This is not an urban legend. Liz is a real-life hero to me and to many of her friends and neighbors.
At 5 feet tall, she has always struggled with her weight and has tried every thing, Weight Watchers, Atkins, the grapefruit-only diet, etc.—many times over. Through Weight Watchers she learned about nutrition and portion control. In her 30s, she started running and was managing to maintain a healthy weight until she needed to devote all her time to a family member who was seriously ill.
She stopped working out and over the next few years regained all the weight she lost and then some. She developed chronic vaculitis, an inflammation of the blood vessels that can cause organ and tissue damage and even death. At age 45, she weighed 200 pounds and was taking 11 prescription drugs and using an inhaler.
Two years later, she has lost 90 pounds, works out every day, and no longer needs all that medication. She looks and feels great.
How did she do it?
While her deteriorating health was her primary motivation, she also started watching an older family member toting oxygen tanks and neighbors progressing from walkers to wheelchairs to gurneys and decided that aging—and life in general--would be a lot easier and a lot more enjoyable if she lost weight.
Liz says that did not start out with a goal of 90 pounds or an imposed time frame leading up to a reunion, wedding or vacation. She just thought about what it would be like to be a heavy, sick older person and she did not like the future she was headed for.
Aging is hard enough, she thought, why make it worse with diabetes, hypertension, stroke, heart disease and other potentially disabling chronic illnesses. So she made a decision to try to lose some weight. That was it, some weight.
Liz’s plan has evolved over the past two years and she now sees it as an ongoing process. This is what works for her:
- Take small steps…really, small steps. Don’t try to make drastic changes in your lifestyle or do too much all at once and don’t add another step until you feel you have achieved your previous goal. Liz started by
- Cutting down on the amount of food she ate
- Then she cut out fried foods
- Then she started walking 10 minutes/6 days a week at 2.5 speed on the treadmill, very gradually increasing speed and distance
- Read labels. Liz thought a popular juice-based drink was healthy until a friend told her it was loaded with sugar. She stopped drinking it and eventually decided to
- Eliminate all foods with high fructose corn syrup
- Look for models. Liz was inspired by others she observed in the health club especially those who were older and were in good shape
- Make time to take care of yourself.
- Think of your workout as time for you and only you
- Continue to challenge yourself. Liz keeps taking small steps:
- Reaching her ideal body mass index (BMI)
- Increasing speed/length of cardio workouts
Today, Liz runs 40 minutes a day and does weight-training a few times a week. She eats everything she wants, in moderation. No food is forbidden just as long as it is good quality. “If I really want a piece of chocolate or a cookie,” she says, “I buy something that is fresh and delicious. I don’t waste calories by eating junk. Funny thing is that once you become more aware of what you are eating, you’re less likely to want junk.”
Liz seems to know intuitively what behaviorists have been theorizing about for years. Later this week, we’ll take a look at a few behavioral models and show you how you can use them to achieve your own goals.
In the meantime, the links below offer a wealth of information, tools and advice for healthy living.
Resources
American Dietetic Association, Basics of Nutrition Food Labels: http://www.eatright.org/
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: https://www.womenshealth.gov/healthy-weight
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