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I've lost between 120-130 lbs in the last 5 years. I was a complete couch potato and very depressed all my life. I started by signing up for BD classes. Then I stopped eating fast food. Then I stopped eating all highly processed junk food and switched to organic, whole foods. Then I stopped eating wheat, sugar, and dairy (mostly to pinpoint possible allergens that were giving me crazy skin & sinus conditions). Then I stopped eating meat. By then I had started to figure out that the real problem was not even my weight but deep personal issues that stemmed back to earliest childhood. I was able to reintroduce sugar, dairy, and wheat in moderate amounts. Now I monitor my emotional state and notice when I am eating for comfort instead of nutrition and take measures to redirect my thoughts & behavior. My weight still fluctuates madly at times but I am in more control than I have ever been. I went from a size 26 to a size 10 but I can gain or lose a lot in a very short amount of time so I have to be careful. I don't have any particular weight goal at this time except to feel healthy which seems to be in the 160-170 range. Any smaller and the psychological problems set in: I lose my desire to dance and start eating as much junk as I can cram in my mouth. Dealing with all of it in therapy. I guess my goal is to be healthy emotionally and then my weight should cease to be an issue. I don't really see the weight as a problem so much as a gauge of my emotional state now. I just wish people didn't feel compelled to comment every time I lose a few pounds. Of course they wouldn't say anything when I gain a few! The most important thing through it all - keep dancing! That is what saved my life. I'm also about to start training to run a 5K, something I've never done before & never would have imagined myself doing. Dancing has absolutely been the catalyst in my healing which is at once painful and exhiliarating. It's all about the layers.... just like belly dancing!
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