Achieving is believing

[Newsland33]

Trapper: 

 

Sorry for the delayed response. I've been off the site for a few weeks. I hope you're doing well on the program and still making progress. Having support is vital (I couldn't have done it without my family and a couple of close friends in my corner every day). I'm going to post something longer later tonight, but today is the one-year anniversary of my step into the Whole 30 world, and in many ways I am a different person (for the better).

I'm glad my experience has helped you a little. Keep at it and know there are people out there ready to help.

 

Cheers - ML

[Newsland33]

 

A year ago today, I was physically miserable and fed up with myself.

 

My feet, hips, back and shoulders ached nearly constantly. I had no real desire to exercise and was wiped out at the end of most days. I weighed nearly 255 pounds - probably the heaviest I have ever been in my life. 

 

It also was the day I took the first step toward trying to get control of my weight and health by jumping into the Whole 30 pool.

 

Privately, I set a lofty goal of losing 50 pounds in a year, thinking I would be thrilled if I managed to lose half that - especially since I had set the same goal the previous year and lost 1 pound in 12 months.

 

This morning, I weighed in at just under 195 pounds. I feel - and look - better than I have since I was in college. 

 

I am a professional communicator and words are my stock in trade, but in this case I fear that that my words won't do justice to the sense of accomplishment, pride, appreciation and gratitude I feel for what has happened to me over the past 365 days.  Still, I'm going to give it a shot.

 

For context, I am a 55-year-old man who has battled weight issues most of his life. For the better part of two decades I have consistently carried 30-40 pounds more than is healthy. It has contributed, I'm sure, to a laundry list of joint issues that have required surgery.

 

I have launched more "get healthy" attempts than I care to admit, and my New Year's resolution for every year that I can remember has been to "lose (fill in the blank with some large number) pounds this year."

 

To be honest, I'm not sure what was different about last year. Maybe it was the fact that I was approaching 55 and realized that I didn't have unlimited time to make lasting change. Mostly, I think it was that I finally got sick and tired and feeling kinda sick and tired.

 

Whatever the motivation, I'm certain of the role Whole 30 played in helping me stick to a plan for once. I've detailed my progress at various times throughout the year, so you can read earlier posts for more, but the nearly immediate positive feedback my body provide to my new eating habits became infections.

 

My joint inflammation receded to background noise within a couple of weeks. My energy level spiked. I dropped a meaningful amount of weight in the first month. And, most weirdly, I even had a fatty cyst at the base of my neck that was scheduled to be removed disappear about three weeks into my first month.

 

My first Whole 30 month went so well that I actually had to force myself to do the food reintroductions (but do them - it's important to know what works and doesn't work for your body). And I can't stress this enough: If weight loss is an motivating factor for joining Whole 30, changing your eating habits isn't enough.

 

I was lucky: my body felt so much better from Whole 30 that I wanted to be more active. The more I exercised, the more weight I lost and the more I wanted to exercise and eat right. It became a virtuous circle of healthy behaviors.

 

Armed with knowledge about my body, food and exercise - and buoyed by the support of family and friends - I have seen my weight drop steadily, my body composition change dramatically and my health "stats" improve sharply. 

 

I am a few days away from finishing my third Whole 30 month and have completely changed my relationship with food.

 

As important, I have fallen in love with being active. I'm at the gym three days a week, in the yoga studio another day or two each week. I have enjoyed challenging day hikes in the mountains of North and South Carolina and early this month began training for my first 5K race. My only regret, if I were to have one, would be that I didn't do this 10 or 15 years earlier. That said, I easily feel 10 or 15 years younger than I am, so I have truly just started looking at age as a number, not a statement on where I am in life. 

 

My challenge now is to figure out where to go from here. I still would like to lose another 10 pounds or so, but honestly I'd be fine to stay where I am as long as my fitness level stays high. Besides, while this started out as a way to lose weight it has become so much more.

 

In many ways, this has been one of the most rewarding years of my life. To honor that experience, and to ensure that the past 12 months haven't just been a happy blip, I feel the need to find another big mountain to scale (probably not literally in my case).

 

That's the challenge I have set for myself. If I figure it out, I'll be back to share with all of you who have been supportive of my efforts this year.

 

For today, though, I am going to enjoy the moment. I've already said thanks to those closest to me, without whose support and love this doesn't happen.

 

The same goes for everyone traveling their own journey to improve their health and their lives. I know as well as anyone that progress is rarely a straight line, but that fact that we're all out here trying has to count for something, right?

 

Keep fighting the good fight - and thanks to all for helping me win this round.

 

With appreciation,

 

ML

 

 

 

 

[Newsland33]

(Note: I also posted this to a long thread called 'Achieving is Believing' in this forum, but thought it might be fun to start a thread of folks who have completed Whole 30 or life milestones. Hope you enjoy - and feel free to chime in! - ML)

 

--

 

A year ago today, I was physically miserable and fed up with myself.

 

My feet, hips, back and shoulders ached nearly constantly. I had no real desire to exercise and was wiped out at the end of most days. I weighed nearly 255 pounds - probably the heaviest I have ever been in my life. 

 

It also was the day I took the first step toward trying to get control of my weight and health by jumping into the Whole 30 pool.

 

Privately, I set a lofty goal of losing 50 pounds in a year, thinking I would be thrilled if I managed to lose half that - especially since I had set the same goal the previous year and lost 1 pound in 12 months.

 

This morning, I weighed in at just under 195 pounds. I feel - and look - better than I have since I was in college. 

 

I am a professional communicator and words are my stock in trade, but in this case I fear that that my words won't do justice to the sense of accomplishment, pride, appreciation and gratitude I feel for what has happened to me over the past 365 days.  Still, I'm going to give it a shot.

 

For context, I am a 55-year-old man who has battled weight issues most of his life. For the better part of two decades I have consistently carried 30-40 pounds more than is healthy. It has contributed, I'm sure, to a laundry list of joint issues that have required surgery.

 

I have launched more "get healthy" attempts than I care to admit, and my New Year's resolution for every year that I can remember has been to "lose (fill in the blank with some large number) pounds this year."

 

To be honest, I'm not sure what was different about last year. Maybe it was the fact that I was approaching 55 and realized that I didn't have unlimited time to make lasting change. Mostly, I think it was that I finally got sick and tired and feeling kinda sick and tired.

 

Whatever the motivation, I'm certain of the role Whole 30 played in helping me stick to a plan for once. I've detailed my progress at various times throughout the year ('Achieving is Believing' thread), so you can read earlier posts for more, but the nearly immediate positive feedback my body provide to my new eating habits became infections.

 

My joint inflammation receded to background noise within a couple of weeks. My energy level spiked. I dropped a meaningful amount of weight in the first month. And, most weirdly, I even had a fatty cyst at the base of my neck that was scheduled to be removed disappear about three weeks into my first month.

 

My first Whole 30 month went so well that I actually had to force myself to do the food reintroductions (but do them - it's important to know what works and doesn't work for your body). And I can't stress this enough: If weight loss is an motivating factor for joining Whole 30, changing your eating habits isn't enough.

 

I was lucky: my body felt so much better from Whole 30 that I wanted to be more active. The more I exercised, the more weight I lost and the more I wanted to exercise and eat right. It became a virtuous circle of healthy behaviors.

 

Armed with knowledge about my body, food and exercise - and buoyed by the support of family and friends - I have seen my weight drop steadily, my body composition change dramatically and my health "stats" improve sharply. 

 

I am a few days away from finishing my third Whole 30 month and have completely changed my relationship with food.

 

As important, I have fallen in love with being active. I'm at the gym three days a week, in the yoga studio another day or two each week. I have enjoyed challenging day hikes in the mountains of North and South Carolina and early this month began training for my first 5K race. My only regret, if I were to have one, would be that I didn't do this 10 or 15 years earlier. That said, I easily feel 10 or 15 years younger than I am, so I have truly just started looking at age as a number, not a statement on where I am in life. 

 

My challenge now is to figure out where to go from here. I still would like to lose another 10 pounds or so, but honestly I'd be fine to stay where I am as long as my fitness level stays high. Besides, while this started out as a way to lose weight it has become so much more.

 

In many ways, this has been one of the most rewarding years of my life. To honor that experience, and to ensure that the past 12 months haven't just been a happy blip, I feel the need to find another big mountain to scale (probably not literally in my case).

 

That's the challenge I have set for myself. If I figure it out, I'll be back to share with all of you who have been supportive of my efforts this year.

 

For today, though, I am going to enjoy the moment. I've already said thanks to those closest to me, without whose support and love this doesn't happen.

 

The same goes for everyone traveling their own journey to improve their health and their lives. I know as well as anyone that progress is rarely a straight line, but that fact that we're all out here trying has to count for something, right?

 

Keep fighting the good fight - and thanks to all for helping me win this round.

 

With appreciation,

 

ML

[Lorna from Canada]

Thank you for sharing your story so eloquently @Newsland33. It's very inspirational. It sounds like you've figured this out for yourself and you should be so proud!! Congratulations.

I do disagree with one thing however. I believe while exercise is very, very important for both health and well being (I'm a marathoner and long distance backpacker with an impressive gym schedule), weight loss is still 99% the domain of food you eat. I have gained 30 lbs over the 2 years of menopause and have not changed the frequency or intensity of my workouts. I tried all last year to lose weight on a conventional weight loss program (WW) without success. Have previously lost more than 85lbs and maintained it for almost a decade before menopause, this was very frustrating! I increased my workouts and sustained a serious overuse injury in the summer. Surgery further exacerbated my issues. By October, I was sidelined completely - relegated to stretching and alot of complaining. Interestingly though, I did not gain any additional weight.

I have yet to return to my full exercise program - I have the go ahead to start in February. In the meantime, I decided to do this W30 thing. I haven't been on the scale but my clothes are so loose, my ribs are so prominent and my face is so thin that I am certain I have lost a significant amount of weight. Returning to the gym in a week will simply be icing on the cake. Yes - it may help weight loss but, what I know now is that it Starts with Food.

I'm only writing this because I think it is important that people our age (I am 59) stop thinking that because they have arthritis, or heart trouble, or _______ (insert ailment here) and can't work out like they once did therefore they can't lose weight so why bother? As you so eloquently describe, losing the weight through this dietary approach lessens those ailment challenges and a return to fitness will come.

Again - congratulations and thank you for sharing your jouney! It's AMAZING!!

[Newsland33]

Lorna: 

 

Thanks for the nice words and thoughtful note. Your point is well-taken. I didn't mean to suggest that you can't lose weight without exercise (I also had amazing quick results in that area from my first W30 effort and my wife has also done well without increasing her exercise greatly). 

What I should have made clear is that for me, the two have gone hand-in-glove. Creating better nutrition fundamentals set the stage and gave me the energy to want to workout, and the increased activity level has really helped burn the fuel (and the stored fat). 

You're right, though: For me, it also started with changing my relationship with food and the last changes will serve me well no matter my level of exercise. I also know that I wouldn't be talking about a 60-pound weight loss without a similar commitment to exercise. 

Thanks again for taking the time to write - and good luck on your journey.

 

Cheers - ML