I'm Disgusted & Doing Something About It !!!

Last weekend I took all of my summer tops out of my closet and was trying them on to see which ones I wanted to take on our beach vacation in late June.
I was HORRIFIED......not a one fit me anymore. They were too snug around the middle. Ok, I'll just say it. I outgrew my clothes. They didn't shrink, someone didn't come in and change the tags on me. I got heavier. It just snuck up on me.
Is it possible it was all that cheese and peanutbutter that I so love? Those toasted bagels? Maybe the egg and sausage and cheese bagel sandwiches I ate twice a week with Tom? It wasn't just those foods, but every single thing I put in my mouth, even fruits, turns to FAT.

I don't even want to go out of the house. Ordinarily I would NEVER admit how much I weigh, but maybe if I tell........then I will be shamed into doing something about it. I tipped the scale at 206 lbs at my last doctor visit a month ago. The heaviest I'd ever been before that was 198 and I was determined to NOT reach 200........but good intentions went down the drain.

On Memorial Day, I ran into my next door neighbor's sister Susan. Susan and I have known each other for over 20 years and are the same age. Susan was on the heavy side like me, most of our weight is in our stomachs. Well, she looked incredible!! She had lost 30 pounds and when I asked her what she was doing, she said the Michael Thurmond 6 week Body Makeover Plan. She explained to me that she has to eat 5-6 small meals a day. It's a custom eating plan, because everyone is different. Some have faster metabolisms and many like Susan and I have very slow metabolisms. How do we know that? Susan let me read a sheet that came with her plan. You put a check next to all that pertains to you personally. It will ask questions like: are you hungry 3 hours after a meal? My answer was no. Have you struggled with weight all of your life, or only after pregnancies? I was a real skinny kid and thin as a teen. I didn't start to put on weight until after I'd had my three kids. That was 30 some years ago...so I've struggled a very long time. Do you gain weight all over or just in a specific area? I always thought that I gained it all over - but my daughters, sister-in-law and Susan says that isn't true, it's my stomach. I have no waist. I haven't seen THAT in 8 years. They say my behind, thighs and legs are just fine. I'm a 5'5" walking APPLE with skinny legs.
Once all the questions are answered, you're instructed how to figure out your Body Type. It turns out that I'm a Type A Endomorph - just like Susan. Endomorph is a body type that contains high body fat and gains weight easily. Yep, that's me.

Susan is really looking wonderful and I want to look wonderful too.
I want those summer tops to fit me ( or better yet, to be too big so I can go out and buy a smaller size!!). I do NOT want to have to buy a BIGGER size......that is just freaking me out. My tops are women plus 22-24 and my pants are women plus 18-20 ( if they have elastic waistbands). It's been years since I've been able to wear regular waistband pants.

On Tuesday morning I started the custom eating plan. The idea is to reset the metabolism so that your body starts to use up the stored fat and then anything you eat after that will get burned as 'fuel' and not stored as fat.

You have to eat 5-6 small meals a day. Breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, mid afternoon snack, dinner and evening snack ( optional). Each meal has a certain amount of protein and carbs and or/fruit. The main protein sources are egg whites, fish, turkey and chicken breast.
There are only certain carbs you can have and low sugar fruits.
You have to stay away from salt and sugar and all dairy products for the first 6 weeks. Salt retains water. Sugar and certain carbs ( for my body type) can cause a rapid increase in insulin levels in the blood system and grind the metabolism almost to a halt. I can drink coffee and tea (black, no cream) and no sugar ( but can use equal or sweet-n-low). Iced tea with articial sweetner is ok. Fresh squeezed lemonade made with lemons and water and articial sweetner is allowed. Soda/diet soda's are not, as they contain large amounts of sodium.
Water is the best choice of all, to help clean out your system and helps get rid of the 'fat' that your metabolism is going to be burning up.
Oils and butter/margerine and even cooking sprays are to be avoided.
There is so much more to this custom eating plan than I could possibly write here. The bottom line is, I'm on it and I hope I can stick it out.
Susan will be my cheerleader.

In the following posts, I will share what I am eating, doing. I hope I can keep it up on daily basis, we'll see.