It has been six years and I have not lost a single pound. Well I lost 5 but gained them back in one year. This is an ongoing challenge I have in my life. I am so tired of carrying out these extra 15 lbs. And since this summer, I have added on 5 more! So darn it - now it 20 lbs that I need to get rid of!! The saddest part is whatever I put on just does not want to leave me!! What the heck is going on??
So here is what I have done in the past 5 years to lose the extra padding on my body.
The first try - The Gym: I have been an avid fan of the gym ever since I came to the USA. University of Toledo had a great new gym and I had lost 10 lbs of my body weight working out 4 times a week. Oh those days were something else!! I continued going to the gym in Buffalo, Vancouver and then in Parkville. I enjoy working out. It is very satisfying and I feel good about myself. One hour is the typical amount of time I used to spend in the gym.
Anyway, so I joined the gym in Winchester also. It was a great gym called Anytime Fitness. I could go anytime and workout without anyone interfering in my routine. And since it was a new gym all the machines were new and there was hardly any crowd. My teaching load was not much, so I started going 4-5 times a week. My routine was a combined 40 mins of walking, elliptical or the stairmaster. And then about 40 mins of weight training. Since I used to have a personal trainer in Park University, I know how to mix and match. After 5 months of this routine guess how much weight I lost - a big fat ZERO!!
That was very disappointing for me. But I had the membership so I continued to go but the enthusiams was not there.
The second try - The South Beach Diet: This is based on high protein and low carbohydrate diet. Okay...I am a vegetarian, this would be hard for me, but I had to give it a try. So much so I cut out all the sugar, which is the hardest thing for me to do since I had to give up my favorite thing - tea. But I gave it up for 2 months. I became creative in my cooking and very stingy in my eating. I developed a taste for Diet coke with lime which was my alternative to tea. As per the South Beach Diet plan, after 2 months I added little bit sugar to my diet - only in tea and in once a week dessert. How much weight did I lose after 3 months of this routine? A big fat ZERO!!
Another big disappointment for me! But I knew there must be something going on in my body. So I got my hormones checked.
The third try - Thyroid + Gym: So it turned out I had a little, teeny tiny, hypothyroidism. No problem. Bring on the drugs. I took some of the hormone and still went to the gym with the hope that the thyroid would help in boosting my metabolism. But no - zip - nothing. My body was in love with the 10 lbs of fat.
It was time to move to Florida in 2009. The first year was very stressful for me, buying a house, adjusting to the new college and new city. But I still managed to find time to go to my community gym. As usual, I went but my fat did not.
So comes around 2011 summer time, when I spent my two and a half month vacation in India. It was the months of June, July and part August. It was bloody hot in India with only a fan in the room. No problem. It was my decision to go to India in the hot weather and I would bear the hotness.
I ate very simple food for lunch and dinner, but always had good breakfast. I had tea/coffee whenever I wanted. I did walk a lot during my first month of being in India and during that one month I managed to lose 5 lbs!! I was beyond happy!! Unbelievable. This was awesome. I never did lose the next 5 lbs. And the saddest part is that I gained those 5 lost lbs right back when I came back to USA. So I think the stress my body went through during the first month of being the hot weather caused me to lose the weight but not sustain it.
All of this has been anticlimactic for me. But my determination is not gone. I am still on the path.....keep reading!
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