Yo-Yoing on the Diet Merry-Go-Round (to mix metaphors)
Well, I'm back at it. Losing more of the weight I've gained back. I'm back on the Beta HCG Diet combined with ViSalus shakes for the next 30-40 days, plus 3 weeks of adjustment by adding in more foods but no sugars, starches or grains. So...I'll be on this strict diet through Christmas. Oh sure, make it easy on yourself, Judy. Well, my body doesn't give me an exemption for holidays, and I'm in the mood for this, so off we go!
Since the end of 2011 I've lost 150 pounds. Yay me! Yet I'm only down 50 pounds from where I started.
Say whaaaaa?
The 25 pounds I lost after Round 1 of the HCG diet have stayed off. The second 25 pounds came back twice before staying off (hopefully) permanently. Well, all but 4 or 5 pounds. Most of the third 25 pounds that I lost with HCG and ViSalus came back, and I'm now on the way back down once more, again thanks to HCG along with ViSalus.
So what's the problem?
I'm addicted to sugar and carbs.
As long as I stay off of them, I feel good and I can maintain my weight. But the minute I have the first bite of a saltine cracker or Honey Nut Cheerios or chocolate anything, I begin a slide down a very slippery slope back into not being able to control or fight off cravings for more more more. Ugh!
After I lose this 25 pounds again, which I should accomplish by about Jan 10, and after my 3 weeks of no sugars, grains or starches, the challenge will be to keep it off. Then I have committed myself to losing another 25 pounds by the end of July.
Losing it is the easy part. As most dieters will tell you, the hard part is keeping it off. Diets are easier because you see results on an ongoing basis and feel better and better. There's an end to dieting, especially on structured plans like HCG. But with maintenance, it's endless days of drudgery, feeling deprived of foods you love, with nothing to celebrate. Losing is worth celebrating -- it's an event! Maintaining is same-old same-old, trudging along the difficult road of I-can't-have-that-now-or-maybe-ever.
Gee, you think I need an attitude adjustment?
In my saner moments, i.e., when I'm not "on" sugar, I can eat to live, live to be healthy, etc. But the sugar and carbs fuzzify my thinking, not to mention roil up my cravings. I don't care about eating to live; I live to eat. I think about lunch right after breakfast or even while I'm eating breakfast. I think about dinner or, worse, a mid-afternoon carby snack, at or shortly after lunch. And nighttime is the absolute worst! After dinner, it starts. I crave something sweet to finish off my meal. Sometimes I'll have dessert at a restaurant after dinner and then come home and have carb-amnesia, virtually forgetting that I've had dessert, and root around for something sweet.
I am desperate to stop that destructive cycle.
The next month or two on the HCG/ViSalus diet will give me another chance to clear out the carb toxins from my body. I always feel so good on and right after this diet. I love the way I can move better, wear smaller-sized clothes and want to move more. I just don't know how to stop succumbing to my carb addiction.
Every other time, I've focused on losing the weight and been pleased that it's not easy to gain any of it back. I've definitely earned my weight gains each time. It's not my body's resistance to healthy eating; it's my indulgence in one carb after another. Like an addict. Because that's what it is, an addiction to carbs.
I'm sure I'm hardly the only person in this world that has that challenge. I'm just determined to overcome it.
So this time, I'm seeking help from people who can help me with the keeping-it-off part of losing weight. Meanwhile, I have another 35 days to go with HCG and ViSalus, and I'm feeling soooo much better already! Stay tuned!
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