My Weight-Loss Story- part I

It was 1997. I was 233 lbs. Perhaps a size 22/24. I'm 5'6.5" Up until this point I was an exert yo-yo dieter and had tried every 'diet' known, numerous times.  The result was further weight gain.

Photo to right: Me in 1997, ~233 pounds (with my fur-baby Samantha)

A friend told me that a mutual friend had lost a lot of weight through a program called Health Management Resources, or HMR.  I had nothing to lose by trying yet another progam.

At first, HMR recommends that you solely subsist on their protein shakes, but that was not an option for me.  I need to eat! So for me, the program consisted of 2-3 daily protein shakes, spaced between sensible meals, for which you are given detailed guidelines. Not only that, but every week, we had to go to "class" that was taught by a Registered Nurse. Topics included numerous aspects of health and fitness including facts about nutrition, how to read food labels, calculate calories intake and expenditure. It was fantastic. I called it "Calorie School."  We were required to keep a detailed food diary, and burn a minimum of 2000 cals per week in physical activity. I lost 90 pounds. For a short time I got down to about 140.

After a few months, I couldn't manage the lower calorie intake. I was freezing and starving and grouchy and miserable. Eventually I got lazy and gave up on the protein shakes and the food diary. That turned out to be a mistake. I gained back about 17-20 pounds, which is actually very common for people who lose large amounts of weight. The good news is that I maintained my weight of about 157-160 for about 9 years (see photo to the left in 2001)- I watched what I ate and worked out almost daily (only cardio and a bit of flow yoga).

My results were considered a success in the eyes of health care professionals. But I was still unhappy. Here I was exercising for hours a day and I was still chunky. I could do century bike rides without trouble and do the elliptical for an hour at a time. I could walk and hike or take step classes. But I felt that it was so horribly unfair that I did so much exercise and ate all my food with "dressing on the side", "no oil", "steamed" etc...All of the things a "good" dieter is supposed to do!! It was maddening.  I felt that I should be slimmer.

Well, the good news is that there is another Post called My Weight-Loss Story-part II. I was able to shift the weight and stabilize at a reasonable138-142. Read on for the next chapter of the story.

For unseen-on-my-blog photos and my interview on Girl Heroes, please click here.