Losing Weight Without Being Able to Exercise

I was asked by a close family friend, how I lost weight. After a lot of thought about how to word everything, without hurting feelings I did my best to truthfully answer.

I have never been able to lose weight, and the few times I did, I regained it and more back. I tried everything to lose weight, failure, after failure, after failure. Anyway, I thought I share what I learned slowly over time.

At my heaviest I weighed 222 and I'm now 146. I did it slowly over 3 years and my goal weight is 120. Not being able to exercise, didn't help.

After years of frustration while food shopping I bought a 4 pack of protein shake. I thought only old people drank it, since it's something I saw at the VA Hospital, and saw elderly people drinking it in movies I thought I give it a try.

I tried different flavors, companies and in the end, I learned none of them really mattered as long as each drink had 30 grams of protein. It all came down to taste and what it cost. What I like, in flavor, others might not like. Each drink is roughly the equivalent of eating 8 eggs.

It was truly a learning experience about myself, eating habits and anything to do with food. I must be doing something right because all my lab works have been amazing. The journey to learn and accept why I ate the way I did was hard, very hard.

One lesson I learned years ago was a real eye opener to say the least and happened when my husband and I lived in Georgia. I stopped eating all chocolate for over a year. Talk about being miserable and I sort of played mind games with myself.

Anytime I wanted to cheat, I would imagine the piece of chocolate I was about to stuff in my mouth being rolled in cigarettes. It was enough to gag me and when that no longer worked, I just came up with another image.

I lost a little weight, but it was a struggle every single day. On Easter Sunday, my husband kept after me to eat just one chocolate kiss. Now keep in mind he's one of those people who can eat one cookie and be completely satisfied.

Anytime he had a piece of chocolate or any sort of sweet, he always politely offered me some. I always turned him down and it was very hard. Well, he finally wore me down and, on that Easter, I had my first piece of chocolate in over a year.

That one piece of chocolate started a chocolate binge that lasted 7 years. I gained back the few pounds I had lost and another 25 pounds. I lived and breathed chocolate, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It was horrible and there was nothing I could do about it. That one innocent piece of chocolate taught me a life lesson that was long overdue, and never forgotten.

On May 21st, 2007, I woke up paralyzed from the waist down with no warning. It took a long time to be properly diagnosed with Transverse Myelitis. To say it was life changing would be an understatement. But that's not what this message is all about.

I eventually, learned to sit up, sit, stand and very slowly learned to walk. I had Physical Therapy for almost a year, twice a week. Everything from T8 down was compromised and I had to learn how to do everything differently and much slower. My nerves grew back 1/2 an inch a month and developed new pathways to my brain. It's really amazing what a person can get use to when they have no other choices.

Anyway, I fell a lot, and my knees got accustomed to being dislocated. I was going to my Chiropractor every other week to have them popped back in place. I accepted I would always have balancing issues and knew if I lost weight, I wouldn't be hurting myself every time I fell. At least not as much and that's where my journey to lose weight began.

I already knew without a doubt I needed to be off all sweets. There's was no bargaining with myself if I ate this, and didn't eat that, I be okay. Okay was no longer an option. It was by far the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I learned if I really needed something sweet to eat, I would just eat something.

If my blood sugar was so low that it affected my vision, I would have two tablespoons of brown sugar, a sip or two of Canada Dry or tablespoon of Peanut Butter. If I was out and about, I would buy a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and I would end up feeling very guilty and disappointed in myself.

The whole journey was learning what I could eat, what I couldn't, what foods made me feel a certain way etc, etc, etc.

Being Type 2 Diabetic, I learned how whatever I ate would affect my sugar levels. My saving grace is, I love all vegetables with the exception of Lima Beans.

There are so many diets, special foods, expensive meals that are delivered monthly. It seems like there are a million ways to lose weight and a million people willing to share their secrets for $$$$.

First off, even if I had the money, I would never pay someone, anything. What might work for them, might not work for me. I know their secrets and all their secrets have one thing in common. It's not what you eat, or how much you eat, it all comes down to calories.

In the beginning, I didn't know how many calories, I ate in a day. Like I said, I lost my weight very slowly over time and actually didn't know I had until my clothes no longer fit. Then, no longer fitting, to falling off to I need new clothes. Not only do I need new clothes, but I can walk into a store and actually buy something off a rack. I used to be a size 22 and I think I'm a size 18 now.

It's just easier to share what I eat and not 10 pages of what I like or don't like.

Every morning, I have a protein shake and a little while later a can of vegetables or a package of Brussels Sprouts. I only eat peas and use my favorite salad dressing mixed with it. I also love spinach and carrots.

The protein shake fills me up, so I only eat half of what I think I'm going to eat and then share the rest with my dogs. The cost of the protein shake is less expensive than meat and it doesn't have to be prepared. I grab one out of the refrigerator, shake it and all is well.

I limit myself to 2 pieces of bread a day. Sometimes, I'll have a bologna sandwich or my favorite being a tomato sandwich. If I'm really hungry and it's late, I'll have some toast. I don't like drinking water, so I drink Crystal Light.

I used to drink 3 protein shakes a day but learned it was too much because I had a hard time going to the bathroom.

After a few years, I slowly tried other foods and noticed I no longer liked the way they tasted. I used to love spaghetti, mashed potatoes, waffles, pancakes and now I may have a spoonful of one from time to time and I truly no longer enjoy it.

I still have a weakness for ice cream, cookies, and candy, and if I have a weak moment and indulge, I actually get an upset stomach. None of it tastes good anymore. Not to mention the inner guilt.

When we moved to the country, the closest place to buy a gallon of milk is 12 miles away at a gas station. We go food shopping once a month and that's a 40-mile drive going and 40 miles driving back home. We buy only food, no sweets, chips or anything that we could give into temptation.

If it's not in the house, it can't be eaten. The closest fast food is about 25 miles away and 25 miles driving back. It just doesn't make any sense to drive 50 miles to get a hamburger and shake.

I can honestly say, once my body truly got accustomed to eating the way I do, other temptations and foods just didn't appeal to me anymore.

Yesterday, I went food shopping and put 2 containers of Christmas Butter Cookies in my basket. While I was waiting to be checked out, I saw that 4 cookies were 170 calories. I was horrified, and Christmas or not, I was not going buy them.

After I lost so much weight, I learned, why I had read over and over again so many people having one cheat day. My cheat day is always the day I go food shopping.

Not crazy cheating but a small milk shake, and some french fries.

I only started having a cheat day, 6 months ago and so far, so good. Even so, I no longer do any chocolate.

Sometimes if I'm sick, I might want something bad but even then, I weigh myself every day and if I gain a few pounds, I return to my normal eating.

Also, the first thing lost is water weight which is actually pretty fast. Then it seems like I lose pounds for a good while and I become discouraged when it seemed like I remained at the same weight for weeks. It took me forever to figure out that losing weight and losing inches are two different things.

I also don't drink soda and never have. In the beginning, I kept a journal of what I ate and the calories, now I know exactly what I put in my mouth.

Not being able to exercise didn't help but I still lost weight on my own anyway.