Tuesday, June 16, 2009

First post

Hello, and welcome.

I decided that I needed a more public place to talk about my weight loss. Mostly because I'm hoping I'll pick up a lot of readers and you guys will help keep me accountable!

The basics of the situation are:

My name is Traci
I am 26
At my height and weight I am almost obese

Now, I know some of you may know me in real life or have seen pictures of me and going "SAY WHAT?" but it's true. At 5'4" and 173.6 pounds, my BMI is 29.8.

30 and above is obese.

A healthy BMI is 18.5-24.9.

145 is the MOST I can weigh and fall into a healthy BMI.

So why title the blog "Nearing my goals" if I'm obviously so far away? Because I'm already on my way. I'm approaching the drop off, where things are going to change.

5 comments:

  1. Traci! Awesome for you for being proactive about your health! You are 100% correct - you are already "nearing your goals" by the very fact that you're ready and willing to effect change in your life.

    I suggest two things:
    1. Read "Eating Mindfully" by Susuan Albers, Psyd.D. Then read it again. And again. Repeat.

    2. Meet with a registered dietitian (RD) at least once. Consulting with an RD is even more important and helpful than a meeting with your doctor. Most physicians only take a single 3 credit nutrition class over the course of his/her medical training.

    I hope you are so proud of yourself for acknowledging that you deserve to live the most healthy life possible. You are worth it :)

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  2. Anna,

    Thank you so much for your comment! I'll definitely look in to picking up that book.

    And I also happen to be fortunate enough to have a good friend who is (almost) an RD (she's degreed, she just has to sit for her exam).

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  3. You are so blessed to have a friend who is an RD. RD consults are so important/helpful/worth it, but they can also be crazy expensive and often insurance will only cover them if you have a diabetes diagnosis :(

    As for the book - in professional circles "Eating Mindfully" is basically considered the gold standard of nutritional guidence. It is the unoffical Bible in many treatment programs for people with food issues. It isn't a book that tells you what to eat when, it is a book designed to help you examine your relationship with food/weight/body image and how to challenge any unhealthy thoughts you may have pertaining to them and how to change those thoughts so you can live as healhfully as possible. It's available in paperback, and you can probably get it used on Amazon.com for around $5.

    Oh - and check your facebook messages :)

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  4. I believe my BMI is just under the overweight category. You've seen photos of me. Am I overweight? No. I'm not. There is a lot that BMI doesn't take into account, keep that in mind when setting goals. Body fat percentage might be a better number to look at.

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  5. Holly I totally agree, BMI really is a crap shoot, but it's really all I've got to go on right now. One of the downsides to living in the middle of nowhere is that there isn't any place nearby to get my body fat percentage tested. I'm sure there's a way I could figure it out myself, but I'll be darned if I can find it!

    I've been 145 before (about 3 years ago) and it was a good weight for me, I felt good there. Really, it's more about health than weight loss (although obviously I feel like I need to lose some weight to be healthier) and if that "healthy" feeling comes at a higher weight than 145, so be it :)

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