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From: Greta (cache-dtc-ae06.proxy.aol.com)
Hi! I am Greta from Walnut Creek, California near San Francisco. I am a wedding photographer, a dog lover with 2 goldens and a dalmatian, plus 2 cats who somehow manage in with the dogs. I am a 53 year old female. I started this current weight loss journey in June 2000 and am currently 54 pounds below my starting weight which is about a 25% weight loss. I am still 6 pounds higher than I was before I indulged in some Christmas goodies and went on vacation for 2 weeks in November. I lose weight very very slowly and regain very very quickly. I have been working on losing my holiday weight since December 26th. My goal for 2005 is to get into the "normal" range on the weight charts which for me would be to get to 159 pounds. I am 168 today. If I could lose 1 pound a month for the next 9 months I could accomplish my goal. Of course I am human and if I could lose faster and get thinner I sure would love it but I am trying to have realistic hopes. I walk about 90 minutes every morning. I weight lift with a trainer twice a week. I try to get to a second gym daily for a session on the elliptical of 30-90 minutes at an heart rate of about 140. I have been following a plan similar to McDougall's MWL but I try to avoid the higher calorie density foods that he allows on that plan like popcorn and rice cakes. I am a firm believer in using calorie density to lose weight. Calorie density theory tells us that that raw veggies promote weight loss the most, then cooked veggies, then fruits and potatoes, then beans and whole grains. Working against weight loss would be oils, nuts, and high calorie density dried grain products such as breads and worse crackers. Unlike many other people I gave up salt about 2 years ago including salt that is already in prepared foods such as soy sauce, ketchup, commercial veggie burgers. I use whole natural foods as much as I humanly can but gennerally have plain frozen veggies on hand ready to eat, as well as Health Valley no-salt-added split pea soup which is both no fat and no salt added. My biggest personal "issue" is staying 100% on program. At times I end up being somewhere that a meal is served, so there are times it is impossible to eat what I would want to eat without making a scene. How do you eat a bag lunch at a wedding? How so you eat at a luncheon for 10 people and drag in your own food? If I could always stay in my home I think I'd be at goal now but I find that 1 meal eaten out ends up needing a week of being on plan to get past. My current goal is to try to put together 10 perfect weeks in a row and see what that brings in weight loss. I have just made a switch to a higher veggie diet in order to try to force my body down to "normal". I am very muscular and have very large bones. Once I found a place on Vegsource website (can't find it anymore) that showed width of wrist bone on a chart so you could decide if you have small, medium or large bones. My bones were wider than the "large" width listed on the chart. However, I AM still overweight but maybe not as much overweight as someone who doesn't exercise this much and who doesn't have a naturally large frame.
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