Welcome to Escaping Fat!

My name is Heather and in March of 2006 I underwent Gastric Bypass surgery. It has NOT been the cure-all that many would suspect, however, I have been successful in maintaining a healthy weight and would now like to pass some of the rules, exercises, recipes, and such that I feel have contributed to my success to anyone who also struggles with their weight and/or fitness.

A little more about me, prior to my surgery I rocked the scales at a staggering 281 pounds. I stand 5’5” tall, which brought my BMI (Body Mass Index) to 46.8. Morbidly Obese is anything over 30. You can calculate your BMI here. I have found my most comfortable weight to be 145. At this weight, I feel at my “fittest” and most comfortable in my own skin. Yes, that’s a loss of over 130 pounds!

But, don’t get me wrong! I am NOT an advocate of weight loss surgery! In fact, most often, everyone I have personally met or encountered via the media, have definitely FAILED with the surgery! I feel that the most probably reason for this failure is because the surgery has been viewed as a quick-fix, surgical miracle, or easy-out to what is more than likely an unrealistic goal. I believe that the surgery is probably only appropriate for the rare individual, who truly sees it only as one TOOL of many, to be utilized for the rest of their lives on a journey to a “healthy lifestyle”.

If I have learned one thing over the last 3 years, it's that a DIET will NOT solve my weight problems. I've had to change my life. For most, it’s not realistic to change your entire life overnight, so my goal is to provide various tidbits that you will be able to implement into your lifestyle, one or two weeks at a time. These are changes that will be for the REST of YOUR LIFE, so this is much more easily done step-by-step. I encourage first examining your lifestyle, in depth (being brutally honest with yourself), then formulating a plan whereby you commit to making a small change every week or two. With that in mind, I will be posting a “A MORSEL of Conjecture ” every week or so (this will be a post that will capitalize on one of the healthy “rules” of life that I have personally found success with), “Tasty MORSELS ” (a healthy recipe that I personally use AND like), and a “morsel of movement” (an exercise that I personally do/have done and have found to be worth it).

I also have another, more selfish, reason for this project, and that would be creating a means of “personal accountability” for me. Why, you ask? Well, in September of 2008, my family moved from Florida to Oregon, causing me to lose several circles of “exercise buddies” that I very much enjoyed having. With the loss of these friends, my level of exercise dropped dramatically, and of course, my weight again began to climb back up. In those first 4 months, I gained back about 15 pounds. A definite eye-opener for me and proof positive how extremely important exercise is! To achieve this accountability, I will be weekly posting how much and what type of exercise I have accomplished for the week AND I will also be posting my actual WEIGHT! As you say, “Are you nuts?!? You’re going to post your real weight on the World Wide Web!”, I will explain that for me, I personally do well under this type of pressure and it is one thing that I know will most definitely keep me honest with myself, my weight at my preferred 145 and my fitness to the level that I am most comfortable with. Rest assured, I have already “amped” up my exercise routine and will be posting my starting weight shortly.

I look forward to developing many friendships here as we join together to travel the same path, each of us encouraging the others. Please, I implore you, be generous with your feedback! We all know that what works for “one”, doesn’t work for “every” one. If you have a different opinion that mine by all means, say so! There’s probably someone out there who can benefit from your opinion/advice. I DEFINITELY look forward to YOUR “healthy” recipes! I can’t wait to try them out and then add them to our catalog, and the same with your exercise tips! Should you just be at the beginning of your journey and be totally confused as to where to even begin, I would be more than happy to help if I can. I will have you log everything you consume for a week and any/all exercise that you currently do, then give some suggestions as to what you may want to try to change for the first week, and so on. Sometimes, an honest outside opinion is just the trick. Remember, I DO NOT endorse any diets, nor will I ever suggest anything that I haven’t tried myself and been pleased with! And the best benefits that EVERYONE will enjoy will only come with the PARTICIPATION of everyone! So have your say!

I know that by working together we’ll be CHANGING LIVES and ESCAPING FAT!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Preserve your life - cut PRESERVATIVES!

One of the firs things I changed about my lifestyle when I began my weight loss journey almost 3 years ago, and the thing that I preach the hardest to those who ask my advice is: DO NOT EAT PRE-PACKAGED FOOD!

This means things like Hamburger Helper, canned chili, frozen dinners, already seasoned meat in the butcher department, etc.

First, all of these are obviously loaded with salt and we already know the travesty that salt is to our bodies. But, what are equally or even worse, would be the PRESERVATIVES. These are chemicals that simply are not conducive to a "healthy body".

Here's the way I look at the matter. Preservatives are designed to stop the metabolic life of food that we eat. If we then consume these preservatives through the food we eat we are doing two detrimental things to our bodies. First, how can this food (that has been chemically altered to NOT metabolically age) be properly broken down and the necessary nutrients extracted for our bodies to function as intended?

Secondly, now that we have consumed these preservatives and they are now residing within our bodies, would they not continue to "preserve" food/nutrients? Could they be stopping our very bodies from functioning as they are designed? Would they not prohibit our bodies from "breaking down" the nutrients and "keeping" them unused in our systems, inadvertently causing us to gain weight?

Firsthand, I can tell you that within a matter of only a couple of weeks, I personally noticed a dramatic difference in my own body when I eliminated such foods from my diet. Not only, did my weight noticeably drop, but I also found that I ate less. This seemed to be due to the more "natural" foods that I was consuming, was filling me up quicker and for a longer duration than when I ate the "pre-packaged" food. A totally unexpected benefit that I found was that my tastes changed! Once I worked those chemicals out of my system, I found that I actually LIKED the healthy fruits and veggies a lot!

It has now been about 3 years since I have prepared anything like this for my family and you can even see the difference in them! My husband (who would never actually diet or exercise), has actually lost about 50 pounds! As someone who has lost over 120 pounds and kept (all but 15 pounds) it off, my FIRST piece of advice that I pass on to you, is this, "CUT THE PRESERVATIVES!" I do feel this strongly about preservatives.

Being a mom, I also know how it's extremely difficult to find the time to prepare "home cooked" meals everyday. So, I'll give up another secret about me: I am the consummate cheat on cooking! I find shortcuts for everything and over the last 3 years have developed quite a file of "healthy" recipes that actually FOOL my picky family! Be sure to check my Tasty MORSELS section as I will be weekly adding recipes that are "healthy" and yet family tested and approved! And be sure to send me YOUR healthy recipes! I'll try them on my family and if I can slide it by them, I'll add them to my Tasty MORSELS with a Credit to the submitter.
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My First Weight and Exercise Post

Well, if you read A Big FAT Welcome, then you are aware that one of the reasons for this Blog is for me to create a foundation of "personal accountability", to which will firmly motivate me to "stay on the wagon" of fitness. As I mentioned, after my family moved across the country, cutting me off from several circles of "exercise buddies", I lost my motivation for exercise. That, coupled with the holidays led me to one day discovering that my weight had crept back up a little over 160 pounds!

Needless to say, I was floored! I hadn't weighed that much in over 2 1/2 years and had promised myself, I'd never see it again on my scale. So I scared myself straight, conceived the idea for this blog, and drug my big butt back to the gym.

A week has gone by since I've been back "on-track" with both my exercise and healthy eating lifestyle and I am already seeing results. Today the scales rewarded my sweat, tears, and cramps with - Drum roll please ...

156.8 pounds!

So, 10 or so more pounds to go until I reach my "happy place" and I now feel confident that I'll be there before Valentine's Day. Check back next week for my weight then and keep me in check!
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