Facts About Me

Began DietPower at 190.5 lbs. on 9/20/04 Hgt. 5'0" Goal weight 115 lbs Reached Goal on 1/27/06
History Graphs		After Pictures
Weight Loss	WeightLoss Calories	Jeans-115 lbs
Weight Maintenance-1 year	Maintenance Calories-1 year	Gauchos-115 lbs
Weight Maintenance-2 years	Maintenance Calories-2 years	Pants-105 lbs
Weight Maintenance-3 years	Maintenance Calories-3 years	Dress-105 lbs
Weight Maintenance-4 years	Maintenance Calories-4 years	5 years later
Weight Maintenance-5 years	Maintenance Calories-5 years

I developed a weight-problem at puberty…which for me was age nine.
I am now over sixty years old. From the age of 9 until age 48,
I spent my lifetime yo-yo dieting, I lost more than 100 lbs two separate times,
each time regained it all plus more.
I also lost and regained 20 to 50 lbs numerous times.

As an overview, I'll list a few of my dieting efforts.

• When I was in my teens and twenties, I took various diet pills,
.....while under the care of various "diet doctors";
• I've joined and participated in Weight-Watchers more than 15 times;
• I'm a lifetime member of Jenny Craig;
• I participated in Nutri-System and many more commercial diet organizations;
• I followed numerous popular diets, both “fad” and “healthy”;
• I counted calories, points, carbs, meals, and bites;
• I worked to eat only when Hungry;
• I worked to eat only what “hummed” to me;
• I belonged to numerous Gyms; and engaged in various exercise activities;
• I spent about 4 years as a TOPS member;
• I spent 5 years as a very active Overeater's Anonymous member;
• I participated in a 6 month doctor's assisted, liquid-fast program;
• I participated in an outpatient, eating disorders program;
• I also spent almost 20 years in individual Therapy...
....much of which was spent on issues surrounding my weight.

Finally, about 20 years ago at age 48, weighing 271 lbs. at a height of 5'0",
I had an RNY gastric bypass, with NO removal of any intestine,
which means that every calorie I eat is still digested, and still counts.

The surgery made my stomach smaller, and the first 6 to 8 months
immediately after surgery, my body would allow me to eat almost nothing.
Due to food intake of about 500 to 800 calories a day,
my weight dropped from 271 down to 160 lbs..

For the next 2 to 3 years I maintained in the 160s while eating as much food
as my body would tolerate, however, my stomach begin stretching,
and my body began to tolerate more food, and again,
I had to begin dieting to keep my weight down.

For the next 10 years, I did this, but my weight kept creeping up.
I felt I simply could not bear weighing over 200 lbs again,
after all my effort, pain, and expense,
and my struggle allowed me to maintain in the 190s for several years,
before September 2004, when I began logging my food into DietPower,
which is a computer software food journal that I discovered online.

At that point, I begun losing weight, and about 16 months later,
after working to eat a daily average of approx 1230 daily calories,
I reached my goal weight of 115 lbs. This was the first time I weighed
115 lbs since I was a Freshman in High School, and at that time
...in 1959...I did it while using Doctor-supervised, prescription diet-pills

Since that time, for more than 7 years, I have maintained at, or near, my goal weight.
This past 4 years I've needed to work hard to maintain my weight within my
weight-maintenance range by eating a daily average of only about 1050 daily calories,
and even while consistently doing this, I've experienced a ten pound creep.

The only thing different this time, from all my other prior dieting attempts,
was the continual, consistent logging of ALL my food into this computer food journal.

My weight loss surgery still gives me a slight advantage, in that

• I still get dumping syndrome, if I have a high sugar or refined carb intake
within a very short time-period,...although my body now does tolerate
grazing on small amounts of refined carbs throughout the day,
which is behavior that I now have to work hard to avoid; and

• My body won't physically tolerate more than 3000 to 3500 calories
of any kind of food in one 24 hr time period, which limits Bingeing.

I frequently experiment with different eating plans and eating patterns.
I often experiment with low-carb eating, while in Maintenance,
together with calorie-counting. to help me limit my food to the 1050 calories
it takes me to maintain my current weight, and to help me avoid Binging
on sweets and other refined carbs.

When I reached my Goal Weight, only a part of my Goal was achieved.
The first part of my Goal was to get my body to my Goal Weight number,
and the last part of my Goal is to get my body to stay within a reasonable
range of that number.

I don’t view weight-loss and maintenance as two separate Goals.
My Goal is structured to never become in the past tense,
and therefore, while I am alive, it can never be viewed as “achieved” .

I, personally, found that changing my Beliefs,
resulted in a change in my Feelings and my Behavior.

I had to Accept ….

that I was fat;
that I needed to change my eating behavior;
that there is something permanent inside me that causes this condition,
that I will never be "naturally thin",
that I can only become and stay normal size through constant effort, and
that all of those things are Okay.

Since the entire process is always going to be a part of my life,
I had to change my Beliefs and my Attitude about that entire process.
It was necessary for me to Embrace entirely the Weight-Food Issue
and learn to enjoy dealing with it.

I no longer waste my time and effort wishing things were different,
or in trying to "Eliminate" my "Problem" with food.
I've learned to view Dieting as an enjoyable Hobby,
one that takes a lot of my time and effort, and sometimes provides frustrations,
but which, in return, also gives me many enjoyable hours.      

There are AFTER pictures of me posted in the links at the top of this page.
I don't post BEFORE pictures, because If I wanted people to see me fat,
I would have stayed fat. Here's a music video of California Dreamin', with Mama Cass,
Just visualize a fat version of my face on Mama Cass's body and you'll have
a fairly accurate idea of how I looked fat.