Wow! Where did it all go?

Well, after only 4 days of being back on my 1500 calorie diet, drinking lots of water and taking my USANA vitamins (for "cellular health that promotes weight loss") I've dropped all the extra weekend weight. How I gained 11 pounds in 2 days is totally beyond my comprehension, but it must have been water retention because now 4 days later it's all gone. So I have to say to myself "Good work girl!", and now I'm back on track. That kick in the butt was exactly what I needed and I'm re-focused now.

Also, came across this little blog-article of interest. The article is interesting, but the discussions below it are even more interesting! Overweight Children: Stop Blaming Parents? In the blog the writer mentions that she has seen with her own eyes how some kids eat junk and play games and stay thin, while others eat properly, participate in sports and are 'fatter'. I would agree with her wholeheartedly, but there are many responding people who are saying that's it's just 'energy in vs energy out' and that 'metabolism doesn't vary more than 5% from one person to the next'. I betchya $100 those are thin people typing that in!

Now, I know I ate myself to this weight with chocolate and chips and crappy food in response to stress in my life - food was my comfort. But I also know that my 155 lb husband ate all the exact same crap (and usually more of it) and he's 100lbs+ thinner. His whole family is thinner, my whole family is fatter. Genetics are definately to blame! And I'm sure there's evidence that there's more than just the standard understandings of 'metabolism' as well. I read somewhere that once you become obese the propensity to stay that way and/or get bigger is compounded by the reaction of your white vs brown fat cells. You can read more about it here: 'Brown fat cells' hold clues for possible obesity treatments.

The bottom line for me is that metabolism and genetics = a very, very steep hill to climb. The only way for my to make headway is with almost complete perfection in my diet. As I already have plantars fasciitis I can't walk or jog or weight lift more to increase energy burnt daily, so I have to be "perfect" with my diet. I say perfect in quotes because I understand it's not attainable, but that's the goal. 1200-1500 calories per day, balanced meat/veggies/fruit/dairy/grains as recommened in the Canadian Food Guide.

I have found for myself that I can't eat the planned 450/450/150/450 diet (3 meals, 1 snack). It works better for me to have 5 mini-meals of 300, 5 times per day. I guess I'm definatly a grazer, cause if I eat 300 calories and eat again 2 hours later I can 'beat' my hunger by about 15 minutes. But all of this energy that has to go towards planning, recording, weighing, preparing and storing food everyday seems like some sort of eating disorder in-and-of-itself. It's controlled insanity. It works for the weight loss, but it's no wonder most people can't do it.

I can barely do it, and I absolutely KNOW I couldn't do this every day for the rest of my life. And so, I'm going for LAP-Band surgery. Not to completely eliminate this challenge, but to help in the overall fight. The more tools in my arsenal, the better, as I fight to add more years to my life and more health to my days.