Our guest blogger, Tricia, provides a word-for-word account of the Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD) program at Dean Clinic, part of the Comprehensive Weight Management program. If you’ve been reading along, you know that’s a fake name, but she’s absolutely a real person.
When we last heard from Tricia way back in June, her progress was remarkable. Sure, she had a few setbacks, but the combination of expert support and a new way of thinking about food has continued to show results. As she mentioned, it’s the mental part that triggers the eventual undoing. Let’s see how she fared through the summer.
September 14. It’s been a while! There’s a lot to tell.
Several months ago I officially entered the maintenance stage of my program after losing 42 pounds. As I mentioned in my last post, it proved to be more challenging than I had expected, despite warnings from the staff to approach this next phase soberly. Here’s what I know: having learned about better eating habits in my classes is VERY different from applying those habit in real life. The default, if I am not paying very close attention, is to revert back to the eating habits that I had long ago put on autopilot.
I am still having shakes for breakfast and for lunch I have soup every day — takes the guesswork out of the formula. I have a small bowl on my desk that I try to keep filled with fresh fruit or baby carrots or grape tomatoes. That part of my day is manageable.
It’s night that threatens to undo my success! When I get home I am tired and pretty wound up from work. I generally cook dinner for my spouse, who eats different things than I do. And it’s while I am grilling him a steak to go with his potato smothered in 1/3 a stick of butter that I start to want to nibble. That’s my undoing. The witching hour. I have to say I struggle with that daily. A few tricks are helping: I sometimes have a shake or a piece of fruit at my office late afternoon to tame the hunger beast. It also helps to drink a large glass of water when I get home.
My desperation tactic when all else fails is to pop in my Invisalign retainer! I can’t eat when I am wearing it. Plus, it’s easier and more socially acceptable than wiring my jaw or donning elbow locks so I can’t get food to my mouth! One clear and painful lesson is that losing weight with the very low calorie diet holds no guarantee unless you really, really put into action everything the staff tells you while your weight is disappearing. If not, those pounds are standing right outside your front door waiting to get in.
Now to the fun, upbeat news!
One day in June something snapped and I just put on running shoes, walked out the door and started running. Unlike previous attempts long, long ago, I did not run half a block and then walk. I kept running! I ran for about a half mile straight. Not pretty. Not fast. But there I was doing it. And I have kept it up ever since. I used to joke with my runner friends that running was to be reserved for those rare occasions when you were being chased. Now I get it! It is really tough going when you start a run, but when you get in the zone it becomes almost hypnotic. I went to a runners’ store and had a foot-strike analysis to determine the best running shoe for me and got some quality running shoes. I found MapMyRun online, which helps me determine distance anywhere I may run.
I’m still not fast. The other day a guy walking ahead of me (we’re talking normal walking) kept pace with me while I was running. I will never win a race. But a year ago I would not even have considered running, in part due to my weight. Now I am running my first 5K at the end of this month. Look. Over there… Monkeys are flying! I also did a fair amount of biking and kayaking over the summer. It felt good to do those things minus the weight I had the previous summer.
OK, that’s it for now. Next week I’ll tell you about an incredibly valuable resource I’ve been using to help me along the way. Talk to ya then!
To see all of Tricia’s posts and her complete journey through the Very Low Calorie Diet at Dean Clinic’s Comprehensive Weight Management Program, use the search word “Tricia” in the search box in the upper right. To learn more about the program or get started yourself, click here and have a look.
Subscribe to Updates
Social Sharing
Email to a Friend
