The Old Fashioned, Cost Effective Way

I've noticed there has been a lot of new things circulating about....

weight loss.

For example, there's the new procedure called the Lap Band. From what I understand it's a surgery that places a ring around part of your G.I. track that inhibits you from over eating. It's pretty expensive, as most surgeries are. The commercials show thin people, liberated by their weight loss but what I'm wondering is how can you be liberated when your weight loss is souly dependent on something/someone else putting restrictions on you. Where is the personal freedom in that?

There are other procedures (stomach stapling, lypo, all types of injections, etc.) as well as

expensive gyms, fad diets, and even resorts advertising for you to drop your life as is for a period of time and come loose weight. These all cost large amounts of money and take time away from other, highly more pressing and important things (our families, our jobs, or our education). So what I'm wondering is why people spend so much money and disrupt their lives for a quick fix? And more importantly, what happens in five years when the surgery is no longer effective (oh yes, it happens) or you come home from the resort faced with all the temptations that got you overweight to begin with?

Actual weight loss isn't the issue; a person's weight is a symptom of what they did/are doing that caused them to gain the weight in the first place. There could be many reasons for this that are not part of a severe issue (surgery and an inability to exercise, injury, having a baby, etc). There are other issues that are a little more psychologically debilitating that are getting in the way of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Regardless, what I want to know is what happened to the old fashioned way of loosing weight? Output vs. input. You know, the one that forces us to be accountable for what we eat, if we exercise, and most importantly, that's FREE? Are we really unable to loose weight at home during our day-to-day lives?

(*Yes, sometimes in life threatening situations surgery is necessary and yes, some facilities and resorts legitimately fix your head so your body will follow, but most people are concerned with just their body. Hence, it's the programs that only target one's body and not their emotional/mental health and well being that I am focusing on.)

When I knew I wanted to do a post about weight loss, I decided I had to walk the walk if I was going to talk the talk. So, I committed to only weighing once a week and counting calories. I've lost 3 pounds in 7 days by exercising everyday and paying attention to what I eat. Granted it took me about 5 days to finally eat within my proposed calorie allotment because I had NO IDEA how much I had been consuming (I ate 1500 calories in ONE meal last week, and they were SMALL portions!) but by the fifth day I started getting a handle on things and it paid off in only a week. (And yes, I did step on the scale this morning with my eyes closed, all the while cringing inside until I finally opened them to read the numbers - 1 3 4 . 3. REALLY?! YES!)

I'm pretty stoked if I do say so myself. The fact that I'm paying attention and learning how many calories are in what I eat on a daily basis is giving me the tools for long term success, something a lot of dieters/surgical patients don't think about.

I also got the privilege of meeting this gal-

this past week (for FREE I might add).

After 25 minutes with her I looked like this-

I got to hear her story about how she got to the point she was at when she first started the show. She spoke very strongly about not making excuses and not comparing ourselves to others. She had a severe car accident that caused her body to not allow her muscles to grow as quickly as the other contestants and so she had a really hard time on the show. "I was the slowest, I finished last...

...but I lost 100 pounds. Who cares?"

I know a few people that started loosing weight recently 'the old fashioned way.' One mom had amazing success in only a month! Since she's started, she's lost 20 pounds in just 8 weeks. I'm good friends with another mom who says some people have suggested to her things to help her loose the weight "faster." "Faster? It's coming off on it's own, why spend money to speed up the process? What's the rush?" She admits she was slightly annoyed with the suggestion. I love that philosophy.

What is the rush? Why not take responsibility for our actions and put in the hard work? It's hard admitting what we've become, but we're better for it when we do.

Don't. Make. Excuses.