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Learning from failure
September 13, 2006
I have gained weight. Now I'm up to 330 pounds, and boy do I feel it now! My back, knees and hips ache, and I've been having chest pain off and on. I'm only 33, and this is just not right. The good news is for $9,000 I can go to Mexico and have a real surgeon place a device around my stomach that will cause me to be unable to over eat. I'm looking into financing options right now. It's the next best thing to having someone there to slap the food right out of your mouth.
Can you say, "Emotional Eater?"
July 14, 2006
Wow, just had a big fight with the hubby, and then I went straight for the cookies! I'm gaining wieght, I feel like crap, and I just can't make myself get back on the Weight Watchers program. Maybe I need a psychiatrist, not a calorie counter. I thought everyone wanted to lose weight. I do, but then again Idon't. Geeze, what am I going to do? You'll know when I know.
Back in the game?
June 24, 2006
I went to my first Weight Watchers meeting in 4 weeks last night. I'd lost a little over 3 pounds. That stroller is great! I'm doing research into lap-band gastric surgery. They put a plastic band around your stomach, making a smaller pouch and dampening your appetite. I hope to get a good article written and posted on the website soon.
Weight Loss Surgery Not a Cure-All?
June 15, 2006
I have a bmi of 55, and have not had a lot of success with diets. So tonight I was researching gastric bypass and lap-band surgeries. I was dreaming of the help that lap band surgery would give me, when I ran across this terrifying site and now I'm all kinds of freaked out! Talk about horror stories. What is a fat old housewife to do? Count calories and exercise, I suppose.
My Fabulous Stroller
June 12, 2006
I bought a double jogging stroller off of e-bay, and it is great. The kids love to ride in it, and pester me to go for rides. It does great on our gravel country road. My 3 year old sees me all sweaty and asks, "Mommy, is that your fat melting?"! How cool is that? I can't beleive how good I feel after I exercise, too. Endorphins! No wonder people get addicted to exercise!
New Attitude
May 17, 2006
Well, I bought the book "Bad Childhood, Good Life" as referenced in the previous post, and boy, was it worth it! The most awful thing I realized about myself is that part of my weight problem is my passive-aggressive way of punishing my husband. Yes, at my core I beleive I am unloveable, therefore I am punishing him for loving me no matter how fat I get. How's that for twisted! But, these insights are actually going to help me, and I feel "lighter" today, more hopeful. I'm ready to get going again.
My husband could be writing this...
May 7, 2006
This article made me cry. Let's hope it ads to my motivation, and yours. The fat on our bodies also has an effect on those that love us.
Living With An Obese Partner
By Jeffrey Hauser
It didn’t start out like that. Although my wife was just a bit overweight when we married, the condition grew like a slow-moving cancer over a decade. She enjoyed eating and had a fondness for sweets. I didn’t really notice any of the telltale signs until it was too late. We ate out and she ordered a dessert at many opportunities. We had ice cream and chocolate in the house most times and snack foods became more prevalent. By the time my daughter was born, she was 75 pounds overweight and the pregnancy didn’t help. The additional weight gained became part of her body indefinitely. We used to play golf, tennis, bowl, and go for walks together. Now she was unable to be as active, so we stayed in more. That led to even more eating and snacking.
We always liked to travel and continued the trend, even with my daughter now in
the picture. But the walking tours took their toll and time in the motel room always
involved eating. It was shortly after my daughter turned five that my wife noticed
knee problems. A doctor affirmed the early signs of arthritis, which ran in her
family. So now, not only was the weight a problem, the degenerative condition she
contracted would get worse as time went on.
Over the years, I had tried to be supportive. I would mention the weight gain on
occasion and suggest better eating habits. I never brought sweets or snacks into the
house on my own. But, she would buy certain foods or, when I went to store, ask me
to get them. If I refused, a mini-argument took place and I let it go. I encouraged
exercise and had a slew of machines from exercycles, to rowing machines, and
treadmills. I became the only one using them. So years passed and the weight kept
piling on.
Over time, she had tried every diet known to man: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig,
Slimfast, the Scarsdale Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, diet soda, diet cookies, diet ice
cream, diet everything. Every time she lost some weight, she would gain it back and
more. Our family doctor counseled her to no avail. She was quite simply, addicted to
food.
The problem became acute. She was slowing down and unable to join my
daughter and myself on simple walks at home or on vacation. She would stay in her
chair and eat. Her knees were causing her a great deal of pain and she began
cortisone shots and took handfuls of Tylenol in between, Her weight was over 300
pounds and I feared for her health. I finally couldn’t stand it anymore and took
drastic action. I began reading about a surgical option.
Without going into great detail, we explored gastric bypass together. It was
spring and she was not happy with what the process involved. After pleading to
allow her to try dieting for a desperate last time, I agreed. By that fall, she had
grown by 25 more pounds and acceded to my wishes, admitting defeat. We had the
surgery, but it was too little too late. The doctor told me that her heart had been
under too much strain for too long with all that additional weight. She died at age
55.
This article is a warning and love letter to all spouses facing a similar issue. Do
them and yourself a favor and get help before it’s too late. I waited and my wife paid
the ultimate price. Who knows what would have happened if I had acted years
sooner? I’m not sure if she would have done anything back then, but at least we
should have talked. I know that obesity is a killer and few victims live a long and
productive life into their later years. I know that my wife is reading this in heaven
and would want you too, to save a life, if possible.
Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for
nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising
and has a Master's Degree from Monmouth University. He had his own
advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design
firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, "Pursuit of the
Phoenix," available at amazon.com. His latest book is, "Inside the Yellow
Pages." Currently, he is the Marketing Director for http://www.thenurseschoice.com,
a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jeffrey_Hauser
Hormone shot for weight loss?
April 28, 2006
Click here for the full WebMD story, but in short, researchers think a shot of the gut hormone oxyntomodulin may help people not only feel full, therefore eating less, but also move more, therefore burning more calories.
Would I inject myself in the belly before every meal if it meant an extra boost to my weight loss? You bet I would! This sounds promising, I hope it proves to be true.
Childhood Hangover
April 28, 2006
Dr. Laura Schlessinger has written a new book, "Bad Childhood, Good Life", and it's gotten me thinking about the things I am hanging on to. A caller to the Dr. Laura show said he feels for the fat people he sees at the gym, because they are wearing their bad childhoods on their bodies. Boy, that's got me thinking. I even went to this website to look at the book. I'm afraid to buy it, in a way. What if it really does help me to get rid of the poison of my past? Then I really will be able to lose weight, and my life really will change. Wow. I could be healthy and live a long life. Or I can be fat and miserable and die much younger than I should.
The frustrating thing to me is how much I let fear dictate my life. I'm afraid of change, afraid of losing weight, afraid of being vulnerable, afraid of being successful. Stupid fear, fear, fear. People with disabilities and severe setbacks pick themselves up and live happy lives. I am able bodied, capable of doing pretty much anything I want, and I'm wasting time trapped in a huge body, crippled by the way I think.
Well, I think I am going to buy this book tomorrow and try to get to the root of my troubles. In this case, the trouble really is all in my head!
Xenical over the counter?
April 13, 2006
The drug company GlaxoSmithKline says the fat-blocking drug in Xenical could be available over the counter this year. The over the counter version of this diet pill is called "Orlistat", and it blocks the absorption of about 25% of any fat consumed. This diet pill causes loose stools if much fat is consumed, since the blocked fat takes the "fast track" exit out of the body.
The new diet pill is to be called "Alli", and will cost consumers $12 to $25 per week. It will be half the strength of the prescription pill, Xenical. GlaxoSmithKline estimates 5 to 6 million Americans would buy the diet pill, creating at least $1.5 billion a year in retail sales.
Acccording to the Albuquerque Tribune, during a clinical trial people taking Orlistat lost 5 to 6 pounds more than those given a placebo. Once they stopped taking the drug they began regaining the weight lost.
This is the drug that produces "oily discharge" from the anus in some people, as well as gas and fecal incontinence (yikes!) in others. Keeping that in mind, I will still give this diet pill a try if and when it is approved by the FDA. In my case, I think it will work a lot like that drug that makes alcoholics deathly ill if they drink alcohol. Fecal incontinence is a good deterrent to cheesecake, me thinks.
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About My Blog I am documenting the struggles and successes of my own personal weight loss story. I hope my experiences will help others to know they are not alone, and the fight is worth fighting.
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