1200 Calories is Gonna Kill Me and That's Why It's Called a DIEt

     When I write about diet and exercise, it's mostly about my failed attempts at them, but I need to get positive if I want to put on a bathing suit without drinking heavily curling up into a fetal position until Summer is over needing therapy afterwards.

     As part of my new, more positive approach, I saw a dietician last week. My doctor recommended her to help me with a weight loss program. I wasn't there to see him for a weight loss program, but it came up because...well...obviously. Anyway, it was last November when I first saw the doctor and he perscribed some diet pills.
     Now, I'm not a pill popping kind of person (alcohol - yes, pills - no) and I was hesitant to try diet pills because I know that the best and healthiest way to lose weight is to change my eating habits and get off my ass and exercise - yada, yada.  But, oh how tempting a little kickstart was! So I took them. I didn't go too crazy with them though. The first month I took them every day, but when the 30 day supply ran out I finished most of the next month without them and I still lost some weight. All told, between November and now, I've lost 16 pounds and only took the diet pills for about two months - on and off. I don't want to go back on them and I need to lose 30 20 30 more pounds.
     Although most of the weight loss occurred while I was taking the pills, I have managed to maintain the loss and haven't gained anything back. Which brings me to the reason I saw a dietician. At my follow up visit with the doctor a month ago, he said he has found that most people who take the drug gain much of their weight back after they stop taking it. Hmm, that would have been helpful information before I started taking it.  But then again, it's common sense that if you don't change your eating habits, you're not going to maintain the weight loss. Duh.
     The doc went on to say that one thing that has helped his patients keep the weight off is seeing this dietician because she gives practical, personal advice on weight loss and exercise. Sure, I can get that by googling, but seeing someone face to face meant more of a commitment to the process on my part and that's what I needed. So I made an appointment. The chic must be good because I had to wait a month to get in, which was last week. So here's what I learned.
     I learned 3500 calories equals 1 pound. If I want to lose a pound a week I need to either work off 3500 calories or take in 3500 fewer calories in a week. Broken down, that's 500 calories a day. I asked what do I have to do to burn 500 calories in a day. She said about 45 minutes of rigorous exercise.
    *blink blink followed by blank stare*
     Not gonna happen.
     Maybe when I get further along in my fitness journey I can commit to that, but right now, I know my limits and what I can do without whining. 20 minutes. 20 minutes of exercise I can do. So I'm going to meet in the middle and burn 250 more calories a day by exercising and take in 250 calories less by eating better.
     I also learned that if I wanted to just keep my "status quo" and not lose or gain, I need to take in about 1700 calories a day. That's called my BMR (basal metabolic rate). Why it's basil and not oregano I don't know.
     Heh. Just checking to see if you were paying attention.
     At this point, I don't think the dietician believed me when I said I would do my 20 minutes of exercise every day. I know this because she gave me a meal plan that cut my calories by 500 a day. The bee-atch* cheated me out of 250 calories. But I'm okay with that because in case my little exercise routine isn't actually burning 250 calories, or I eat a tidge more than my 1200 calories, I can still meet my goal of losing at least a pound a week. I call it the "ish" factor.  1200ish calories, 250ish calories, 20ish minutes...that's the "ish" factor. As good as our intentions are, life is full of "ish".
     Anyhoo, the meal plan is a little like weight watchers, I think. I haven't done weight watchers in years, but if I remember right, it's an exchange sort of thing. You're allowed so many carb servings, so many protein servings, fruit, dairy, etc. That's how my plan works. That's alot easier then counting calories.
     And guess what? 4 ounces of red wine counts as a fruit serving! Score! Who knew I've been getting 300% of the USDA recommended allowance of fruit all this time?
     The worst part of my visit was when she measured my percentage of body fat. Who wants to be pinched in all the fattest parts of your body? Hell, I don't even want hubby doing that.  And all to be told by way of a percentage exactly how much of you looks like this:

Yeah, it's a picture of fat

     Mine is 40.8% in case you were wondering. The ideal percentage for women apparantly is
20 - 30%, but I'm not discouraged.
     All in all, my little dietician visit was quite productive. It got me motivated, helped me set clear goals, and I learned a thing or two. I have to go back in 4 weeks, and I really want the fat pinchy test to show less body fat, in addition to weight loss. I just need to keep the momentum and stay motivated and focused.
     I know reading about other people's struggles with the same thing is going to help so this blog hop is a great idea. Thanks lovely Lucy!  Next week tune in for my adventures in exercise and the link to the free online exercise videos I've been using for my 20 minute work out.

* I'm being playful and endearing when using bee-atch. I'm being snarky when using bitch. There's a difference.  Oh and bitch plural, as in, "Happy almost Friday all you bitches!" is playful too.