Finding the balance

Time to get real with the weight loss stuff since I did claim this to be a weight loss blog once upon a time.

Before the 2010 holidays, I weighed in at 160 lbs.
Now, a year later, the same display shows 172.8 lbs.

What happened? Intuitive eating; I stopped counting my calories. That's really the only difference. Well, and the extended vacation from blogging but I don't necessarily see the correlation with blogging as the cause to regaining 12lbs. No, I think I just got complacent and maybe even lazy when it came to calorie counting and meal planning. Lesson learned. You can find me on SparkPeople.

I'm back in the thick of it though and finding balance is the name of the game. Back from a fabulous 3 weeks in Switzerland and France where I did not concern myself with a diet or exercise or calorie counting or work or family or anything of the kind. I visited beautiful cities and met wonderful people. That is another post though. This one is about the weight loss. Focus!

I briefly mentioned the current "program" I've enrolled in in an earlier post. Remember? It's the comprehensive weight management program benefit offered through my hubby's fancy new job.

26 weeks
3 meetings with the attending physician
7 meetings with the nutritionist
5 meetings with the behavioral therapist
64 meetings with the personal trainer

My first appointments with each of the professionals were mostly to establish goals and an understanding of my past, why I want to participate in the program, and what I hope to achieve. The physician started off with measurements, photos, and medical history which was to be expected.

The nutritionist I was a little more apprehensive about....simply because I had a nutritionist before and got absolutely no value from her. This one is different though. She read my food logs and talked to me about my nutrition and immediately suggested a few changes I could make.  The one tidbit that really surprised me was that I should try to get more fat from my breakfast. That was totally contrary to my normal routine of fat free, non fat, skim everything for breakfast. More fat for breakfast will prevent the cravings for higher unhealthy fatty foods later in the day so I can easily get through my day without looking for the cookies in the afternoon.

The behavioral therapist is just a normal therapist only she seems too young to be long out of school. Whatever, that doesn't matter. She's there to help me understand my emotions and beliefs about food and my body and exercise and just general mental health. I've had a few therapists in my time so this process is not new to me. I've been talking mostly about all the stressors in my life at present and how to (if possible) find a way to reduce and maintain a lower stress existence regardless of my life circumstances. The positive input I've gotten so far is that my concerns about having difficulty losing and/or then regaining weight due to stress can most definitely be an answer.

And that brings us to the personal trainer. My first appointment with the trainer consisted of a body composition test (bio-electrical impedance) to get a measure of fat and muscle content in my body. I have no idea what the little machine said when the test was over but I have a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't good because I get a hint of those numbers on my fancy scale at home. It's always good to have a benchmark though. I meet with the trainer on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays every week until the second week of December then I drop the Fridays and just see him twice every week until March when the program ends.

What I find refreshing is that once the program is over in March, it's not actually over. I will not be meeting with the trainer every week for my workouts but they do continue to follow-up for up to 5 years with clients to make sure that what was done in the program is being continued in real life. I am 5' tall and 172lbs so I'm easily 60lbs overweight. There is no way I can lose 60lbs in 26weeks, nor would I want to. I love that they will continue to keep in touch and do periodic follow-up calls/meetings to keep me on track as I shed the extra weight and maintain it over the next few years. I have a feeling it's going to be the best $1,500 I ever spent. Don't judge, look at all I get for that money. I dare you to price out just the personal trainer alone before you get sticker shock.

So there you have it. Opinions? Feedback? Questions? Let's make it a conversation.