The truth about what you should weigh

There are always discussions and opinions about weight.  My research is not entirely scientific but it is extensive.  I work with about 900 people a week who want to lose weight.  I was morbidly obese for many years.  I lost 65 lbs. and have maintained that weight loss for 8 years.  There are lots of voices, many opinions about weight loss.  How to do it, how much to lose, who's to blame and on and on.

A friend posted a map on Facebook (see the url below).  That's what prompted this blog post.  Take a moment and look at this.  It's pretty shocking.  You can view the progression of obesity in our country year by year.  When you get to the page, look on the right side.  In the first box the header says, "Download the 2011-2013 State Adult obesity Maps.  Then click on the blue words and a powerpoint will download.  Take a look.

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html

This is what I know:

1.  Obesity kills - sometimes worse than killing, it keeps you from living, limiting mobility and damaging your health.
2.  There are many factors that contribute to obesity.
3.  Our society is obesogenic, that's a new word that was created to describe our society.  It lends itself to obesity.
4.  Currently a BMI, Body Mass Index, between 20 and 25 is widely accepted as a healthy weight range.  You can google it and find your healthy weight range.
5.  Anyone who wants to lose weight and keep it off will need to eat less than they want to eat and move more than they want to move.  This is the battle that healthy people must wage every day.
6.  Thinking that it's not fair and that others don't have to work as hard as you is a waste of time and energy and in my experience it's just not true.
7.  Blaming anyone else or any circumstance is a waste of time.
8.  If you are overweight, you are eating more calories than your body is burning.  Barring any very rare physical issues this is the truth - thank goodness because we can change that absolutely!
9.  Losing .5 - 1 lb. per week is a reasonable goal that requires a lot of hard work.  No one consistently loses more than that if they are on a healthy, long term plan.  Get comfortable with 26 - 50 lb. weight loss per year and you're ready to change for good.

You can lose weight and keep it off but you're going to have work hard at it for the rest of your life.  It will be worth every second, every effort.

Stop wanting to do something, thinking about doing something, planning to do something - just DO SOMETHING!!  Fence sitting is exhausting...

My lifes work is to help you.  I know how it feels to be sick and obese.  A doctor wrote on my medical chart, "Pleasant obese woman".  That was not who I wanted to be.   It's not as hard as you may think to get to a healthy weight and stay there.  It happens one day at a time.  The only thing you have to do is NEVER GIVE UP!  I'm anxious to help you live your healthy life!

More?

I post almost daily on my facebook page but now and then I have more to say.  Facebook doesn’t really lend itself to more than a few sentences so if you want to read a little more I’ll link this blog on facebook and you can jump over here.

June marks my 8 year WW lifetime anniversary.   I feel really good about keeping 65 pounds off for 8 years.  I also feel really frustrated that I still lose control of my eating... Today I read an article with this quote and it summarizes what I’ve learned so far.

“Success is not final.  Failure is not fatal:  it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

I love this!!  It's certainly the truth about weight loss.  This is why we must never give up, because success is not final – we don’t get “fixed” – we must have the courage to continue even when we fail miserably!

Here’s more from the article “In challenging situations we all need to be the best we can be, but we also need to be realistic.  We should guard against the all-too-common problem of perfectionism, of being unrealistically hard on ourselves.  In baseball any player who can get a base hit three times in every 10 at-bat opportunities is likely to be a hero even though he has gotten out seven times along the way.”  Don’t you love that?

Losing weight is hard – we strike out a lot but as long as we keep playing and stepping up to the plate we’ll have success but.....it won’t be final, we won't ever be done.  We’ll strike out again and because we have the courage to continue, we’ll be healthy.  

I’m so happy you’re in this game of life with me.  I’m counting on you to help me learn all I can about weight loss.  There is far too little success, most people give up.   I am dedicated to learning all I can, applying every truth to the process, listening to you who are working at it.  Together we truly will make the world a healthier place, at least our little corner of the world!