At last the weight is moving off...

This is a slightly scary thing, blogging about my weight loss and making it public, but at the same time it is a positive move. At least I didn't put "I wish I was losing weight", since in actual fact I am losing weight at last. I have been struggling with weight gain for so many years and now I have found a way to eat and diet successfully. For most of my dieting life I have favoured the low carb way and when I put back all the weight I had lost and started low carb dieting again, my whole being just refused to go back to that way of eating. Of course it was all down to feelings of deprivation. No bread! And loads of meat! Unfortunately I had done Atkins for too long and become used to that way of eating, but whenever I tripped up and ate carbs, the weight would come back really quickly and the feelings of deprivation would take hold of me and not let go, and depression and rebellion would set in.

In steps my sister. She has lost a lot of weight on a simple low calorie diet with some good exercise. Counting calories? Oh no! Just what I didn't want to do, but my weight problem had got so severe that I was willing to try this way as a last resort. At least I didn't have to give up everything I ever loved - as long as I counted it in. Having a restaurant and catering business does not make dieting easy, and I was not going to give up a business that I love. So I started counting, and eating less saturated fat and cooking with yogurt instead of cream (not always) and staying away from too many sweet things and diminishing my intake of wine.

In the first week I lost 2 kilos and did no exercise...and now I am on a roll. Now I am going with the low calorie flow. This is my journal. I also track everything I eat on sparkpeople.com and love it because it makes my life easier and I know exactly how much I am eating and if I slip up and don't eat my greens or have too many carbs, the report lets me know where I need to fix things. I can also track my exercises and any other goals I may make for myself.

The next step is to put the link to this blog on my website and put it out there! Instead of hiding my dieting life - I am now going to share it. I feel this is a huge step towards a great victory. My goal weight date is the 22nd of June 2012. Bring it on!

Exercise has been very hard for me as my damaged knee (motorbike accident) curtails a lot of movement, and of course, the weight on it has not helped. Swimming and aquaerobics is the easiest on my body and I love the weightlessness. I simply don't feel any pain and love the water. We are approaching winter now, but I am determined to continue throughout the year and get strong and swimming fit. I also have weights and actually like doing some of the exercises as it empowers me somehow. Being a yoga lover gets me stretching but I have neglected it for a long while now, so it is time to get back into the habit again.

Somehow I am excited - and that is a relatively new experience for me when it comes to losing weight as I have been despondent for so long. The thought of being able to stand and work in the kitchen of the restaurant and not feel pain in my back and in my knees is spurring me on. To be able to stand at my easel and paint without having to sit down because of the heaviness is something to which I can aspire, something to which I can look forward. Those are good reasons, but there are also the obvious ones, like being able to move faster and perhaps even play tennis again. To know that my organs will be less stressed and that my heart will be able to work more efficiently, those are more good reasons to continue on this path.

I can do it! I am doing it!!! I am trucking along.