Dr. Ian Day 2

What is your current BMI?

40

What does the chart say is healthy weight for your height?

135-140

What are your bad habits when it comes to exercising/eating right?

Not exercising at all.

Not planning my meals ahead of time.

Eating too many carbs.

Not eating vegetables or fruit.

Not drinking enough water each day.

Not eating breakfast.

Not encouraging my kids to do the same things stated above.

What are your good bad habits when it comes to exercising/eating right?

Umm….

Not eating late at night.

Not buying things that are really bad for me like Ice Cream and junk food.

Buying organic.

Shopping at Trader Joes.

Shopping frequently so that food is always fresh.

When was the last time you were at a weight you were happy with?

1994-1997 before I was pregnant with my second daughter. When I was pregnant with Kaissa I got over 200 pounds and have never been under that since. I did get down to 204 before I got pregnant with the twins but that’s the closest (2005). So when I lost weight it took about 8 months, I worked hard all summer thanks to my roommate Dayhna who would literally take cheetos out of my hands and never let me eat pizza (two of my big comfort foods). She had never struggled with weight so she bid me to do as she did and it worked. By the fall, I was so small people thought I was sick. I was in a size 11 but I looked much smaller. My bra size was 36 C which was perfect. There were no dimples, dents, rolls, it was amazing. Also, I loved doing Jane Fonda workout tapes and I would run across campus just for the fun of it! (I did have a slight substance abuse problem at this time, but that’s for another blog) LOL

4 Day Diet- Day One

Dr. Ian's new book "The 4 Day Diet" is off the chains. It deals with the emotional aspect of being overweight. He says losing weight is 80% mental and 20% physical. I am going to work through the questions in the book. Join me and write and post your answers (or keep them to yourself). Let's work this weight off on paper and then enjoy the results on our hips and thighs! What's up people?

Why are you currently overweight?

I am overweight because I was raised that food was a panacea. Whenever there was drama at home (and there was lots of drama at home) there was always something to eat to make it feel better. I was offered ice cream after I scraped my knee, McDonald’s after a hard day, Pizza if I got good grades. So I learned that food was attached to feelings, that there was an emotional component to eating. How I’m thinking of it now after reading Dr. Ian Smith’s 4 Day Diet is that food is fuel- there’s nothing emotional about putting gas in a car! Eating should be just eating.

Why have previous weight-loss efforts failed?

Previous weight loss efforts have failed because I want fast weight loss. It is hard to work hard for anything is this society. Me being part of Generation X, which is also the microwave generation is like if I can’t have it with the snap of my finger, I’m just going to keep it moving. I see this in my relationships and my finances and my weight. I have not learned the patience to stick with something even when it doesn’t seem to be giving me the desired results. One example is that I started dieting and exercising in January. By the time I got to April, I was still the same weight, so I partially gave up. What my nutritionist showed me this Monday is that my sugar levels went from 102 to 84 and my cholesterol improved as well, so although I may not have seen the results of my work on the scale, my overall health was improving. If I had stuck with it, weight loss may have come eventually.

How does your weight influence your self-esteem/self-image?

Well, now that I’m single again I definitely think about what Tyrese will think of my body when he meets me. Seriously, I know I’m an attractive woman, but with those chisled abs and biceps what will he think about my grandma arms. Maybe he will want a woman who words just as hard at keeping in shape as he does. He said something in an article in Men’s Health (not that I’m stalking him or anything)- he said “…when you are in shape, you don’t have to tell people that you love yourself.” That’s powerful. And how can you love anyone when you don’t love yourself? And How can you expect someone to love you more than you love yourself. So that’s where I am with the self-esteem thing, I love being plus sized, but the dents, dimples, and flab have got to go!

What are your weaknesses related to sticking to a weight-loss program?

Refer to microwave generation answer above. Planning out meals in advance and not getting caught in the fast food drive thru line is my main thing. If I can plan out the meals and have the food at home and get home in time to cook before I get hungry, I’m cool. But if not- everything is out the window and I’m scrounging for food “just today” not seeing that it’s a pattern and a habit. My days have got to be more structured so I can eat natural, live food made by my hands.

Without weighing yourself or looking at a BMI chart how many pounds away do you think you are from your target weight?

40 pounds

Difficult patch

I'm coming out of a very difficult few weeks. I guess it all started when I was in my girlfriends wedding. I had to wear an orange dress and I just didn't feel comfortable. I was in LA where everyone is skinny and it's all about looks and...I should've come home and debriefed, but I didn't and I guess I began to internalize and feel bad about myself. This sparked a three week eating binge. Seriously I was out of control. I was eating twix and ice cream and pizza for five days straight. I was feeling sad and empty and overwhelmed. Even though my dreams were coming true in terms of my book and cd being completed, something in me was going on self-destruct mode. How could I be on the verge of accomplishing so much but still not believe I was worthy> Waht would people think if htey knew the truth? I hid my insecurities and shame beneath the food that I continued to consume. I didn't go shopping for the past three weeks and we ate fast food for every meal. I know the only way to ensure that this never happens again is to come clean. I am not the only one who is struggling with weight and food and image and control. I felt so raw about my divorce, and still loving my ex-husband, and my father, our relationship was getting closer but them I wasn't telling him that I no longer lived in the house that he owned, and as I came clean about that I risked his rejection and being rejected was the worst thing for me right now.

I don't think about people rejecting the book and CD because I wrote this primarily for myself, it was theraputic and cathartic, but the personal sense of failure and rejection from another divorce and from the ups and downs of my relationship with my father pushed me back to my consummate friend: food. Only this time food was not my friend, it threatened to send me into bad health and misery. When I realized that the barrage of emotions were primarily stemming from my impending one year wedding anniversary, I was able to reach out for help- to my new boss as work: Nancy Hood. She helped me call and make an appointment with a nutritionist. A tearful confession to Troy Rice led to more clarity and understanding. He urged me to just go to the grocery store, which I had adamately avoided for three weeks. Take it step by step. Sure enough, as hard as it was to go to the grocery store (after going to Wendy's one last time) it has turned the tide. I've been fast food-free for three days today and honestly I feel so much better: mind, body and spirit.

When you think you have conquered, something rears it's ugly head to show you that you are STILL a work in progress. I'm determined to beat what I see as an addiction once and for all.

What a Difference a Week Makes

I had a health crisis this week. This time last week I was in a hotel at Vassar College suffering from anemia, leg cramps, charlie horses, shortness of breath, hives, asthma, and severe allergies. I was at the bottom of my game. It was definitely a wake up call. Since I separated from my husband I have been using food to nurse my wounds: turning to too many burgers from Steak and Shake, soda, pizza, and anything that brought comfort. But all that came to a halt this Monday. Motivated by Vassar Grads Toya Lilliar and Yolanda Sabio who both have had amazing weight loss success I decided to unlearn the bad and remember the good things I know about nutrition and exercise. I read Dr. Ian Smith's "4 Day Diet" book which addresses a lot of the emotional components of obesity. I had to acknowledge that I was obese with a BMI of 39 and a starting weight of 220. I had to get on the Wii Fit, something I have been dreading since I bought it in February and look at those numbers on my flat screen TV. It was humbling and sobering, yet I love my body, it has served me well over these years and it deserves better fuel and energy sources. I read in Dr. Ian's books that people take better care of their cars than they do their bodies. We never give our car anything but gasoline even when we are pressed for time or have financial constraints. Yet we reach for depleting and undervalued food when we are hungry rather than the foods we know are best for our welfare. Getting a glucose reading yesterday and waiting for the results and praying that I wasn't diabetic (like my mom, paternal grandmother and a close friend) was tough. I shed tears and whispered prayers and promises to both God and myself. I watched the blood pressure reading rise to 143/83 and thought of the salt I had been intaking over the past couple of weeks. We must be more mindful, proactive, and take better care of our temples.

This was a wake up call for me. I never want to feel this bad again, ever. So I pressed and Detoxed this week. It wasn't that hard after the first two days. I just thought about the alternative, feeling bad, looking bad, and getting used to it and I decided to persevere. That which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. But we shouldn't just be getting stronger, we should be getting smarter. And taking care of this body is smart! And it feels good!