Part of the OA program is choosing a food plan. They are very flexible when it comes to what you select as a food plan. Part of the program is to allow you to choose the plan, while OA guides you through making other change in your life. The part that I have not come to terms with yet, is the abstinence part. You have to learn to identify foods that “trigger” cravings. It seems like you also have to identify foods that you cannot manage. I believe these are foods you will eat even if you are not hungry or foods that you cannot stop at one serving. I am still coming to terms with the idea that there are some foods that I like that I may never be able to eat again. But, I think this is all part of the process of surrendering.

I attended my first OA (Overeaters Anonymous) meeting. Because I have been involved in Narcotics Anonymous, I was not uncomfortable. They did seem to skip around a lot and it was not the kind of meeting I was used to, but the people were all very nice and very willing to answer my questions. It seems like I have a lot of work to do, but I really think that I need to change the way I think about food and I think they can help me do that. My next step is to do more reading about their program. I was given a newcomers packet and I will start with that.

The more I surf the Overeaters Anonymous website the more I feel this program is for me. There is meeting this evening that is not too far from where I live and I think it is a good place for me. I have read several testimonials from other people that the program has worked for and they refer to “abstinence” and I am kind of curious what they mean by “abstinence,” when it is necessary to eat to survive. I am looking forward to moving forward with my life and I have come to the conclusion that with the help of Overeaters Anonymous, I can do that.

For quite some time I have been considering attending overeaters anonymous meetings. I am a recovering addict that has over seven years of clean time. During that time, I have made many accomplishments in my life. But, I have also learned that addicts tend to substitute one substance for another and I feel that is where I am now. I recognize the signs of addiction, but as with most addicts it is very easy to deny these signs. I have tried about every type of weight loss program in existence and have even had gastric bypass surgery. Maybe I have set unrealistic goals for myself, but I believe I need to change the relationship I have with food.

Forgiving myself is one of the things that I find hardest to do, but according to the counselors it is a necessary action. I feel that if I haven’t eaten only 1200 calories and exercised for an hour, I have not been successful. But the truth is, this is a rare occurrence for most people. I have heard that if you can accomplish 80 percent of your goals 80 percent of the time, you will most likely be successful. The trick is to move past any slips that you have and keep moving forward. This is something I need to work at; I am the kind of person that writes the whole day off if I have a candy bar. If I go 2 days without exercising, it is hard for me to get back on track, but I know that is necessary if I expect to lose the rest of this weight and avoid weight related medical conditions.

Keeping a food journal and weighing myself every 2 days were part of my goals for the week. I weighed myself twice this week and I did lose 2 pounds. I actually managed to work in some exercise. I went for a 20 minute walk at lunch twice during the week. Walking at lunch helped me lose weight last year and I hoping it will work again this year. It also helps relieve some of the stress that tends to build up from dealing with people all morning.

I also began keeping a food record, but I feel my efforts need work. I did it some days and others I did not. I did find that I did eat healthier when I recorded everything. This is a holiday weekend and I will be going to an amusement park in a few days. All these things will present unique eating challenges, but I am looking forward to being able to get some exercise.

I am watching a show on obesity and the facts in this country are very sobering. At this time two thirds of American adults and one in six children are overweight. Obesity is fast approaching smoking as the leading cause of prevent able death in this country. But this final fact is the one that I found most shocking. If society continues on this destructive path, the life expectancy of our children will be shorter than our own life expectancies.

Nursing homes to help the super-obese are starting to pop up throughout the country to try to help people that are excessively overweight. Many of the people in these facilities consider it their last chance. I also believe that health costs will increase as more people suffer from weight related medical conditions. Food is the one substance you can be addicted to that you can abstain from. Being a recovering addict, I will tell you that dealing with my weight is much more difficult than giving up the drugs was and that is the reason. You must manage your eating each and every day.

I find that in some areas of my town the obesity problem is worse than others. There is a certain buffet that is always filled with people that are over 300 pounds. The Walmart across the street is always got somebody on an electric scooter, because it is too difficult for them to walk. An addiction of any type is not easy to manage, but I believe food to be the most difficult. It not only takes a lifestyle change it takes counseling to get to the root of why we overeat.

Weight loss is about small things. Every little thing you do contributes to winning the war. It is easier to break things in out lives down into small segments and that goes for weight loss or weight loss maintenance program. Follow these simple steps for getting to a slimmer you.

1.   Use healthy convenience foods to your benefit. In today’s fast paced, time deficient world, we need to take find ways to save time and eat healthy. There a large variety of healthy convenience foods available. Take advantage of them.
2.   Schedule exercise time and stick with it. For me it works best if I get it out of the way first thing in the morning. Classes or exercising with a partner can be a good way to stay motivated.
3.   If you are going to spend calories on something that is not healthy, make sure it is worth it.
4.   If you travel, always make sure you have workout clothes.
5.   Weigh yourself often. This will prevent a 3 pound weight gain from turning into a 20 pound weight gain. If you know what your weight is it will be easier to maintain.

There are many small things that can contribute to you winning the weight loss war. It is just matter of putting them all together and following them consistently.

Well I did survive the challenge with the Olive Garden leftovers, but there were a few other challenges in the past several days that I did not have he same success with. One of of my next goals is to get back to basics. When I say basics, I mean the simple things that have worked for me in the past. The two simplest things I can think of are keeping a food diary and weighing yourself regularly.

I am the kind of person that will shy away from getting on the scale if I think I am not going to like what I see, but this also allows me to deny the fact that eating 3 chocolate chip cookies and not exercising has no negative impact. If you do this only once it probably will not have much of a negative impact, but let this behavior become a habit and I guarantee you will not like what your see. The experts say that the people that weigh themselves regulary are more successful at mantaining their weight loss. Once or twice a week should do it.

Keeping a food diary has a way of putting it all in front of you in black and white. If you 3 chocolate chip cookies you are going to have to look at it in print. These food journal forms can be gotten off the internet. I like the ones that bes that have space for filling in your feelings and several other things that may be going on around you at the time your chose to eat. This forces you to face the emotions that seem to sometimes control what you eat.

These will be my two goals for the week. Keeping an ACCURATE food journal and weighing myself 3 times this week. If I can make these weight loss basics part of my weekly schedule, I should be that much closer to getting the rest of this weight off and keeping it off.

I thought that if I blogged about my weightloss challenges that maybe it would make me more accountable. That is yet to be seen and I guess only time will tell. My family and I had dinner at Olive Garden this evening and I had ravioli portabella, ravioli stuffed with mushrooms covered with a cream sauce. Having had gastric bypass surgery (something I will get into later), I cannot eat a restaurant size meal in one sitting. But it is only a matter of time (1 hour) and I am able to eat again whether I need to or not and right now those Olive Garden leftovers are calling my name. I am giving it my best effort to not give in to those voices in my head and I am hoping that writing this will help. Many people think that because you have had gastric bypass surgery, you are on easy street. Think again!