a lot of testing to see what my knee could take, and what would work best. Today I went again and stuck with what worked best for cardio and working my knee, the elliptical. I put in 30 minutes and burned nearly 300 calories. The machine I used is one that has an incline and pretty big resistance depending on the setting, which is what the doctor suggested. The lack of impact makes it possible to work without hurting my knee.

I feel very positive about being at the gym. I’ve always enjoyed going to the gym, and I really like the one I’ve joined. I feel incredibly good about myself after I work out, and I think I will start to see good weight loss again if I keep it up. The icing on the cake will be if my hard work helps my knee improve.

This entry was posted in Weight Loss. Bookmark the permalink.
Shifting Gears

Posted on August 1, 2010 6:33 am by Kate Comments2

I have been thinking for awhile that I need to figure out a good way to make working out a part of my every day life. I had tried doing home work outs and they just were not motivating, interesting, or effective. They did not keep me coming back, and ended up defeating the purpose. I thought back to when I had a membership at a local gym and realized that I had been making much more progress when I was a member. The problem had been proximity; the gym was about a 30 minute drive from where I lived. I ended up not going because of the drive.

I went out to lunch with two friends on Friday and they mentioned going to the wellness center. I asked how they liked it and was told that they really liked it. There is a pool, a sauna, weights, machines. Apparently they do great water aerobics classes as well. So I started looking into it, and everything I saw was really impressive. This facility is only about 15 minutes from my house too.

Of course, there was a small problem. Money. I looked at my budget and saw something that could be cut. Weight Watchers. I haven’t gone to a meeting in months, simply because I work on Saturdays adn on Thursdays, and those are when the two meetings that are “most convenient” for me happen. Or at least they used to be most convenient! I’ve maintained my weight for over a year without consistent meeting attendance. So I thought that perhaps it’s time to focus on being active, because I know that it is necessary that I be more active to lose the last 35 pounds.

Long story short: I canceled my WW subscription yesterday. I will be going over to the gym either this afternoon or tomorrow morning and joining. I have a couple friends that work out there, one who told me yesterday that we could carpool. I’m feeling very excited about it and can’t wait to get started. I will continue to track points and follow the WW plan, because I know it works. I also know I can do that without meetings.

Hopefully I will begin to see some results. I feel incredibly motivated to really focus on this.

This entry was posted in Weight Loss. Bookmark the permalink.
← Older posts

First Steps

Focus

More Progress

Let’s Get Physical!

Shifting Gears