‘Your Last Diet’: Step 2 Plus Starting to Exercise

In addition to working on Step 2 of 'My Last Diet' by Kathleen DesMaisons, I'm beginning to exercise as well.

If you are like me and have considerable weight to lose, I imagine you may feel a sense of impatience to reach your weight loss goal yesterday, so to speak. Unfortunately, unless you are doing one of those diet fads that usually backfire, it is a slow and steady process.

Nevertheless, I am delighted to report that I have lost 15 pounds as of this morning. Only 70 pounds to go to reach the weight that is most recommended for my height.

Why I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks

There may be a number of factors of why I have lost these 15 pounds in the two weeks since I had breast reconstruction surgery using my tummy fat.

First, the Pedicled TRAM Flap surgery where they transfer all tummy fat to your breast area to create two new breasts where there was none, caused me to be bandaged up quite a bit. I no longer have the bandages or the two drain bags that collected the extra blood and body fluids.

Second, I have probably lost a lot of water. Just like when you pay off a loan and end up paying off a lot of interest first before you start repaying the principal, when you go on a diet, you lose about ten pounds or so of water before you actually start losing extra fat.

Third, due to the fact that my breast reconstruction surgery basically gave me a free tummy tuck, I constantly feel like I am wearing a too tight belt with no way to loosen it. In the past, when I would go to a buffet and knew I wanted to eat a lot, I would intentionally wear loose-fitting pants or a loose-fitting dress so I could glutton to my heart's content. Due to the nature of my surgery, portion control is being forced upon me. I literally have to force myself to eat. After only a few bites, I am overly full.

I eat two to three small meals a day. I'm a little concerned that when I only manage two small meals a day that my body might think it is in starvation mode, and as a result, cling hard onto every fat cell. However, I am making certain that I take all my vitamins; plus, the food I am eating is very nutritious.

The fourth reason is that I have not eaten even one dessert since getting the surgery. The night prior to my surgery, my husband and I joined my best friend and her husband for a final dinner at Red Lobster. I ended my meal by eating an iced brownie with ice cream. I packed some goodies to have available for the two nights I would be spending in the hospital. Those goodies came home with me to put away for my husband or the trash can. Currently, the very thought of putting in my mouth a piece of candy or even a bite of a cookie or cake or pie or ice cream feels abhorrent. That is an ideal predicament to be in since my goal is to lose a huge amount of weight.

What little sweet tooth that still exists is easily satisfied with canned fruit or V8 Fusion drink or prunes or fruit-flavored yogurt.

I began my exercise program three days ago

The fifth and last reason that I have lost 15 pounds in two weeks is that I began my exercise program three days ago.

Most diet and exercise specialists will preach that in order to lose weight, you must burn more calories than you consume. So that is exactly what I am striving to accomplish. I want to exercise enough to burn up every calorie I consume with still leave my body needing more. As a result, my body will have no choice but to start snacking, so to speak, on my considerable fat cells.

Other than walking, my doctor does not want me doing very strenuous exercises for another four weeks as I risk getting a hernia in my abdominal area. So I am keeping it somewhat gentle.

Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone

I dug out my videotape called "Walk Away the Pounds" with Leslie Sansone. I have her one-mile, two-mile, and three-mile program. Given that I have exercised in a long time plus I need to keep things gentle, I am confining myself to her one-mile program for now.

Other than not being able to do high knee lifts due to the hernia risk, I have walked one mile each of three days.

What I love about her tapes is that not only are the steps easy to accomplish, Leslie Sansone keeps this gentle patter going through the whole tape. She converses with her walking buddies. She keeps you so distracted by all the talk and conversation that you don't even notice that you are exercising. Before you know it, you've walked a mile.

In the future …

As time goes on, I plan to work myself up to walking two miles and then three. One step and one pound at a time. In the end, I feel confident that I can truly accomplish my weight loss and fitness goals.

To be continued …

To read any of my past weight loss articles, click this link:

• 'Your Last Diet': table of contents of my weight loss articles

Resources:

• Radiant Recovery website by Kathleen DesMaisons
• Amazon link: Potatoes not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., Addictive Nutrition
• Kathleen DesMaisons' Radiant Recovery website: Potatoes not Prozac by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D., Addictive Nutrition
• Amazon link: Your Last Diet by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
• Kathleen DesMaisons' Radiant Recovery website: Your Last Diet by Kathleen DesMaisons, Ph.D.
• Walk Away the Pounds with Leslie Sansone