Prescription for Patience

Yesterday I had my first appointment with a new doctor, and I was anxious to meet her, to see if we had a good rapport, and to hear her thoughts on my slow weight loss. 

Dr. F is amazing!  Not only is she kind and caring, but she seems so knowledgable.  My last doctor always seemed so noncommittal and passive, and I really wanted to find someone who would be an advocate for me.  Dr. F definitely fits that bill. 

Our rapport was great, and I think I’ve finally found a doctor that I really like.  My previous doctor was sort of blah and the one before that was more like a drill sergeant than a doctor.  Dr. F is compassionate, down-to-earth, and she inspires a great deal of confidence. 

Now, as far as her thoughts on my weight loss, she said that she wanted me to be more patient.  (This is definitely one of my major problems – I am very impatient about most things, including weight loss).  She said that I’ve been doing everything right – she loved that I had joined WW and that I was working out with a personal trainer.  She said that the Wellbutrin definitely causes weight gain (this is the 2nd doctor that has confirmed this now) and that it took a long time to get out of the system.  She encouraged me to keep a positive attitude and to continue to do the things I have been. 

As far as my thyroid, she said that when I had the tests last spring, they checked my thyroid and that the levels are all within the normal range.  She attributed the slow weight loss to the fact that the Wellbutrin was still in my system.  She also mentioned the whole “once you start weight training, muscle weighs more than fat” thing.  I don’t know why I always have the impulse to roll my eyes and scoff when I hear that phrase, but I know it’s true.

She said she wants to check on my progress in 3 months, and recommended that I make a new appointment in January. 

I’m so happy to have finally found a doctor that I can relate to and whom I’d like to build a lasting relationship with.  It’s such a weight off my mind.

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WW Weigh-In – Patience & Perseverance

This week’s weigh-in showed another gain; this time I’m up 0.2 lbs. I’m not going to let this get to me, though, because I know I’ve been working out as much as I possibly can and I’ve been eating well, tracking everything, etc.  I know that it’s going to take a few weeks for the Wellbutrin to completely get out of my system, and I am going to show patience, something I’m really bad at.

Today at the WW meeting, instead of talking about the normal weekly topic, my leader, Theresa, told us her weight loss story.  This week marks 6 years that she’s kept 46 pounds off.  The thing I loved about her story was that she was the first to admit that she had joined and quit WW at least 7 times before she finally made the commitment.  She talked about knowing she was going to gain one week and deciding to skip the meeting in the hopes of losing the next week, only to get so far off track that she never went again (sounds familiar).  She talked about the fact that she made it to goal 5 times, only to skip the maintenance portion and gain the weight back (and then some), each time.  And then she talked about finally making the commitment to WW and to herself to work the program, go to meetings every week, and do everything in her power to lose weight.

This is where the perseverance comes into play.  When she rejoined for the last time in July she had only lost 3 lbs by December.  3 lbs in 5 months!  I don’t know how she found the determination and will to keep going to WW, but she did.  She showed that perseverance pays off.  She said that in December something clicked for her, and she started exercising as well as tracking points and attending weekly meeetings and by the next July, she had lost all 46 pounds.  Amazing.  It shows that weight loss is as much of a mental thing as it is a food/physical thing.  Maybe even more so.

I know for myself that attitude makes all the difference.  Right now I am so commited to losing weight and keeping it off that nothing can stop me (not even my own frustrations on the scale).  Two months ago I would’ve gotten on the bathroom scale, saw a gain, and decided to skip the meeting.  Today I didn’t; I went to the meeting, and I’m so glad I did.  So much of Theresa’s story resinated for me.  Even though she had less than a third the amount of weight to lose that I have, the behaviors, struggles, and triumphs are the same.

After the WW meeting I went to another personal training session (my third so far), and Jimmy worked my ass out!  Literally!  Today was a “leg” day, and for some reason, those kill me more the arm days.  I think it’s because he has me doing so many of the activities on the steps (think step aerobics).  He’s not only working out my leg muscles, but he’s working on my core and my coordination and balance.  My balance and coordination are ridiculously bad, but as Jimmy said, it’s all a starting point.  I really like how much he motivates, encourages, and pushes me to finish the sets.  I also like the fact that he is very perceptive and can tell when I’m really feeling pain (in my knees) and need to remove a level of steps or simply just take a rest, beathe deeply, and drink some water.  I drank 64 ounces during the 60 minute session!  I think I probably sweated out half that much during the session, too.  LOL.

After we were done training, Jimmy set me up with the BodyBugg/24 Hour Fitness online nutrition tracker.  The program asks a series of nutrional questions about the types of food you like to eat, your sleeping habits, etc.  He said he wants me to use this so that he can see my food journal each day.  The cool thing about the program is that it gives you menu suggestions for what to eat.  You obviously don’t have to stick to it completely, but I’m always looking for new food ideas.  Jimmy is emphatic about me getting more lean protein at breakfast, and since I’m not a huge fan of eggs, I really struggle with that.  I’m hoping that the online nutrition program will give me some good breakfast ideas that will incorporate more lean protein.

I’m planning on buying the BodyBugg on July 31, when I get paid, because he really emphasized to me the importance of seeing the calorie deficit each day.  For instance, in order to lose 2 pounds a week, I need to eat 2050 calories a day and see a calorie deficit of 1000 per day.  That sounds like a lot, but I bet I burn a lot more calories in a day than I realize.  It will be really cool to have this device, because I think it will offer me more control over this whole weight loss thing.  Most weeks I feel like it’s a mystery every time I step on the scale.  Kind of like a game – Will I lose? Will I gain?  What’s going on?  With the BodyBugg, I should have no questions about what my weight loss for the week will be.  I’ll have all of the information in front of me, and barring any hormonal or other circumstances, it should be accurate.  It’s exciting.

So now, after an INTENSE personal training session, I’m heading to the pool to do some laps and work on my tan a bit.

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Birthday Weigh In!

The scale said, “Happy Birthday, Bella!”

This morning I woke up determined to go to my WW meeting, no matter what.  I had gotten in so much activity that I was sure I was going to see great numbers on the scale, despite two very high-point days.  And I did!  I’ve lost 3.6 pounds from last weeks at home weigh-in, which is amazing.  But…last week I had gained, so according to my official WW weigh-in, I only lost 0.3 which is still great.  It’s a loss.

And besides losing weight, the biggest gift I gave myself was going to the meeting today.  Entering into my 38th year on this earth, there are a few things I want to do differently:

• Attend meetings every week, without fail, no matter what the scale is going to say.
• Keep up with the activity, even when I start teaching again.
• Getting back to training with a personal trainer at the gym.  AYearFromNow has really inspired me with this idea. My plan is to buy the training sessions after I buy my new car (to see how much money I’ll end up with, depending on the amount of the down payment).  I’m thinking that starting the training sessions in the fall will be a great way for me to keep up with my workouts and active lifestyle.
• Be more patient – with my friends and family, with my students, and with myself.  I am so extremely impatient, especially with myself, and while I know that my perfectionism is what helped me achieve so many of my goals, I think it can also hinder my progress in other areas, because no one is perfect all of the time.
• Try to really cut back on the processed foods.  I usually eat pretty “clean,” but in my 38th year, I want to make a conscious effort to improve that even more.
• I have a whole list of other things I want to do by the time I’m 40 on my life blog, if you want to read it.

Another interesting thing that happened today after my WW meeting was that I rocked the Wii Fit.  As you know, I’ve been doing it each morning first thing for at least 15-20 minutes.  Well today I hit new records on almost every single activity I did.  And I did it for 30 minutes.  It was really cute, too, because when I was doing the Body Test, the little Wii Board in the screen was wearing a birthday hat.  Too cute.

Today is going to be a fantastic day spent with family, but I also wanted to take a minute to check in with my other family, my fellow weight loss bloggers.

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