A History of Dieting

My first diet, as I mentioned, was culled from a teen magazine back when I was thirteen.  The details are fuzzy, but mostly I remember eating a plain hamburger patty--no bun--and no potato chips.  I rode my bicycle everywhere and did a lot of jumping jacks.  I lost thirteen pounds.  Then I gained it back, mostly by way of potato chips and pancakes on a long car ride (from Seattle, Washington, to Bellefontaine, Ohio, one Christmas).  By high school graduation, I'd worked my way back up to 160 or so.

My next successful diet didn't happen until I got to college.  Then, instead of putting on the Freshman Fifteen, I took off about that much and a little more.  I like to think of that as a lifestyle change . . . as in, I went from no dating to dating.  And when I finished eating (cafeteria food, especially), I covered my uneaten food with a napkin to prevent mindless eating.  I was a loose size 12. 

I put that weight back on during subsequent months of moping over a lost boy and became a tight size 12.

My next diet happened by chance.  During my third college summer, I caught mononucleosis.  In addition to a raging sore throat, I had a mouthful of canker sores.  I couldn't have eaten even if I hadn't been too sleepy to eat.  Two weeks of sipping on soup worked wonders.  I returned to college in size 10 jeans (skinny stirrup jeans--remember those?--and bunchy socks, imagine that).  (Hey, it was 1986.  I was stylin'.)   

I still thought I was F-A-T.

After my engagement, I returned home to work for six months before the wedding.  I worked in a women's health club daycare and took advantage of the free health club membership.  Granted, I ate a pan of brownies every other night and feasted on giant muffins for lunch, but working out kept me in shape.  I was married in a wedding gown that I sewed myself, size 12.  In the wedding video, you can see me constantly smoothing my stomach, but, ha!  I didn't have a poochy stomach, though I thought I did. 

I weighed 143.  I purchased a suit, size 8, and jeans, size 10.  (I still have both.  Optimism springs eternal.)

But, that soon changed.  My new husband and I moved across the country.  He went to graduate school and I worked as a legal secretary.  We got a little pudgy.  Then we moved back across the country.  We counted calories and took off ten pounds.  Then we moved in with my dad in time for him to be diagnosed with terminal cancer.  He died four months later.  By then, I had gained fifteen pounds.

So, I did Weight Watchers and lost fifteen pounds. 

Then we moved, I quit my job, we started waiting to adopt, my husband worked crazy hours and I gained it all back, this time mostly in chocolate covered raisins which I purchased in bulk and kept in a Rubbermaid container. 

We moved again.  We adopted twins.  I ate myself up to a size fourteen.  Okay, a sixteen.  Then I hurt my back and lost ten pounds when I cut out junk food as instructed by the chiropractor.  We attempted the McDougall Plan, but do you know how hard it is to eat only plant-based foods? 

But we moved!  Again!  And boy, did we move!  We moved from Portland, Oregon, to a rural town in northern Michigan and my size fourteen jeans grew too tight in a hurry.  My size sixteens were tight. 

I did the "Weigh-Down Workshop."  I lost fifteen pounds, maybe more.  I exercised every day for a year (riding an exercise bike).  I was a size 14 again.  Then I got pneumonia.  Then I got pregnant.  (Pregnant!  If only you knew how hilarious that was!  Pregnant!  Ha, Doctors!  What do you know?) 

So, pregnancy, followed by three years of eating (having a baby is stressful!) took me up to 229 pounds and one pair of size 20 jeans.  I wasn't one of those women who put on sixty pounds while pregnant.  Pregnancy agreed with me.  It was during the aftermath that I ate crazy and grew as large as a barge.  Stress eating.  Bored eating.  Celebratory eating.  Lonely eating.  Happy eating.  Mindless eating.  Frustrated eating.  Eating because I was depressed over my fat.  But my son turned three and I decided to lose weight.

I did Weight Watchers and has quick success.  I lost twenty-seven pounds and was feeling all cute and skinny in my size 16 jeans.  I was all set to peel off the pounds and reach my goal weight.  I was working out at the YMCA.  All was well.

And then pregnancy struck again.  (The doctors, years ago:  "You are unlikely to ever conceive.")    When the baby was a few months old, I took the jelly-belly even I didn't recognize back to Weight Watchers again.  Only this time it wasn't so easy.  (Perhaps because my daughter was still tiny?)  Oh, it was a breeze at first (ten extra points for nursing!), but I couldn't stay on track.  I lost twenty pounds, then dropped out and regained twenty pounds.   

I joined Weight Watchers again two or maybe three times.  Each time, I'd start with great intentions, then completely fall apart.  Then I'd eat like a crazy woman who was set free. 

But finally, I decided to join again when my pants became painfully tight . . . but we had a scheduling conflict.  What to do?  What to do?  I felt desperate.

That's when I took another look at the glycemic index.  I have mild Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and consequently, I was concerned about my body's ability to handle insulin.  I clicked here, there and everywhere (I love Google) and came upon The Glycemic Index Diet book.  I promptly ordered it, read it, baked the recommended muffins and set a start date.  (The day after Easter.)

I've been following the GI Diet ever since.  The idea is to avoid sugar, processed flour, fat, and foods that cause your insulin to rise.  (For instance, bananas.)  Foods are categorized in his book as either Red Light, Yellow Light or Green Light.  (I have allowed myself a Yellow Light Food every other day or so--94% fat-free popcorn.)  I've been doing as he suggests (with the exception of a soft taco a week from my favorite fast-food place, Taco Time and movie-theater popcorn once a week or so) and really, I haven't felt like I'm suffering in the least. 

My eating pattern has changed and I'm finding this diet a lot easier to manage than counting points with Weight Watchers.  (I totally love Weight Watchers, though.  I think it's one of the best programs out there.)  I'm finding it easier to avoid "trigger foods" (like sugar and . . . well, cookies and chocolate and oh, did I mention potato chips and french fries?) than to control my portions of those particular foods.  For me, one cookie turns into three (but if one's broken, then why count it?) and I stumble.

I have been exercising, too.  I ride a recumbent Schwinn exercise bike almost every night for forty-five minutes.  While I adore walking, it's difficult to leave my house to take walks.  For awhile, I got up at 5:30 a.m. to walk with a buddy, but the lack of sleep was making me want to eat more.  And fall asleep in the middle of the day.  So, the boring exercise bike it is.  (I watch television and/or read or chat with my husband while riding.)

So, there you go.  My history of dieting or "Why Potato Chips Are Evil."

Comments

[Sarah S.]

With every diet we learn a little more, don't we? I think exercise is one of the main keys to life-long fitness -- so Go, You!! Keep it up!

[Mel]

You're right, Sarah. I've always had an easy time with exercise. But even the time I exercised for a whole year, every single day, I still didn't lose much weight. For me, it's really about food and how much I cram into my mouth! Thanks for the support!

[Kvetch]

I'm going to take another look at the Glycemic Index Diet. Thanks for the inside scoop - uh - not of ice-cream, of course. ;-)

[g]

Congrats on figuring out the eating thing! Yes, diet (not "a diet," but rather your overall intake) is absolutely the most important element to losing weight.

If you're physically able, at some point you may want to look into heavy weight lifting (not the light weights, high reps nonsense). It helps women maintain bone density and the increased muscle mass burns more calories, creating more rapid weight loss. I've been doing cardio for years but just got into lifting about a year ago. The difference in my body shape and my weight is noticeable.

[jennie]

I know this was SO not the point of your entry, but I'm still in awe that you made your wedding dress! :)