Denial and facing your health and weight issues

Wikpedia description of denial is a pretty good way of describing the mechanism that most of us take when not addressing our health and weight issues.

I know I did it for many many years, decades even.  I knew I was gaining weight, not eating right, that I had a history of diabetes and heart disease in my family and I was going to end up the same way one day.   I kept trying to lose weight and eat better, but routinely failed, not only due to lack of willpower, but because it was hard, if not impossible, to stick to a weight loss plan where I was hungry and tired and miserable all the time.  I had been fed the line that I had to count calories, points, eat low fat, sugar-free, etc. for so long, since childhoo when my parents "dieted" that it was all I knew about how to lose weight.

But I was still in denial and it kept me from facing my problems.  I ignored mirrors, didn't even own a scale, hated going shopping for clothes and didn't pay much attention to how I dressed and what I looked like for the most part beyond the basics of brushing my hair and putting on a little makeup.  My bloodwork was always "okay" so I figured I wasn't that bad off, right?

Now, looking back, I see how I was denial about my health and weight problems.  I was coasting by barely, but kept gaining weight.   I was developing insulin resistance on top of my fibromalgia, arthritis and thyroid problems.  Fortunately, I was able to finally face myself, knowing I HAD to do something about my health before it became too late.  I didn't have all the answers to fix it but knew I needed to start somewhere, somehow.  I decided to try Atkins and do it right as my last resort (short of surgery) and thank goodness I did.  It saved my life and gave me hope.  Slowly I lost the weight and my health improved dramatically.

So today, when I deal with others, I see them denyying the same things I once did.  It's interesting when people notice your weight loss the variety of comments you get.  Lots of folks say they need to lose some weight themselves, or eat better, or haven't seen their doctors and gotten bloodwork done in a long time because they know the numbers aren't good.

But one of the biggest challenges to "getting started" to better health is facing your issues.  Stop denying you have a problem.  Look in the mirror, weigh yourself on a scale, take measurements with a measuring tape, see your doctor and get your blood work done and read your results.  And then these things, print them out and put them on your mirror or fridge or anywhere else where you cannot avoid them nd realize you need to do something about them.

Start today.

And how?  I can tell you that a High Fat, Low Carb diet is the best way to fix all of the above.  You can lose weight, get healthy, eat great and dramatically change things so you can look in the mirror and see a smaller, healthier you, have numbers that will make your doctor smile, and start living life again with lots of energy again just like when you were young.

I've done it.  You can too.

I'm here, I'm getting lean and I'm MAD

Welcome to my new blog.  I went searching out there for a cool blog name and sadly, alot of the ones I found on weight loss, getting skinny or thin, for motivating themselves to lose weight with a blog, etc. had been taken and many of them, long since abandoned by whoever created them in the first place.

There's a graveyard of abandoned blogs and forgotten efforts out there.

I have to wonder if these people ever succeeded in their weight loss. 
Anyway, I am here to tell you that I have lost the weight, I'm still working at it, and I intend to tell the world how I did it (without surgery) and see if I can save others from the same fate I was once heading for.

So instead of "losing the weight" or "countdown to thin" or something like that, my blog is from someone who HAS done it, most of the way at least.

As for being MAD, yes, I am very angry.  At the news media, doctors, medical community and government that had been feeding us the WRONG nutritional information for decades now.  For it resulted in me being overweight, hungry and miserable for so long.

Don't get me wrong.  I personally take some of the blame as well, but I thought I had to starve myself, count calories, cut out fat, exercise, count points, drink shakes, and whatever else I did to lose weight only to fail miserably every time and keep putting on more weight.

Thankfully, in 2004, I discovered Atkins.  And that I could eat high fat, low carb, eat great and lose weight.

And I did.  175 lbs down.  About 30 or so more to go.  My journey hasn't been perfect, but I've learned lots along the way.

And I'm here to tell my story, share news and research, and let you know you can still eat great and healthy and lose weight without surgery.

There is HOPE for those who want to lose weight.

Find me on twitter and stay tuned for more!