Incidents, insecurities, indices

[sienamystic]

As of today, I've lost 25 pounds. I should be happy about this...well, I am happy. But I'm also struggling with a bit of depression - nothing too serious, but life has been a bit overwhelming recently between work and home and life in general, and I'm letting it affect me. I also was randomly reading the WaPo, and came across a short little article that discussed weight loss and was pretty negative about the possibilities of keeping off lost weight, saying something like 95% of people gain back all lost weight and that perhaps truly losing weight was a matter of drastic measures, like gastric bypass surgery. Now, this article was more along the lines of an opinion piece. I don't know if the stats are right, and I especially don't know if the conclusions drawn have any merit. But I let that little barb of an idea - that the odds of truly changing my life are low, that keeping my weight off (and continuing to lose it until I'm at a healthier weight) is almost impossible - get into my head, where it bounces around at inopportune moments, particularly at night when I'm trying to sleep. Granted, something drastic has happened to me. It's not like I can ever slack off and start eating fast food morning, noon, and night again. Well, I can, but I'd have to stop testing my blood, and Bemo would have to look the other way, which he won't, and my doctor will yell at me. But somehow this stupid little article won't be dislodged. I just have to get past it, which will just take time.

Meanwhile, I'm going to try and just be proud of myself. 25 pounds is no little achievement, and I'm also proud of the gallery guide I've written for my upcoming exhibition (even though it still needs some last minute editing before it goes to the director who will probably practically rewrite it OMG) and there will be what should be a very good conference in Miami Beach at the end of the month that will be a nice change of pace (I haven't seen a beach in...a really, really long time).

Comments

[graygirl.livejournal.com]

25 pounds is great! Woohoo!

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I celebrated today by wearing a fancy top I had outgrown, so I'm swaggering around looking elegant.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

That 95% is the general population. There's no reason to assume that you are within it:

- it includes people who are losing weight only for looks - avoiding insulin shots is a powerful motive
- it includes people with no willpower (obviously you do, since you've lost significant weight - they could be talking about people who yo-yo up or down 5-10 lbs)
- it includes people who are doing stupid and extreme diets.
- it includes people who are not supported by the people around them.
- it includes people who are set in their ways and can't make changes (obv. you can, given your move from DC to NE a few years ago!)

So I see no reason *not* to assume you'd be in the 5%. (I cribbed this line of reasoning from Steven Jay Gould, who used similar figuring to convince himself he wasn't actually all that likely to die in 6 months when diagnosed with stomach cancer, despite overwhelming statistics. As it happened, he lived another decade.)

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Heh. I will cling to this if I start anxiously chasing my tail again.

[queenthesixth.livejournal.com]

It's easy to get disheartened when you're trying to lose weight, especially if it's for a medical issue that you've only recently been diagnosed with. There's so much more going on that has to be dealt with on a daily basis.
For what it's worth, 25lbs is fantastic. That is quite the achievement. You've worked hard to attain that, it would be a terrible disservice to yourself to put it back on. You've come so far.

From going to WW meetings, I've learned there are a pile of women who have lost weight over the years and kept it off. And I agree with the above post. Extreme diets don't work in the long term. If you have no support around you, it isn't going to happen. And if you have a damn good reason to lose it, lose it you will. And you'll keep it off because that reason will lurk in your head every time you think of giving up. That's my experience anyway.
We believe in you!!

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Aww, thanks hon. I appreciate the encouragement.

[(Anonymous)]

25 lbs. is fantastic! Go you. Please don't let a short little article get you down. Concentrate on Miami...sand, sun, warmth, reprieve...

~Kate-h

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Thanks, hon! I will do so. I've never been to Miami, so I'm going to do my best to enjoy it, in-between all the lawyers!

[dickgloucester.livejournal.com]

Congratulations!

And, rather than letting the article be the invisible worm that feeds on the bud - talk to your doctor about it, about the prospects for weight maintenance, etc.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm planning to at least mention it when I meet with my doctor in a couple of weeks. She's a very no-nonsense type, so she'll shake some sense into me.

[strawberrykaren.livejournal.com]

Statistics are just statistics. People can interpret them how they please. But YOUR MILEAGE WILL VARY. Statistics are not an indicator of YOUR future behavior -- just past trends noted in some abstract group of other people.

Consider it a signpost by the edge of a cliff. You might fall off the cliff to certain doom. Many people have fallen off the edge of the cliff. But now that you've read that sign, you'll know to avoid the cliff edge. You're not doomed to fall off the cliff just because there's a cliff somewhere.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

It's very true. I just haven't been able to get my brain to accept that, especially lying in bed trying to go to sleep.

[coneycat.livejournal.com]

You *should* be proud of yourself! And have a wonderful conference!

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Aww, snoopy. I used to have a Snoopy hugging Woodstock stuffed animal. I wonder where it's gotten off to?

[nigita.livejournal.com]

Wow, congratulations!

Actually, your odds of success are much better than this. I can't get the link to work for the National Weight Control Registry, but the folks who *really* know the data on this say that 20% of people who lose 30kg or more can keep it off for long periods of time. Given what a huge undertaking that is, 20% is OK. Much better than 5%!

They've also taken a look at the habits shared by those who have successfully maintained their weight loss. These are all habits which, once you know what they are, you can cultivate. (Most of them I suspect you are/already have.)I think your odds are actually pretty good, given how you've gone about this.

[sienamystic.livejournal.com]

20% is indeed much better than 5%! And it's true, I do know many of the habits that are supposed to help maintain. What I have to work on is not letting emotional wants overwhelm my brain!

Found it

[nigita.livejournal.com]

Here's a link to their summary of their findings:
http://xnet.kp.org/permanentejournal/sum03/registry.html

I got the numbers all wrong. Here's what they actually found:

"If successful weight loss is defined as intentionally losing 10% of initial body weight and not regaining it, we can say that 20% of overweight and obese people in the United States have lost weight successfully."

I think they picked 10% because at that amount of loss, risks/incidence of diabetes and heart problems drop dramatically, so from a health standpoint (as opposed to Cosmopolitan Magazine standpoint) that's a really good outcome.