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Introduction Text This summer my not-quite 90yo father died. The amazing thing about that is, we almost lost him 45 years ago. I was only 8 when he had a heart attack and was diagnosed with hypertension. He was advised to lose weight, exercise, reduce salt & red meat. Here's the amazing thing: he did all that. Yes, he also took blood pressure medications, and they were a godsend. But he also did the work to keep himself in the best shape he could. For the past 3 months taking care of myself has fallen by the wayside as I dealt with being away from home for most of the summer to deal with my dad's illness, moving both him and my mother to a nursing home, preparing to sell their home, and ultimately dad's death. It's understandable why it happened, and I'm not beating myself up for it. It would be understandable if I were to continue on this trajectory. But here's the question in my mind: what would dad do? What would he want me to do? I know he would want me to follow in his footsteps, to take the best possible care of myself so I am around for the people in my life who love me. One of the best ways I can honor his memory is to *not* use my grief and sadness as an excuse to not take care of myself. =================================================== September 2013: Here I am again, a repeat Sparker since 2006. I did lose 30 of the 50 pounds I wanted to lose since my last update, but then my weight loss stalled completely. After frustrating months of getting nowhere, along came stress in the form of work insanity and a kitchen remodel. From May to September I managed to regain 25 of the 30 pounds I lost. :( So I'm back at it, but trying a completely different tactic. Since I was finding my workouts burdensome, I am following a very low-calorie, low-carb plan that is similar to Ideal Protein. I say similar because I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars for their coaching when I have Sparkpeople and the internet to help guide and support me. So far I am very, very happy with this plan; no rigorous working, a simple and easy food plan, and I'm dropping weight at a reasonable clip. So far down 10 pounds after only two weeks! The plan is to get to my target weight and then follow the different phases to add back in healthy carbs and more aerobic exercising. I still see lots of challenges for me with maintenance. I must find a way to make my workouts more enjoyable, and need to work on the emotional/stress triggers. But I'm also hoping to find a way to maintain that isn't as burdensome and works with my life as it is now. My progress: 09/29/2013: 209.0 10/06/2013: 200.5 10/13/2013: 198.9 10/20/2013: 194.6 10/27/2013: 192.6 11/03/2013: 187.4 11/10/2013: 187.3 11/17/2013: 185.3 11/24/2014: 183.4 12/07/2013: 180.9 12/14/2013: 178.0 12/22/2013: 175.2 01/12/2014: 170.7 01/18/2014: 170.3 01/26/2014: 168.4 02/01/2014: 166.1 02/09/2014: 167.1 (+.1) 03/21/2014: 157.7 03/30/2014: 156.8

Lose two-three pant sizes. Currently about a size 12-14 and would like to return to April 2010 weight/size, which was an 8-10 (depending on manufacturer).

Get back to April 2010 weight/size by following the Ideal Protein protocol.

53yo; divorced with one (mostly) delightful 16yo girl; living with her, my fiance and 3 rescue kitties.



Add a Link Lisa Height: 5'8" Highest weight: 230 Current weight: 183.1 Target Weight: 160 "Be more stubborn than the scale." - Vivian Bedoya (BEMORESTUBBORN) "There are many ways of going forward, but only one way of standing still." -Franklin D. Roosevelt
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