Assignments

In the last couple of weeks I’ve written a lot about my battle with weight loss and the fact that my friend Jodi is going to being helping me with the struggle. I promised last week that I was going to share with you the plan she has me following (hint, it is the same one that she has followed to lose over 120 pounds).

The day I wrote the post about my battle she was on messenger to me right away, telling me that she wanted to help me if I was really ready to do something about my weight. I agreed to let her help me. Her first assignment was that I start the next day, which was a Friday. She said if I was serious then it didn’t matter what day it was and I didn’t need time to think about it. If you’re really ready, then you’re ready. Period.

The second assignment was to open a Livestrong.com account and give her the password (which I made “jodisbitch”, I think that’s totally appropriate). She told me to track every single thing I eat and/or drink in this account every day. If I chew a piece of gum, I track it.

Third, I have to maintain a 1,500 calorie limit every day. Not 1,200 or 1,800, but 1,500… every day. If I’m at 1,250 in the evening she tells me to eat a snack before I go to bed. It doesn’t matter what I eat. I can eat whatever I want, but I can’t go over my calorie limit for the day. I like this calorie limit because it allows me to eat six small meals a day. I shoot for 300 calories at breakfast, lunch and dinner and 200 calorie snacks. If I’m going to eat out then I know to either cut out a snack or eat a smaller calorie snack, but to make it balance.

Speaking of eating out, assignment number four is that I can’t eat out anywhere that I can’t get the nutrition information before I go. She told me I have to plan what I’m going to eat before I get there so that there won’t be any surprises.

Assignment five is all about water. Eight to ten eight ounce glasses a day. If you’ve ever tried to lose weight you’ve heard of that one. Well there’s a reason why. It helps flush out your body, keeps you hydrated and helps keep you full. During the day when I feel the urge to eat I grab a bottle of water and start chugging. I knew before that every time I ate it wasn’t because I was hungry, but had more to do with being bored or stressed, but I had no idea how much.

She told me to do all of this for a month and then at the end of the month we’ll add in exercise. I’m supposed to go visit her next month. While I’m there she’s going to go over some of the exercises she used when she was starting out. Also during the month she logs into my account and gives me suggestions about things that I can eat that will help maximize my calories. Knowing that she’s been through this as a working mother is a huge help and lends credence when she tells me something. I know she’s already been there done that.

Assignment six, weigh and measure. Not my body, but my food. It doesn’t do any good to count your calories if you aren’t eating the right quantity of food. I had no idea how much I was overeating until I started looking at my serving sizes. I was seriously overeating even when I only got one “helping” of food. My one serving was probably actually two to four servings. All of that seriously adds up.

Last week she told me I had one extra assignment. To DVR and watch every episode of Heavy on A&E. Luckily there was a marathon of them this weekend and I was able to catch up on the first four episodes. I’m not a big fan of reality TV and I really don’t like watching shows about “fat” people, but yesterday I sat down and watched all of them while I was folding laundry.

Oh.My.God.

I cried at least once during all of them. I just totally related to these people. There was something with all of them that I would say “that’s me, I feel the same way.” Like the woman who said she didn’t feel like she was worth it or the man that tried to justify why he was overeating or the woman that felt like she wasn’t doing enough (even though she physically couldn’t do more) that said if she was going to do this and be away from her kids then she had to give it her all.

Before the participants would leave for the 30 days at the facility they had to go to a weight loss doctor for an assessment. I wrote down what he said right away because I wanted to remember it.

“This is your problem and your body and you have to be the one to lose the weight.” 

Dr. Robin Marvin

He was absolutely, 100% right. The only way this will work is if I do it. Period.