I don’t think my story is unique; you workout you maintain a decent functioning body and then you meet someone, fall in love, and as I like to say, gain “10 pounds of love weight.” The phenomenon is not for women only: men seem to go through this too, so it’s no surprise that Paul and I both gained some weight during our courtship. One of the biggest challenges for women who live with men is the annoying realization that you can’t eat like he does and not expect to put on pounds.
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The Whole Geek (Paul), Future Mrs. The Whole Geek (Zanna),
Matron of Honor (Tammy), and Best Man (Peter) last weekend in front of Fisherman’s Wharf,
San Francisco
I have tried numerous times, sort of, to lose those 10 pounds but the reality is that I just didn’t care enough. I really didn’t want to put forth the effort, and I think in the back of my mind figured I couldn’t do it without drastic measures. Somehow the planets aligned and while Paul was reading Tim Caulfield’s book “The Cure for Everything…” and as we were planning our wedding, we decided it was time to give it another go.
I recommended we log our food using My Fitness Pal as I had used it in the past (and a myriad of other online tools) and found it to be the most user-friendly.
No Secrets
As Paul has posted before, there really is no secret to losing weight. It’s a bitter pill to swallow for many of us, myself included, that I cannot eat whatever I want in the quantities I want and maintain a healthy weight. I fight that every single day!
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Ultimately you have to cut calories. For me, unfortunately, cruelly, that means reducing my caloric intake to 1200 calories per day. THIS IS NOT EASY. In the beginning this seemed like a paltry amount of food and I struggled! I ended up starting at 1400 calories per day because I just struggled so much getting to 1200. While Paul was peeling off the pounds at a quick pace, I was sluggishly bouncing up and down the scale. I finally tired of the up and down and made a concerted effort to eat 1200 calories per day. I was bitter. He was losing weight I wasn’t. What a motivator!
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The secret to this you see (I thought there were no secrets?), is to get the most bang out of your calorie buck. Some foods become too “expensive” while others are easy to fit into your diet.
For us that meant oatmeal in the morning with fruit, chia seeds, and pumpkin seeds (just a tablespoon full) with our latte. Lunch was salad or nonfat Greek yogurt and fruit and dinner was another salad, veggies, and maybe salmon. We have eaten in restaurants successfully and had wine many nights of the week (usually stopping at 4 ounces) and enjoying small bits of dark chocolate.
Surviving on Less
Once I figured out I could survive on 1200 calories per day, I did a pretty good job of staying at that number regularly. The results? I have successfully dropped those 10 pounds in about six weeks. Yes, I lagged behind Paul. Yes, I’m approaching menopause. Yes, I have a bum knee, a kidney transplant, take tons of drugs. Yes, I have excuses to use, but the reality is, that by eating less and moving more, I did it!
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I am, what did they say about the economy “cautiously optimistic” about my ability to maintain this weight, which I’m happy to say, slides me into the healthy BMI category. However, I’m not stupid. I know that our upcoming trip to Italy could be a license to consume, as the Coneheads put it “mass quantities“, but then my pants won’t fit!
Will I enjoy gelato? Yes. Will I enjoy pasta? Yes. Will I enjoy my wedding cake, you bet. But, I won’t enjoy them all on the same day. I will balance out the indulgences with better food choices and relieve any wedding day stress by walking in the Italian countryside.
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In conclusion, I share this story with all the 40-something women out there who think they can’t lose the weight, that it’s impossible during the hormonal firestorm, and with women who have health problems who can’t do intense exercise right now. My message is, yes you can. If you want to, you can! It won’t be easy, but you will get used to eating less and you will enjoy the results.
Zanna
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