Guest Blogger - Kay's journey on the BFC

 

Christmas 2010

January 2012

I feel honored to be able to share myself on Rosalie's blog, even if it
is because I know what her favorite dinner is:)
I started the BFC on March 7th of last year. My weight on the day I
started was 165.4 lbs. Today I weighed 132.7 lbs. I have lost 32.7 lbs!
Today was my lowest weight to date. The measurement right above my belly button, a pocket of fat that I had never had before, was 39 inches, it is now 33 inches. Increasing my activity and getting
back to Zumba has kick started my metabolism. I am 5'3 1/2 and a size 6 (close to a 4).
I am a 34DD so I don't ever think I look "small". I have always been
thick in the waist, so this is perfect for me. I will be 55 years old
in April, I will be a "senior" menu girl...ugh!!! I REFUSE to be old!!!

I have not always been "heavy". For about 7 years I either owned or operated a Women's only fitness center. It was the perfect workout for me and my weight was usually around 140 lbs. I haven't worked there in over 2 years and the weight the first year, just kept creeping on. My highest weight was a little over 170 lbs at Christmas 2010. A mixture of too much food and not enough activity....and a lot of self pity. I was embarrassed to run into people that knew me from the gym:(  I saw Jorge on Rachel Ray and what he was saying just clicked for me. I was ready, mentally I was ready.

I told Rosalie she may not want me to do a guest blog because I am a
bit of a "rebel". Here's my thing, I am not "legalistic" about this
plan. The definition being: "Strict, literal adherence to the law or to
a particular code, as of religion or morality". Well the BFC is not
either of those things, but that is the word I could come up with for
my view. I do believe that sugar is an addiction, I do believe that you
can NOT be successful on this plan without totally detoxing on sugar.
That was the total key for me, controlling my desire for sweets. I did
not have a treat of any kind from March until I believe mid July. No
fake sweets, no allowable sweets, nothing. I was afraid that it would
be a slippery slope and the "taste" would make me want more, and more,
and more. I CHOSE the day that I was going to have a cookie. I made the
decision, no peer pressure, no event...just me. I made it through 3
weddings without cake. When I had the cookie I found that it wasn't
"worth the calories" as my husband and I say, and I ate a few bites and
tried another cookie, ate a few bites and that was it. I was done. When
we go on vacation, I do eat sugar, whatever I desire...I just don't
really desire much. It is so BIZARRE to me! I know it is because I have
lost the taste for sweets, I don't want to wear them around my waist
anymore!


Now when it comes to carbs, I am not as strict. I eat my potatoes,
chips, breads, tortilla's, pasta, etc. but I count it. I do NOT think
potatoes are evil, I think they are filling and bring me comfort. I
love just washing a potato really well and cubing it up and frying in a
pan, adding whatever meat that I am having and sometimes an egg over
the top.  It makes a plateful of food, and is allowable with a medium
potato being about a 3/2 S/C count. Reference for a potato:
http://www.superfoodsrx.com/nutrition/nutritional-research/dr.-harris-finally-writes-about-a-potato.html

I also think sugar from fruit is not the same as sugar from a Donut. I
have tried to stay within my sugar ratio with fruit, but once I lost
most of the weight, I did add more fruits in. In July when I had my
first treat it was also Cherry season. I ate cherries, cherries, and
more cherries. They did not make me crave more sweets, or more
cherries, but it did help my digestive system:) I don't plan to start
eating high sugar fruits anytime soon, but if it is between eating a
couple of squares of dark chocolate for my sugar, or a piece of fruit,
I would take the fruit. I still have not gotten used to the taste of
dark chocolate, so that is an easy decision.

I think that at the end of the day, calories do matter. Our bodies are
efficient machines, but they can simply not burn more calories a day,
just because we limit our S/C's. Our weight/muscle mass helps to
determine BMR or Basic Metabolic Rate....or the number of calories that
our body burns on an average day. If we eat substantially more than the
number, we will not lose weight. If we continue to eat even more, we
will gain the weight back. What you could eat and get away with at 160
lbs, will not be the same you can eat at 130 lbs. Just saying! That's
why at Weight Watcher's you lose points as you shrink!

I have learned that drinking too much diet soda blocks me up and
inhibits my weight loss/maintenance. I eat out way too much, and when
they don't have fresh brewed tea, I would have diet soda. When I went
to GA and had tea every day and no soda, I discovered that my belly was
much better and my digestive system was much better. I don't plan to
drink diet soda again anytime soon. Do I think I will die from it?
No...do I think it inhibits weight loss and causes hunger? Yes.

I eat foods that have sucralose/cellulose/ whatever ose in moderation.
I need a source of fiber and unfortunately the palatable ones seem to
have sucralose added:( I balance the risk/rewards. I also use Ideal
sugar that Jorge approved and then changed his mind because it had
dextrose in it. In the explanation it says that it is 99% pure. I am
willing to risk that 1%. I make a lot of no bake cookies and using
Stevia in the Raw cup for cup, made them inedible. Totally inedible.
The Kroger brand of Ideal sugar is amazing. There are carbs, but I
count them! And it is 1/2 the price of the Stevia.

As I said before I eat out a lot...too much! Here are some things that
I do. When I have a burger, I eat one side of the bun. I rarely eat
more than a couple of fries, but Jorge says that we can have 10 steak
fries. I pile all the toppings from an individual size pizza on 2
crusts and eat every bite of those 2 crusts. I eat a lot of chicken
strips.  French bread and Italian bread have very low sugar so they are
the breads that I eat when I am having a sandwich out. Most times I
just have the bottom of the sandwich bread also. When I go to Olive
Garden, I have the Zuppa soup, 1 bread stick and Parmesan chicken. I
eat a few bites of pasta, 1/2 the chicken and then take the rest home
for dinner. I have done this since day 1 of the plan. I do eat chips
and salsa...but then I eat mainly the meat out of my other dishes. I
LOVE meat, so I am lucky that way.

I don't snack generally because I have plenty of food at meal time. I
drink a ton of ice tea sweetened with Stevia. I love spinach now and
put it in everything. When I want something special, I have it. I
really don't have a single thing as I sit here typing this, that I am
dying to have! Small amounts of the things I love over massive
quantities of the things that I "should" eat. I always tell people that
ask about this plan to tell me their top 5 things that they don't want
to do without, and find a way to incorporate them into their 5/2 plan.
That is except sugar...evil, evil, sugar!!!

Support from my blogger buddies is a HUGE part of what makes this so
fun and painless. I really, really love each and every one of you. We
are all unique in our foods, our important foods, and our activities. I
like being "unique"!

Blessings and happy scales....

Blessings, K