I am re-posting this series at the request of one of my readers. This is the year that I chose to do something about the weight I gained 3 years ago in Alaska. It has proven to be quite a bit more stubborn than my “freshman 10” and my “baby weight”. I have seen the positive effects of this slow, but steady, plan. I hope you do too!
Welcome to Scaling Back. This series on Tuesdays will be following some practical tactics for losing weight. While I don’t adhere to the typical New Year’s Resolution thing, I am pretty committed this year to dropping my ‘Alaska’ weight. While living in Alaska and hibernating during the long, dark, cold winter days, I was able to pack on quite a bit of weight. I ran to thrift shops and purchased a size I have never had to purchase before and discovered that I had ballooned to a pregnancy weight…without having a ‘baby on board’. While I begin this slow and methodic journey, I thought I would share my common sense tactics with you just in case you are hoping to shed some pounds this year and would like to make the difference stick.
I am not a doctor, nor do I promise you “amazing results in just weeks!” Studies prove that weight loss is about changing habits and lifestyle, so that is the approach I plan on using myself. Scaling back will be taking a slower approach with long-term goals. You won’t be satisfied with this series if you are looking for a quick fix to years of poor habits. I have no magic pill nor do I promote physically altering medications or surgery. I do have practical suggestions that are working for me 🙂
This week, I want you to pray or meditate on why you are wanting to lose weight. After some thoughtful prayer (or meditation if you are not the praying sort), I want you to consider your goal. What are you hoping to accomplish with your weight loss. You have to have a goal, something that you keep your sights on. I sought the Lord about my weight gain and found that I simply wanted my energy levels back. I won’t be staring at a scale and I won’t be counting pounds shed. I want to be able to keep up with these children without feeling winded. Heck, I want to climb the stairs of my house without feeling winded. That is my goal: energy. What is yours?
Have a great week and I will see you next Tuesday for the first tactic in Scaling Back!
This is part of a blogging series: Scaling Back.
Kay's Little Korner 
I want to lead my people to health. I am not sure that’s a good goal for my own weight loss, but that dominates my thinking. I don’t want my kids to struggle as my husband and his family have. Like you, I am a pregnancy weight with no baby and I am totally not ok with that. I am very much shooting for a number, but I am taking a long view for hitting it. Hopefully by this time next year.
I fully understand your goals. I would love for my kids to learn the skills that took me a VERY long time to learn 😉 I don’t want them to struggle with their weight like hubby and I do. I also plan on mentioning familial genes in the series. Hubby and I come from a thicker stock than some. We will never be the skinny minis. But healthy and energetic, I think, are realistic for me. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to see a few jean sizes fade away, but I know that if I make that my goal, I may not make wise decisions. Maybe we could work together and co-host the healthy eating post? Sounds like you have been working on this for a while too. I could use the help 🙂
I would love to work on a healthy eating post with you. That is something I’ve worked hard on for years now due to my husband’s heart problems. I figure if I can figure out how to make low-fat, low-sodium chili cheese fries, there is nothing I can’t figure out. 😀
Kay,
Thanks for coming by my blog! Glad you commented, I never know how many people actual read it!
I too am working toward long term weight loss. I only read this first post in your series, but i look forward to reading more! I have been doing better since the beginning of the year. I am OVER full pregnancy weight! And I USED to be a “skinny mini”. After four months of having an alarm on my phone every two hours, it’s a duck that quacks to remind me to drink water, I am finding myself getting a drink of water and then my duck begins to quack! I think I can finally feel when I am thirsty! It is awesome!
After each of the first three pregnancies, I was able to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight of 120 pounds. I am 5’2″ so that is a good weight for me. After the last two kids, I only gained weight. I weighed 164 when i got pregnant with our 5th child. When i was in my mid teens and very athletic, I was all muscle and weighed about 112 most of the time.
Now, after losing 6 pounds and 10 inches, I am still about 100 pounds over that weight. 214 is what I weigh now. But I am making better food choices, better portion control choices, snacking on veggies and fruit three to four times a day. I have been waiting for my knee to get better, which it finally has, and will add walking to my day. I am determined this time to get rid of the weight this time….instead of losing it….I KEEP FINDING IT AGAIN!!!! 😉
My end weight goal, and I am choosing a high weight so I don’t overwhelm myself, is 140. I was down to 150 about 45 years ago, due to illness, and ended up on a med that made me voraciously hungry…I got myself off that med over the time that i gained 70 pounds…. one doc said, “Only 70??!! Most people gain 100 pounds on that med…” So, I guess it could have been worse.
When I have lost weight and felt successful, it was because I was reading scriptures and praying constantly for help and expressing gratitude for that assistance. The spirit would remind me to drink water, and that “there is something more healthy in the pantry you could eat instead of that…” and on late nights when i was away from home when I missed dinner, I would here, “Get a drink of water and just go to bed…You can eat in the morning.” and I would say, “I am so thankful! I will go and do thy will”.
I do need to do more meditation and prayer now. I pray all the time in my head, but when i take that time to get down on my knees and spend a half hour in the scriptures, I receive so much grace, power extended to me from heavenly Father, that I can recognize and remember that I have a plan and I can not give into temptation.
Anyway, I have been going to add a page to my blog about my weight loss plans, but haven’t gotten there yet! I will within the next few months, when I get some time to figure it out!
I look forward to reading more of your series!
hugs,
Betsy
I very much understand your struggle!! We also have 5 kiddos and after #4, I just never was able to get that weight off. I also just hate drinking water. You will see a whole post on that 😉 You give me a great reminder to get my next post out there. I was even thinking of re-posting the series this year, just to motivate myself more. I think we can do it, Betsy! I am praying about what my goals are, I am praying for help and focus, and I even asked a couple friends to keep me honest in this journey. Thank you so much for coming by!!!
Please, repost this year! I am in need of motivation! I am down a couple more pounds and not starving at all!!!!
There was more to that post I just did but it seems to have disappeared…. ! I have been sick of late and that always keeps me motivated to eat correctly. Today I am going to make my gluten Free chicken noodle soup. It is good and feels so good In a sick tummy. If I don’t eat the whole pot in one day, I can enjoy it. I have lost a few more pounds, eating healthy but still giving myself a bite of two of treats. I plan this in my diet and then don’t over eat it, because it is part of the plan and I will get more another time. I have had a rough patch though, our slow boat package from Christmas in Germany arrived with all the yummy Lindt chocolate and treats of all sorts in it. But I didn’t eat it all!!! I am so proud! Lol I did get to open a box of gluten Free crackers I bought either at Real, Tegut or Reformhaus, that are so good. They will be yummy with the chicken soup today. I am sharing with my MominLaw. She is always so good to me.
Have a great day in Germany!
Hugs,
Betsy