Weight loss: phase one

Read here about the first phase:

Weight Loss: Keeping it Off

Keeping weight off is just like sailing for me. Have you ever sailed?? To keep on truck you go a little bit to the right and the a little bit to the left. That’s how you stay on the course. If you go too much to the side, you need to adjust. For me keeping weight in limit is just like sailing. I get on scale every morning, if I weight too much, I adjust my diet to low carb, eat protein and veggies. Forget about sweets breads, pasta, even fruits for couple of days. Then my weight goes down, and I adjust back to more joyful eating. The key is not to go too far. Just to keep sailing in healthy weight.

Weight Loss - Method

I do not like to call it diet. Diet is usually short term temporary food plan. I call it life style or Method. Since my life style didn’t work really well for my figure, I had to change it. I studied many different approaches and came up with combination of few, which I felt comfortable with and it worked for me.
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Weight Loss - Read the Label

Most of the prepared foods we buy in the supermarket have tons of unnecessary ingredients, which supposed to make it taste better. Let say tomato pasta sauce. It contains corn starch, corn syrup, other ingredients; I do not even know what they are. Or let’s say yogurt. You buy fat free yogurt, it should be healthy right? I am not sure why they insist to add starch and sugar everywhere. After a while, our taste is adjusting and if we try something more natural, it does not taste sweet enough. But you can train your taste to adjust back. And start to enjoy healthy food, without extra calories, starch and sweetness. Strawberries are sweet without corn syrup. Tomato sauce tastes great without corn starch. Sour cream does not need corn starch to be creamier, it is good naturally.

Weight Loss: Japanese Diet

My friend gave me print out of this diet. Russians call it Japanese. I am not sure why. There is nothing Japanese in this diet, but I still call it this way. This is flush diet, it worked for me every time I used it. I’ve lot up to 14 lb in 2 weeks on this diet. Larger I was more I was loosing. In average it is about 10lb of weight loss. The theory is that this diet also speeds up your metabolism. I am not a doctor, cannot prove if it is or it is not. I know some people ( with slight weight problem) who claim that they did that diet for 2 weeks and then kept result for at least a year, eating exactly the same as they were eating before this diet. Read more here

Weight Loss: Traveling and Eating Out.

I was traveling this week. It is so hard to be good, eating out. Unless very expensive eating out. If you go to really expensivesteak houses or seafood restaurants it is pretty easy. You get nice cut of beef and veggies. Small portions for lots of money. But if you go to cheaper places: fun starts. Everything is fried. After one week of eating out I cannot stand smell of fried food. You go out for lunch. You order salad. Sounds healthy right? Salad should be healthy. I am wondering why many places insist to load up salads with calories, and carbs, and fat. They add chips, tortilla strips, bacon, pepperoni, potatoes, onion rings, nuts covered in sugar, ham, and lots of cheese into salad. We have to be really careful what we get, and what we eat. I’ve seen 1000 calories salads without dressing. Also be careful with dressings. Chipotle offers pretty healthy salads, but if you add dressing, which is really yummy, you add about 300 calories and tons of fat and crabs into your salad. I always prefer oil and vinegar. Or I get dressing on the side. And add just a little bit, for taste. I learned not to like salads swimming in dressings. In St Louise I was pleasantly surprised with one restaurant, called Blueberry Hill. It is really a nightclub. Chuck Berry is going to perform there next week BTW.. I wish I could be there. They also serve lunches and dinners. We went there for lunch. It didn’t look like a great healthy restaurant. Not expensive at all. I ordered salad. They brought nice portion not too big, not too little, mixed lettuce (not just iceberg), radishes, celery, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, just a hint of cheese, couple of slices of eggs, grilled chicken, and yogurt and dill dressing on the side. Yummy and healthy. I was very impressed.
In another place, very expensive, modern fusion, tapas. Small portions and all. I ordered artichokes hearts, they brought those deep fried. I just do not understand why they insist to get something that naturally taste really good and fry it to death. You cannot taste any artichokes there, just fried breading. Not to mention million calories breading and oil are adding to dish. Hey were also served it with dipping sauce.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve sinned during my traveling. I ate staff I shouldn’t be easting. As a result I gained a few, I need to lose those few. I weight 134 Lb now. Will post my progress.

Weight Loss: Scale.

You do not need any fancy scale, but you need one. Many doctors are saying do not do it everyday, I do. Every morning I get on my scale to see what I can eat today. If my weight goes up, I adjust my diet, to avoid carbs. If it goes down I enjoy some bread or cookies. It is only one way for me to stay in the same weight.

Dieting and Traveling.

I am visiting St Louis. I’ve sinned during traveling before, I’ve sinned this time. I had fired pickles, I drunk OJ in the morning with eggs and bacon, I had little ice cream in the zoo. It is very difficult to avoid food I am not supposed to eat during travel. I decided for myself to kinda relax and just try to do my best. I am surrounded with temptations: fried food everywhere, chocolate indulgence cake was served last night after dinner. I had tiny little bite, it was really difficult to stop but I stopped. I do not have scale here. I hope to keep my weight down. Will check when I come back.

Weight Loss: Finding my way.

It is crucial for success to find your own way. Let’s define success. For me success is to lose weight to the point I feel comfortable. And then keep the result for life. As I mentioned before, to achieve this, I needed to change my life style for good.
I spend couple of months trying different staff.
First I thought to become vegetarian. To get into that slowly I decided to cut off red meat first. I failed miserably as soon as I’ve seen nice filet mignon with blood on the plate.
I tried to cut off portions. Didn’t help me any.
After lots of researching I finished with 2 options: low fat or low carb.
I am a carnivore and a carb addict at the same time, the choice was difficult. I’ve studied few methods and came up with my own ( really combination of few) that allowed me to eat healthy, lose weight and still enjoy my life.
I went with low carb. Let me explain. If I went with low fat, I would have to cu off lots of food I really like to eat, like eggs and bacon, like cheese. With modifies low carb version I can eat pretty much anything at least healthy version of anything. Many people think that low carb means to eat only fatty food and no fruits or bread or pasta. It is true for some methods. I didn’t like those because I like fruits and I believe that fruits are good for us.

Weight loss: Meal Schedule.

During my weight loss journey, I figured out that it matters not only what we eat but also when we eat it. In Russia we say: eat your breakfast your self, share lunch with friend and give dinner to your enemy. This is very true. I you want to eat something that your method does not allow, eat it for breakfast, then you will have no or minimal impact on your routine. It does not mean you can do it all the time, but as an exception, this trick works pretty darn good.
Russian people in general have a little different meal schedule. They have breakfast, dinner and supper. They eat the largest meal (like dinner in the US) for lunch. They do not call it lunch they call it dinner. At night they have light supper. This meal schedule works very well for weight loss routine.

Weight Loss: Second Strong Motivation

I was breastfeeding my daughter until she was about 11 months old. She just lost interest at some point. I was visiting my mother in Russia. My husband was in Ukraine. My mother offered for me to leave my daughter with her for few days, and go to visit my husband, just to spend weekend childfree. It was a great idea.
We went to Crimea. We stayed in the nice hotel on the beach. First time in 2 years, not pregnant… baby was safe with my mom… Romantic weekends by the sea. It was not Summer anymore, but weather was nice enough to walk on the beach or sit and listen to waves. It was really nice out there. We were sitting on beach reading book aloud. He was sitting I was lying down, head on his knees, reading book aloud. Very romantic! Then I had to move. He told me, that I was moving like a walrus or a seal.
It was it! The second huge kick into my fat butt.
Next morning I has salad for breakfast and went to swim in the pool. Well it was strong motivation, it took me couple of months to find my way. At this point I also figured out that my husband will most likely become ex soon. I do not know what thought kicked me better: his comments, or realization that I will have to go on dates again. But something did it. I started seriously searching for my method.

Weight Loss: My Lemon Pie Story.

To start dieting again I needed very strong motivation. I think most of us went through the process of going in and out.
For me the process started with understanding of need to lose weight.
Admitting to myself that I needed to lose weight.
Finding excuses why I could do it later.
Trying to diet and then finding another excuse: holidays, party, birth day, traveling etc..
I tried different methods.
I was trying to cut portions. I decided, I would eat everything, but will go with smaller portions.
At the time I was stay home mom, so refrigerator was dangerously too close. Yes I had smaller portions but was eating those more often, so as a result, I probably was consuming more food.
I really love lemon custard pie. I make it from scratch. Just love it. I was baking that pie and eating very tiny pieces. Tiny piece would not do any harm, right? By the end of the day I realized that I finished the whole pie.

Weight loss: After Pregnancy.

There is a mystery, I still do not understand, how it works. I was pregnant, baby inside, surrounded by waters… water supposes to be heavy. I gave birth. Baby was more than 8 pounds, plus water, plus other stuff. I was hoping for at least 10-15 pounds off. I was 3 pounds lighter after giving birth. Mystery. Some lucky people are losing weight just by breastfeeding,. Not me. I could not lose an ounce. Somebody explained it to me. In my case, my body was trying to collect more fat just in case for hunger, so I would have enough supply to feed the baby. I am not a doctor. All I know that I could not go extreme again, extreme diet while breastfeeding could not be healthy for the baby.
I tried to cut calories, cut fat, eat super healthy. Nothing worked. When I was cutting calories, I even started gaining.

Weight loss: Pregnancy.

I was always wondering how stars making it through the pregnancy and stay slim from behind, just having small watermelon in the front. It is huge mystery for me. As soon as I got pregnant, I gained so fast. And it is not only me.
My best friend, as soon as she gets pregnant, she has few kids, every time she stops fitting into her pants. Her thighs are getting huge. I mean next day. Has nothing to do with her diet. I got huge everywhere. I guess it was my fault also. All Russian women including my mother told me, that I had to eat for 2. I had to listen to my body and it whatever it was asking for,,, ahahahah it was asking for lots of yummys. And I was glad to give it to my body. I had great excuse. I enjoyed it. I gained so much during pregnancy. If I was doing it again, I would control it better. At least I would try. It was huge mistake to just let it go. When I was 4 month pregnant I had huge belly, looked like I was 8 moths pregnant by then.

Weight Loss: First try

I studied lots of diets. We didn’t have the Internet back then, so I’ve read books and magazines. Talked to people. I wanted to lose fast! I wanted it right away. Somebody gave me a print out of cabbage soup diet. Cabbage BTW is really great for weight loss. I will describe another much healthier diet with lots of cabbage later.
I was determined to lose, I started this diets and it was success. I got tired of that soup of course pretty quickly. I would not recumbent to repeat my experience. One week max on that. Will give you good start for something bigger. But you will not enjoy that week. Food wise at least. The funny part that you can eat it as much as you want.. great, the problem is that after all day of eating it, you just do not want it anymore,,
I got on this diet as soon as I came back to the US. And man I was losing. It was great, I started to fit into my old clothes. Sometimes in the middle of this, my ex got invited to Russian embassy on some art show, concert and reception. We went. With the reception they went completely overboard. They had Champagne fountains, all kid of caviars, smoked fish (sturgeon) was presented as a whole with face and everything on the big plate. They had all kinds of cheeses and salami. They had pate’s and foie gras. They had all kinds of pastries and desserts. And I was stack with bottle of water. My soup was waiting for me at home. I am still proud of myself. At this point I new, I was going to make it thin.
In a week later I got pregnant and had to quit extreme dieting for a while.

Weight Loss: Slow diets.

If your weight problems are based on your lifestyle, or your eating style, not on hormonal issues or other health problems, you can lose weight. You, probably already done it few times, but those pounds came back, as soon as you switch no your regular routine. If your goal is to lose weight and keep it off for good, you need to change your life style. Sounds hard, but it is possible. The key is to pick new life style you at least like. For example, if you cannot live without steak, switching to vegetarian, would not work for you. After a while you will hate it and quit. You need to start with adjusting your regular diet to the new healthier way. One little example: we all know that yogurts are healthy. There are many adds on TV about different flavors something like key lime pie. And it is labeled fat free. You think: Great I’ll eat it. Not too fast. Those sweet yogurts are full of sugar and starch. The healthier way is to buy plain yogurt with no artificial flavor and sweeten it with fresh fruit and/or honey, or even sugar, but just a little bit. After a while you will not even like those super sweet yogurts. I like whole-wheat crackers. My husband use to make fun of me saying I was eating cardboard. I actually felt the same while ago. But for me it was those crackers or no crackers. So I trained myself to like those. Now I love it! BTW my husband loves those too.
Slow diet probably will not get you in your goal weight right away, but slowly but surely you will get there and keep those pounds off for life.

Weight Loss: Flush diets.

Flush diets are great for fast weight loss. There is an opinion that those diets are not really good for you. They help to lose weight fast, but as soon as you finished and get back to your regular habits, you gain pounds back as fast, maybe even faster. Those diets are usually very monotone. You can eat very limited variety of food. It is unhealthy to stick to this type of diet for a long time. And frankly it is really hard. Common opinion: stay away from those.
I disagree.
Those diets can really help to boost up motivation, if used as a part of larger slow diet. Let me explain.
Let say you decided to start dieting. To lose weight and keep it off you need to change your lifestyle for good. Since your current lifestyle is not working for you, weight wise at least. There are many different ways. Some count calories, some go low fat, some go low carbs, etc. We are all different. We enjoy different stuff. Our bodies work differently. One thing all those diets have in common: they are slow working. When you switch to the diet, it starts pretty good you notice pounds melting away. Your body is tying to adjust to the new way of living. After a while, the process slows down. At this point it is really important not to lose motivation. Here comes flush diet to rescue. You switch to one of those for a week or two. Get rid of 5-6-10 pounds quick, and then switch back to regular routine. Flush diet is a really great way to start the long-term routine also.
Look at my Diet Page for a few examples that really work.

Weight Loss: My first strong motivation (first kick)

I am a lazy person. I also do not like changes. I get comfortable with something and it is very difficult to motivate me to change it. I need strong kick to my butt. But I am also very stubborn; if I decide something I will stick to it.
When I was 23, my size was 18 +. I went to visit my mother to Russia. Moscow is the beautiful city with lots of beautiful women. Most of young girls in 20s in Moscow are skinny. High heels, mini skirts,,
It was late fall, which feels like deep winter by DC area standards. My winter boots were completely destroyed on Moscow streets after couple of days of walking. Those shoes couldn’t handle wild mix of dirt, snow and salt on the ground. If you visit Moscow in the middle of snow season, and stay in the tourist area, you wouldn’t probably experience it. If you take few steps from main manicured streets, you would find real neighborhoods with lots of dirty mix on the ground. I’m not sure what really killed my boots, weather or extensive walking (which almost killed me., since I was not use to walk anymore, at least not that much). Anyhow shoes were dead. I needed another pair. I have to mention that shoes in Moscow are really expensive. You have to pay at least $100 to get something not too attractive, but at least last for a while. I bought cheapest boots I could find. By the end of the day of walking, I got blisters. On both feet!
I went to Russia not only to visit, I had to get some paperwork done,, I had to run around Moscow for the rest of the week. They do not do paperwork by mail. People have to go offices, stay in line, etc.. One of my friends told me that she’d never seen anybody who was limping on both feet. Ahahahaha! I had to find something comfortable (for blistered feet) fast. I found most comfortable reasonably priced boots in one store. Very bulky, huge bulky round noses kinda like clown boots! On huge platforms.. Which was not bad, actually: keeps you higher form the wet snow mix. Really… keeps you feet dry. Also I had to learn how to walk on those. No hills just huge platform. To kill me completely those boots had neon green details. NOT MY STYLE.. AT ALL!
When I was trying those shoes, whining to my mother and sales person.
WHEEEEEE not my style,,
WHEEEEEE so ugly,,,
But SOOOO comfortable!!!!
It was only pair I could walk without limping.
The sales person was in her 40s. She looked at me and said: ”What is our age? Just a number”.
It was IT!! It kicked me right into my huge butt. I was just 23. I was way too young for comments like that! I came home, looked at myself in the mirror. Larger size did not suit me at all.
Is does work for few lucky people I know who look and feel great being XL.

But I didn’t work for me. Decision was made. I stated my losing weight journey.


I could not possibly jog when I was XL,, I was too heavy.. And hate jogging. I came up with method that allowed me to lose weight and still enjoy your life. Otherwise I would just give up.

Weight Loss: Does Size Matter?

When I was in school, we called tall and skinny girls giraffes. We didn’t know then that were beautiful and they really looked like models. Standards are changing. We should not. Now skinny is in fashion. It does not mean that everybody has to be skinny. Being skinny does not mean to be happy. Or in some cases healthy. I know few lucky people look and feel just great and comfortable in larger size. All of them stay physically active and exercise on regular basis. Most importantly they can eat whatever they want and stay beautiful, happy and healthy.
I envy them.
I think the key is if you are comfortable in your size, if you feel great, if your size does not prevent you from physical activities, if it does not affect your health, and if you like yourself in the mirror, do not change it! Congratulations, you have great balance in your life! Do not follow stereotypes to reach some ideal weight hat does not suit you. You do not need to look like a model to be beautiful. If you like your self, you are beautiful!
When I was in XL size. I was not physically active. I could not exercise, at all. I kept toothbrush upstairs and downstairs, so I could brush my teeth without climbing to the second floor. It was too hard for me. I also didn’t like what I saw in the mirror. I was not lucky. I didn’t feel comfortable being XL.

Weight Loss: Exercise when to start?

Have you ever watched Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover (weight edition) and other programs related to weight loss? They like to show very huge people performing high impact exercise, sweating, crying, breathing heavily, face is red,,,
If you are overweight do not repeat it at home. Extreme like that should be happening under doctor’s supervision, and even then it cannot be good for your health. When I was very heavy it was very difficult for me to even go upstairs. I could not even imagine doing high impact back then.
Recently we visited New York City. Have you ever noticed that New Yorkers are slimmer? I had same impression being in Paris, Rome, and Moscow. People who live there are slimmer. I mean there are more slim people around there. You know why? They walk. Every day. As a part of their everyday routine, they walk to public transportation, to stores, to restaurants. Many people who live in Manhattan, or downtown Moscow do not have cars. It is more convenient to walk and use metro, then sit it traffic for hours. When I lived in Moscow. I had to walk 15 minutes to metro, after taking metro I had to chaise bus (you have to chaise bus in Moscow, derivers will not wait for you on the bus stop: they stop on the bus stop, let people go in and out and leave. If you are not at the stop at that time, they leave. Even if you are few yards away and they perfectly see you. You have to run to be on time. Otherwise you might need to wait for another bus for an hour. They also do not have schedules. You should see girls on 5-inch stilettos or grandmas running to catch the bus.
The main point I was walking everyday. Walking helped me to keep my weight down. Walking is a good exercise with low to medium impact.
Later while I was very big, walking was only one option to exercise for me. So I started slow. I also brought my dog from Russia. She was motivating me take walks every day.
When you are heavy any physical activity is harder. You have to carry all that weight with you. It is hard on your joints, bones, heart, lungs,, When I was dieting walking was only one type of exercise I did until I’ve lost about 80 pounds. I think swimming and water aerobics are pretty suitable for heavy people also. Water takes weight off and provides resistance for muscle toning.

Weight Loss: Exercise

I hate gym! I get bored on machines. I do not like aerobics or step, or cycling. It would be nightmare for me to get up 2 hours earlier to hit the gym before work. I don’t enjoy Yoga or Pilate’s (too boring). I cannot run. I am afraid to go too fast on bicycle. I am allergic to chlorine of swimming pool. I do not like playing sports. Or watching. Rock climbing and I are not compatible (I value my nails too much).
I did go to gym for few years. Kicking my butt in. I was lucky for 6 months I was working in the building with gym in the basement. That gym offered boot camp during the lunch hour. I didn’t need to spend my after work precious time on disgusting gym. I did it for 6 months straight 5 times a week. I’ve never been in the better shape. (I’ve lost weight by then already). I didn’t enjoy it at all. I enjoyed feelings I had after. It was also very refreshing to exercise during lunch.
I am lucky. There is one type of exercise I like. I love dancing. While I have to kick my butt to gym, I would dance myself happily to the dance class. I just love it!
I think the key to successful exercise regiment is to find something that suites you, something you enjoy. It is much easier to stick into routine if you enjoy it. Dancing is a great exercise: ballet helps with muscle toning, posture and core, tap is a greatest cardio ever (I had no idea, it does not look like that at all), Jazz gives you combination of muscle training, cardio and it is also lots of fun!
Dancing is good for you butt and it is also really good for your brain!

Weight Loss vs. Quitting Smoking.

My husband is trying to quit smoking for few years. It is very difficult. I was trying to motivate him. He got mad at me at some point, saying: “You do not understand addiction! You never smoked!” I told him: “I quit eating. So I understand.”
Is food addiction is really as bad as smoking addiction? Can we even compare quitting smoking and losing weight?

My husband clams: it is very difficult to walk on the street and smell smoke. He immediately wants to light up. Well. Imagine you are on strict diet; you walk on the street with restaurants. You smell something fried yumm, something grilled, very yumm,,, Pastries,, OMG,,, You walk on the mall, you smell cinnamon bun, French fries,, is it more difficult, or I am imagining it?
My husband says: It is very difficult to go out or to the party where some other people smoke. He wants to join them,, ahahaha have you ever being on the party dieting? Especially on the party with really good food! Everybody, not just some people, are eating. Right in front of your face! And again…. that very delicious smell of food awhhhh…. It gets more tempting when I am dieting. Have you ever noticed this phenomenon? I’ll tell you one story later of my unbelievable self-control on one reception. I am still very proud of myself.
My husband claims that he always wants to smoke, when he has a drink,, well drinking is usually going very nice with hors d'oeuvres or cheese. Not to mention that driking it self can pack lots of weight on us.
When people have kids, they normaly do not smoke at home. But they cook. They cook yummies that are not compatible with any diet, Smiley face pancackes, cookies, fries, mac and cheese,,
And finally: Nicotine stays in human body for 2-4 days, in very rare cases it can stay for 2-3 months. After that addiction is in our heads.
Smokers can go cold feet, we do not need to smoke to survive, but we NEED FOOD to survive. And for me:
The appetite comes during a meal. (The Russian expression)

French Diet

Breakfast: muffin and sex
Lunch: muffin and sex
Dinner: muffin and sex
If does not work, exclude carbs.

Weight Loss: Stress

There are some lucky people out there who stop eating while they are in stress. All of us know somebody under stress losing crazy pounds. Not me. Not me. When I am under stress, I am eating. I need comfort food. My ex was historian and political scientist. Logically we came to DC hoping for him to find a job. We tried to rent an apartment first. Nobody wanted to rent for us, since none of us had jobs. We had some savings, but no job means no place to live. The Internet didn’t exist back then. Cell phones were really rare beasts only for rich people,, so we had to use pay phone, or just popup into apartment buildings. Everything was so slow back then. We could not find anything. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life. Hopefully I will never have this feeling again, ever again! We were sitting at the gas station in the car, trying to figure out what to do next. Our condo in Boston was rented for another few months. We had no place to go. I felt HOMELESS. My reaction: I went into gas station store and bought couple of hotdogs.

In the end it all turned out good, with one exception: I gained another size.

Weight Loss: Food Addiction

Is obesity is as dangerous and smoking? Are we risking our health or life by not watching our weight?
Lets look at statistics:
Approximately about 444,000 people die because of smoking related diseases every year in the US. Additionally second hand smoking kills about 50,000 people in out country.
Main smoke related causes are: smoking-related cancers, cardiovascular disease emphysema and other chronic lung diseases.

In the US obesity related illnesses kill about 855 lives a day, which means more than 300,000 lives a year.
Overweigh people in high risk for: diabetes, metabolic syndrome, cancer, heart diseases, stroke, arthritis, joint problems, sleep apnea, gallbladder diseases, and fatty liver.
Looks like being overweight is as dangerous as smoking. The problem is that many of us finding it out hard way.

Weight Loss: Gaining

I spent few months in San Francisco. My ex had temporary research project with University of Berkley. One day that project was over and we had to find other possibilities. We went back to east coast. With no job and no leads we had to conserve money. We decided to use campgrounds instead hotels. We bought inflatable bed, tent and hit the road.

We took different road to see some more places before we came back to the reality. We went through Nevada, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Florida and along east cost up to DC. I eat lots and lots of junk food while we were traveling. By the time we came to DC I couldn’t fit into my favorite dress anymore. I was size 16-18.
It was the first time I started to think about my size. I really liked that dress. I didn’t think about my health back then,, I was very young and didn’t event think that I might have health problems one day. You know, when you are young, you think you will live forever healthy and happy.. And I was happy, eating as much French fires as I wanted,, I was eating waffles in Waffle house, pancakes in IHOP, I was ordering 2 cheeseburgers meal with extra large fries for dinner,, I has desserts every day,,, and I WAS HAPPY. Food made me feel happy. It still does.

Weight Loss: Speed

There are many websites on the Internet promising fast weight loss. On my experience fast lost pounds are coming back as fast and bringing friends with them, unless you do it as part of larger plan. I’ll talk about crush diets later.
Fast weight lost is critical when it is matter of life and death in the situation when you mast lose weight or you are going to die. I know one lady who had gastric bypass surgery because she had to lose weight fast, based on her health situation. She lost tones of weight fast! She is very thin now,,, but her skin didn’t go anywhere. She lost her weight faster than her skin was capable to shrink. Now she has lots of skin hanging and cannot do anything with that. She does not want to go under plastic surgery. Losing tremendous amount weight fast and keep skin tight can be done in very young age. Once we are over 25 we have to think not only about losing fat and gain mussels; we have to think about our skin. With age our skin loses elasticity. Slower weight loss and supportive undergarment can help to avoid skin hanging. My granny was telling me after pregnancy to wrap towel tight around my waist to help tight back skin all the time as much as possible. I could use her methods while I was at home. Nowadays there are plenty undergarments available. One of my friends sleeps in spanks every night,,, she is over 50. Her figure and skin looks like teenager skin. She is size 2,, use to be size 12. I tried to do the same,, cannot do it,, it is too tight and uncomfortable for my taste,, I also value my comfort,, eheheheh
With age slower metabolism slows down weight loss process. I guess it was planned for a reason! As always, Mother Nature is very wise. I also used some coco butter that is recommended for pregnant women to avoid stretch marks,, moisturizing and massage can help shrink skin back during weight loss process. There is one more benefit of slower weight loss: slower lost pound do not come back fast.

Weight Loss: Weight Discrimination.

In my office we have note in the kitchen that says that we have rights not to be discriminated by race, age, gender, or disability. That sounds fair, but what about weight. Have you ever been discriminated by anything, or at least stereotyped?
Discrimination by weight, especially against women is getting more common in our country. Few studies proved that this problem exists and becoming very common. This is interesting that discrimination happens “especially against women”. Women genetically more prone to gain weight, we give birth to children, getting huge during pregnancy and suffering losing wait after having baby.. Some of us never lose baby weight, like my mother for example. How people can discriminate us for being overweight?
I know one very smart woman. She is the most brilliant system analyst I ever worked with. She is also a very hard worker. She designed many very successful systems for her clients. She was working for many years for one of the software companies. Her father started to get health issues and she had to move closer to him. Because of that move her commute doubled, so she started to look for a job closer to her new home. Her resume was brilliant, and her references were flawless. She is super nice person and has great communication skills. She had tons of calls, she passed hundreds of phone interviews, she had hundreds of interviews in person, but she didn’t get any offers. The problem was that she was very large woman, I mean very large. I’ve never been this large. We talked about that, it was just a theory; we didn’t have any prove of that. Somehow people tend to stereotype others with extra weight. They think if person is fat, that means person is lazy, or stupid.. In their mind our size is opposite to size of our brain,, or working abilities. Did I mention that system analysts are usually sitting on their butts performing strictly intellectual job,, They also need great communication skills to be able to have good relationships with clients and translate everything to technical language for technical people. How in the world size could be related to those qualities? As much as I concern big butt, would probably help: it is more comfortable to sit on one sport for long time, then on skinny butt with sticking out bones.
Well after 6 months of struggling she decided to lose weight. It was her long term motivation; her career became very strong motivation for her. She succeeded! Guess what? She found the job very quickly ones she became 140Lb lighter. Our theory was right.

Weight Loss: Gaining Continues

After one year in the US and no exercise I was full size 12. I do not know what my weight was. My ex lost his job at Harvard. He had some possibilities in University of Berkley. We started our trip across America: from Boston to San Francisco. On the way, of course I eat fast food.. Really enjoyed it too. Well we had couple of dinners in local restaurants. One dinner I still remember. It was in Kansas. Dinner for included huge, I mean huge steak (It was hanging out from the huge plate), mountain of mashed potatoes, gravy, and nice pile of corn bread. Today for me it would be enough for at least 4 dinners. Back then I finished it. It was really yummy.. My stomach was stretching with every huge meal I was eating. By the time we came to San Francisco, my loose shorts were a little too tight on me. In one month I was size 14-16.

Weight Loss: Motivation

Before you start any diet or regiment, you need to get motivated. There are 3 main types of motivation: short term, long term, and mid-term.
The most popular motivations for short term are:
Get slim for wedding day (I’ve actually lost 10 Lb. for my wedding)
Get slim to start dating again.
Look good for school reunion.
Look great on your relative/friend wedding.
Fit into sexy jeans, skirt, dress
Those motivations are great, but the problem is that people are happily gaining weight back as soon as event is over. I gained all 10 pounds back right after the honeymoon...
Our goal is to keep weight down for good.
Long term motivations are usually related to health issues. The most effective one is you need to lose weight or you are going to die,, this motivates people good, but we do not want to come to this extreme.
Good long term motivation is to do it for you. If you do not feel good in your weight, or you do not like how you look… You, yourself, not anybody else, but you.. Remember you are beautiful and unique in any weight!!! You just need to keep yourself healthy and comfortable in your own body.
Midterm motivation is very good to keep up.
One of the greatest ones for girls: buy really pretty skirt, or jeans one or couple of sizes smaller and try it on once a week to see progress.

Weight Loss: Gaining

I do not need to eat to gain weight I can just look at dessert and gain… When I turned 22 I came to US. My size was 10-12.. I was dancing until last day in Russia. But as soon as I came to US I stopped dancing, I was lost, I didn’t speak English, and Internet didn’t exist back then. My first goal was to learn English enough to survive. I spent 6 hours a day in school and another 5 hours doing my homework. Sitting on my butt. My butt was getting bigger and bigger. My eating habits didn’t change a bit, maybe even got worse, I was discovering new food, and it was fun to try new stuff. I was introduced to avocado, peanut butter, all kids of dressings and cereals. I tried different pizzas, pies, and donuts…. OMG donuts!!!! Muffins… I was thrilled by fast food chains like Burger King, Taco Bell, we had McDonalds in Moscow,, I loved BK whopper. Again I just love French fries,, can have it instead of dessert anytime. No surprise there I started to gain. Gaining usually goes slow,, almost unnoticeable,, I didn’t have scale back then, just didn’t think about that. First my pants were too tight, and then I needed new pants. I successfully got into firm size 12. My ex husband was actually very happy about that he likes voluptuous girls.

Skinny people do not understand how easy it is to gain few sizes and continue gaining.
I’ve heard comments: how is it possible? Didn’t you notice that it was getting out of control? Why didn’t you stop eating?
Well… it is very difficult to break old habits, very difficult. Once you get really big, it is really difficult to lose anything, so some just give up and stay this way. Some are getting on crush diet struggling. Lose successfully some wait and then gain again..
Vicious circle.

Weight loss: My biggest problem - food

I just love food. I love everything except hot serials,, but everything else goes. I enjoy best gourmet restaurant in Paris, as much as I enjoy cheeseburger in local burger joint. When I was traveling in Italy I was in haven,., I was waiting for next meal like it was my last meal. I love French fries, I love sushi, I love tuna tartar, I love pasta, pizza, I love eggs, cheese, fruits, vegetables,, sweets… I just love it all.. Normally if I would not control myself, if I have something yummy in front of me I will continue eating.
I think my biggest problem comes from childhood. The culture of eating in my family brought it on me and struggle is still here,,,

I was not fat as a child. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. My mother – traditional Russian mom and my Granny, had their own understanding of healthy living: more the better. My food was full of sour cream and butter. My mom cannot stand any type of oil, so all my food was fried on good old butter. They were also worried that I would be too thin, so half of fried chicken and large plate of home fries was my typical breakfast. I was not fat because I was taking ballet classes every day for few ours and my body was burning crazy amounts of calories and I stayed trim. When I turned 14, I grew fast became too tall for serious ballet, and had to switch to folk Russian dancing, I was doing that as a hobby, so my dancing schedule became less intensive. Then it all started. I continued eating as I was use to.. Believe me food tasted great, it was yummy, I also didn’t have habit of stopping myself, and my mother (BTW she still thinks that bigger the better) was happy,, By age 16 I was size 10 and growing sidewise. I am 5.6. At age 16 my weight was 155 Lb.
I am very lucky girl, I am curvy girl: when I gain it all goes everywhere: starts with hips and the goes up evenly,, I can gain 10 pounds and nobody will notice,, more then 10 gets noticeable,, I have curves, I have boobs, hips and waist. I have hourglass figure,,