The other day, I went to get labs done. A few years ago, at the same facility, I had to squeeze my body into those chairs and shimmy my way into a corner so the part the comes down for your arms to rest on, could sort of rest on my stomach. Yesterday I fit just fine. In fact, there was extra space. So, I told the nurse I was proud of myself. She was asking me how I lost the weight because she wanted to lose weight too. I told her she didn’t want to hear the answer because it really is to eat less and move more.
I told her about my personal trainer wife, Karen G Clemenson, who can regularly reach 30,000 steps, every day, and how, at the time, I could not do more than 1/2 a mile without having trouble moving the next day because of chronic pain and how my doctor agreed that since I couldn’t burn as many calories as she could, if I wanted to lose weight, I needed to eat less calories than she did, so I drink a lot of water, I eat two meals a day, focused on protein and vegetables and fruit, I don’t deprive myself of treats, but I have a little bit and I exercise every day. All my numbers have improved or stayed good, my weight is slowly coming off, and I feel proud of myself.
She asked me how long it took me to lose 120 lbs. I said about 2 years, which is a good rate because I might not have the loose skin that people who lose it fast have. She agreed. She started talking about snacks and I suggested a nutritionist. I said we are lied to by society, the TV, the grocery store, and by restaurants. I told her she could go to a restaurant and bring her leftovers home and often get 2-4 more meals out of the amount of food they give us. She might be surprised by what she could learn from a nutritionist. Nuts are good, but a serving is 2-4 and then they are just high fat. She was shocked. I told her that her insurance would probably cover a visit, especially if she was pre-diabetic or diabetic and she nodded her head. There are so many things, people don’t think about or don’t know because food companies and pharmaceutical companies want to make money. If you are constantly overeating, food companies are making money. Once you are sick, the pharmaceutical companies make their cut. If you become chronically ill, they have really succeeded because now you need pills for the rest of your life and someone is going to sell you on special expensive diets.
But if we were just practical and learned what appropriate serving sizes were and made sure to exercise properly daily, we would not only avoid illness we would feel better and be happier. I was talking to my friend today. Their child is realizing some weight gain that is not healthy. When they have come for dinner, I see that my friend is allowing their child to serve themselves and the child doesn’t know what the appropriate serving size. When they were talking to me about changes they were making, they didn’t talk about serving sizes. So, I decided to share some things I have learned over the years, being the fattest person in my family and having success over the years. I said be to be careful not to label foods “good” or “bad.” I grew up eating mostly lean meats and fruits and vegetables. We didn’t have treats around much. I rode my bike and danced almost every day, but I was still the fattest person in my family. But now, I do appropriate exercise daily, I eat a cookie almost every day and I eat portions that are correct for me, and we have removed most super processed foods and I am losing weight. I also mentioned that I had noticed that their child didn’t seem to understand proper portions and maybe it would better to teach starting with a small amount and allow them to come back for seconds if they are not satisfied, instead of overwhelming their plate with too much food to begin with.
I think we need to all consider seeing a nutritionist, if that is available to us. Reading labels is helpful too. Did you know that a serving of ice cream is 1/2 cup? Do you know that 1/2 cup looks like. My nutritionist got out the 1/2 cup to show me at my first visit. Did you know that a serving of bread is one slice? That means, if you make a sandwich with 2 pieces of bread, you are eating 2 servings of bread. All the advertising we see has taught us to eat too much. 75 years ago, people did not eat cake unless it was someone’s birthday or wedding. People were much more physically active, and they didn’t have the chemicals in their food that we now have.
The main reason I have am having success losing weight is that when I got out of the hospital, after being there for a week and not being allowed to have food and water, because we didn’t know when I would be able to have surgery, my body would not let me go back to normal, so I decided to eat as if I had had bariatric surgery. I have relaxed a bit, but I tend to only eat 2 meals a day, I drink a lot of fluids, and I don’t eat super processed foods. I cook almost everything I eat from scratch. When I am full, I stop eating. I do not overeat. I have traded my old bad habits for some healthier ones. I am committed to loving myself and it is paying off.
But my story is mine. And I am also seeing a therapist every 2 weeks. I have a team of specialists that help with the 13 chronic illnesses I deal with. Having OCD might help me a bit here, I also show signs of autism, this too might actually help me not care what society tells me to be like. I am not trying to make it sound like this is easy. I struggled for a long time with my size, learning to accept this body and then to love this sick body so I could take care of it. It might just be that I finally love myself enough to be able to follow through with enough self-love to do what I need to do to be healthy. This has not been easy, so I don’t want you to think I just blinked my eyes and suddenly I was able to make good choices. I made and still make lots of choices every day to be healthy.
The hardest part was not listening to the people around me anymore. Ignoring the advertising. Turning off the TV. Bringing my own beverages. Planning my meals so that I could not be tricked into the fast-food conundrum that if you are really honest about, is not satisfying, and doesn’t taste very good.
I really do think that getting rid of super processed foods has been the most successful rule Karen and I have ever made. Cooking with the best quality ingredients we can afford to buy is the second-best rule we made. Considering how we felt after we ate at certain restaurants and letting that help us decide if we came back was helpful too. That way we are not labeling food good or bad, we are deciding how it makes us feel. We can still have that burger, but maybe we will buy the ingredients and make it ourselves or maybe we will go to Porky’s instead of a place with a drive thru because I like that I can have cottage cheese instead of French fries, or Elk meat instead of Beef. Being proactive about our wellness is always a good choice. Because wellness is always a choice.
If you are needing help creating a Wellness Plan that works for you, please Contact Wellness Works NW at 360-270-3880. Karen G Clemenson is a very caring and authentic person and she is looking forward to talking with you and helping you define your Wellness Goals and strategies. I hope this article answered questions you had and was easy to understand. If you would like us to write about a particular topic that you can’t find on this site, please send us an email on our Dear Jamie page and someone from Our Team will be glad to research and write about your topic.
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I hope this article helps Fuel Your Wellness. Please leave your comments below.
Summer D Clemenson is a co-owner Clemenson Enterprises, LLC and Wellness Works NW. Summer her wife, Karen G Clemenson’s personal motto is Creativity, Honesty & Positivity are a must! This mantra helps them stay community and wellness minded in all they do. Summer also writes poetry and inspirational blogs @ GoodTimesAlways.com.
