On November 2008, I decided I really needed to lose some weight. I
started changing my diet and worked out a whole lot. It took me from November ’08
to June ’09 but I lost 15 pounds. In June ’09 I met my soon-to-be-husband
Carlos. Suddenly I was going out to eat a lot, spending a lot of time with him
developing our relationship and less time at the gym. I also started taking bc
pills (as you do). Not only did I gain back those 15 pounds, I gained 15 more
on top of that. The biggest mistake on my part was not buying a new scale
immediately when my old one broke. When I finally did get around to buying a
new scale was when I noticed the 30 pound weight gain. If I had gotten a
replacement scale earlier I could have nipped this in the bud earlier. But I
didn’t.
Now it’s September 2012 and I still haven't lost any of that weight. It took me over
a year to gain the 30 pounds and I’ve been trying to lose it for 2 years
without any success. The most I lost was 5 pounds and I would gain it back within a couple of weeks. I have not surpassed my highest weight from 2010 but I can't maintain any weight loss either. Why can't I lose the weight? I really don't know. I just know I have some obstacles in my way:
Metabolism – My metabolism has slowed as I’ve gotten older. It started
to slow when I was a teenager. I noticed that I started gaining weight even
though I hadn’t changed my eating habits. Unfortunately, my eating habits back then
were really bad. Lots of fast food restaurants including Taco Bell, DQ, McDonald's and Wendy's. With each year, I’ve learned more and more about nutrition and
exercise and my lifestyle has improved immensely. However, my metabolism keeps
getting slower and I find it just too easy to gain weight, very difficult to
maintain weight (I work on it daily) and almost impossible to lose weight.
Time Crunch – I used to be able to devote a full hour to exercise
every evening. That included cardio and strength training. Now that I’m in a
long-term relationship, I find I have less time. I devote at least 30-45 minutes on
weekdays to exercise and try to do more than an hour on Saturday and Sunday. If
I can get 2-3 hours on a Saturday or Sunday, even better! I’ve had to put some
of my hobbies aside in order to devote time to exercise. I read less, watch
fewer movies, blog less, spend less time online (when I’m home) and don’t hang out with my
friends as much. All of these sacrifices have been made just to be able to make time to make dinner and exercise.
Medicine – I know that there have been studies that show that bc pills
don’t cause weight gain but I think it’s all based on some sort of technicality.
I really do blame a lot of my weight gain on my medication. It’s increased my
hunger immensely. I never used to be this hungry all the time. Also, I’ve read
studies that say that the pill makes you more efficient in digesting
carbohydrates. They turn into fat a lot more easily than if you are off the
pill. The bloat and the mild depression that it causes doesn’t help much either
especially with comfort and with motivation.
Hypoglycemia – A low blood sugar drop is dangerous and it's an every day
worry for me. I always have candies or chocolates on me in case of an
emergency. I can not go more than 4 hours without eating. It’s just not
possible. As soon as I break my fast in the morning, I have to eat every 2-3
hours. This makes me feel like a total pig. I’ve switched my snacks to healthy
options. My in-between meal snacks are fruit, plain almonds, dark chocolate,
etc. They used to be more carb and sugar-based options so I’m glad I switched
them out. But I still have to eat all damn day. I'm sure my coworkers think I'm some kind of food addict. And the increase in hunger from
my medication hasn’t helped either. Also in the past, the pill has made my
hypoglycemia worse. I’m sure that's what's happening now too. I’ve stopped drinking
caffeine altogether as it causes my insulin to rise and blood sugar to drop
triggering my hypoglycemia.
Picky Eating & IBS – There is a really severe conflict between my appetite,
my mind and my digestive system. I get bored with food really easily and have
to constantly find new recipes to make for meals. My mind tells me I should
have grilled chicken/fish for veg each dinner but when I try to do that my
appetite gets repulsed. And my digestive system, because of my IBS, just doesn't like anything but cereal. The biggest problem I have is with chicken which I tend
to be grossed out by in texture even though I enjoy the flavor. My mind tells
me grilled chicken with veg, my appetite tells me meatballs, spaghetti and
green beans and my stomach tells me “none of the above”. Trying to pacify my
appetite, mind and stomach is very difficult sometimes impossible. It’s something
I struggle with every day.
Stress - I don't want to go into this too much but my current situation isn't very good. My relationships are all fine but I do need to make some other life changes so I can move forward. Also, I have a bit of a medical emergency that is weighing on my mind (I go to the hospital for treatment next week). All the stress makes me snack more.
I have a lot of obstacles ahead of me if I really want to lose the 30
pounds I gained plus the other 10 pounds I was originally intending to lose.
Have you ever struggled with weight gain and weight loss? What worked
for you? What didn’t?
