My Weight Loss Journey (so far)

                                                          My Weight Loss Journey      

     As I travel along on my weight loss journey, I am starting to get a lot of questions from people about how I am doing it.  As some people are genuinely interested, I thought I would do a blog about it.  Way back when I worked with sled dogs, I realized there were metabolic differences between individual members of the same species.  As I was caring for 150+ dog athletes, it was impossible not to notice that some dogs could eat very little and keep their weight up and others could eat endless amounts without gaining weight, even though they were working the same amount daily.  Those dogs that eat so very little (as with horses, cattle, etc) are called “easy keepers”.  Unfortunately, among us people, many of us are also easy keepers.  We were the ones that would have survived famines.   The real key to losing weight is to realize people are individuals and find what works for you. 

Me before the journey

Me now

      Part one – the diet.  I started going to Dr James Donovan at St Luke’s Miller Creek Clinic in Dec of  2013.  I can honestly say that Dr Donovan has changed my life – I have lost 57 lbs so far under his supervision.  He is board certified in bariatric medicine by the American Board of Obesity Medicine.  He has studied this for years.  You can buy his book off Amazon – I will even supply the link.  Here is an excerpt from it – this is about Dave, who is one of those naturally thin people “So what happens to Dave when he eats a jelly donut at 8AM?  As he digests the doughnut he releases insulin to combat the rising blood sugar and his insulin levels follow the blood sugar rise, decreasing as his blood sugar decreases.  His liver releases stored sugar as needed and he can go all day on one doughnut.  He is efficient and he is thin.  When his wife and I eat a jelly doughnut at 8AM (Dave’s wife and Doc are easy keepers), we release insulin just like he did; however, we release a lot of insulin.  Our pancreas acts as if it’s in a panic and doesn’t want to lose one calorie.  We drive that sugar into our fat cells as quickly as we can.  About two hours later, we are starving.  Our blood sugars are now too low” (Donovan 14 & 15).   So, in my diet that is overseen by my doctor, I limit the things that raise blood sugar.  Every day, I focus on the things I should eat, not the things I shouldn’t.  I don’t count calories.  I don’t weigh out portions.  I eat four servings of veggies, three of fruit, three of protein (each being 30grams).  I limit my starches (potatoes, bread, pasta) to two small servings and my dairy to one serving (I usually have a greek yogurt along with a 15gram protein shake for breakfast every day).   By avoiding sugars and limiting the starches, I nearly eliminate the food cravings that lead to binge eating.  I do still eat candy bars.  It is my one vice I won’t give up.  I feel FANTASTIC on this diet.  I can easily see me eating healthy for life.  I have lots and lots of energy now.  If you want to find out more about this diet, I suggest you buy the book.  If you are local and truly interested in losing weight, I highly suggest you make an appointment with Dr Donovan. 

Dr. Donovan's book

I remember I cried when I saw this pic

Part two – exercise.  Although I have been an active person my entire life, participating in things such as snowshoeing, biking, farming, etc, I noticed that in the last 10 years or so, my energy level had dropped considerably.  And, although I was still active, I didn’t make a conscious, consistent effort to exercise regularly.  I knew in order to be healthy, I had to change that.  I started out slowly.  I didn’t do that much the first few months.  Once I had dropped some pounds and my energy level was increasing, I started walking – either outside or using DVDs (I will put my favorite DVDs at the bottom of this blog – all can be bought from Amazon).  The first summer/fall of this plan, I walked three 5ks.  At first, walking this far was a challenge.  My first 5k was a virtual one and I walked with the dogs on the ATV trail in Silver Bay.  I was exhausted at the end of it – the terrain was a bit rugged and there were a lot of hills (what city folk call hiking).  By the end of summer, I was starting to add some running to my walks.  I started out very small – 30 second intervals of running  at a time with one minute walking in between.  I usually did 3 per walk.  As winter came on, I kept up the running, increasing it very gradually.  I tried to run outside as much as I could – on the plowed road, the snowmobile trail and even running on snowshoes.  At this point right now, I am running one minute intervals with one minute walking in between (high intensity interval training is so very effective).  Usually about 5 or so every mile I walk.  Yesterday, I challenged myself and walked/ran 2.2 miles with non stop intervals (1:1 run:walk) for a total of 17 minutes of running.  I did it on the bike trail out of Beaver Bay (heading towards Silver Bay), which has an incline of 108’ the first half a mile.  I think the total increase in elevation was around 130’ for the whole walk/run.  While I don’t plan to do that intense of a workout daily, I want to incorporate it into my routine frequently.  I have found a love for walk/run workouts on paths along the shore and through the woods.  I do strength training 3X a week with 5 and 8 lb dumbbells, Wii boxing, running in place, bike riding and lots of walking the dogs.  Down with my list of DVDs, I will put a small list of other items I use to make my workouts more effective.      

     Part 3 – some of my favorite things !!!

A.    DVDS:

1.       Leslie Sansone Walk it Off in 30 Days – this is what I use for my strength training 3x a week.  While I don’t follow the 30 day plan (the strength training 3x a week and the cardio 3x a week), I think that would be a very effective way to do it.  The only reason I don’t is that I like using different cardio routines, although I do the one on this dvd occasionally.

2.      Leslie Sansone 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk – this dvd is awesome !!  You can use do each mile indivually or do them together or any way you choose.  There is a short cool down and stretch at the end you can ff to when you are done.  Sometimes, I do one mile before work – other days I will do a few of them.  FUN and fast paced !!  AND…..each mile includes a two minute “boosted walk” (jog) at the end of it for some very effective interval training !!

3.      Jessica Smith Walk On 15 Minute Fast Fat Blasts – FUN !!  Love JS – her workouts are easy to follow, fun and she combines moves for maximum bang for your workout buck.  This disk has 4 short, fun, effective workouts.  Jessica is joined by Beth, who shows you a higher intensity version and her Mom, Debbie, who shows you a lower impact.  Follow any of these three ladies – whichever your energy and fitness level dictates.

4.      Leslie Sansone Mix and Match Walk Blasters – these are incredibly fun 10 minute mini walks.  There are 10 of them on the disk.  You can do one, all, follow a preset up workout, or create your own custom workout by combining them in whatever order you choose.  One day, I did all ten of them. 

5.      Jessica Smith Dance Walk – this disk has two 30 minute dance walks.  Jessica is joined by her Mom, Debbie, who shows a lower impact version.  These walks are fun and in Jessica’s usual fashion, moves are combined for maximum effectiveness.

6.      Jessica Smith 10 Minute Solution Knockout body.  Five 10 minute kickboxing workouts.  I must admit, I OD’d on this video and haven’t done it for a few months now.  Fun, short workouts. 

7.      Wii Game – Gold’s Gym Cardio Workout – OMGosh – this game is the BOMB !!  I love, love, love this boxing workout.  I do it a few days a week.  It is also the one I follow for my indoor running in place.   This game has dozens of different boxing workouts – this is a great head to toe workout, as you work your arms, core and legs.

B.      Other must-have items:

1.      Mapping app for my phone.  I used to use MapMyWalk and I love that app.  Unfortunately, my phone and that app no longer play nice together so I have had to switch to Google My Tracks.  Both use GPS to map your mileage, speed, elevation changes, etc.  MMW also makes it easy to share your workouts with others and has several graphs that are a great help when evaluating workouts.  You can use these apps walking, running, walking the dogs, bike riding, driving horses, ???

2.      Gymboss interval timer – this is great for timing HIIT workouts.  I used to use a HIIT app on my phone but found it was not accurate at all so I just bought this handy timer.  It is small and lightweight – I clip it to my shirt collar.

3.      Cap Barbell neoprene dumbbells.  I have them in 2, 5, and 8 lbs so far.  Next, I want to buy 10 and 12 lb ones.  They are easy to grip and don’t get slippery when your hands sweat. 

4.      Gold’s Gym gloves – I have a pair of weight lifting gloves to protect my hands during strength training and a pair of weighted boxing gloves to wear during my kickboxing.  I also have a pair of Schwinn cycling gloves.

5.      Shoes – I prefer Nikes.  They are inexpensive and make my feet feel good.  I replace them often.

References:

Donovan, James MD.  A Complete Guide to Weight Loss.  North Charleston SC: CreateSpace.  2012.   Print.