Transitions: Road map to now

I am not a doctor, or even in the medical profession. So what makes me an "expert" about weight loss.  My knowledge is not based on "book theory" but based on actual experience.  Anyone who has ever struggled with weight knows that there is an over abundance of conflicting information available about why obesity is becoming epidemic, and not just in the United States, but around the world. 

Studies have shown that people with weight problems tend to fall into common categories. 

1. They tend to be lower income.  debates are going on about cause and effect, with this factor.  Families who function on lower budgets know and recognize how expensive fruits,  veggies and other "non processed" foods tend to be.  While this issue is legit, what isn't being addressed is the time and training that is normally not available to this group about HOW to prepare a healthy family meal.  I know that as a single mom,  who worked two and three jobs to try to make ends meet, on top of going to school, I  found it cheaper and easier to pop frozen fish sticks or chicken nuggets into the microwave than it was to cut and cook veggies.

2. High stress:  Studies show that not only does stress increase cortisol levels, but it also increases the cravings for high carb/ high fat foods.  Most adults have never consciously developed stress coping strategies to help combat/ward off stress gain.  Stress cones in many forms, and in a lot of cases can cause major upheaval in your lifestyle and/or quality of life. 

3. Health issues: Take someone who had an active lifestyle, suddenly develop a chronic or serious illness.  Normal exercise routines are cut, and not replaced with comparable calorie burning options, yet the eating habits of the more active lifestyle is not adjusted. This becomes a case of the chicken vs the egg.  One health issue can cause the start of the weight gain which can lead to other health issues, which leads ultimate to a downward spiral into chronic and/or morbid obesity.

The thing about gaining weight is that you don’t wake up one morning and look in the mirror in shock wondering “why am I suddenly twice the person I was yesterday?”  Excessive Weight gain happens over a matter of years, with periods of weight maintenance then sizable jumps that we never overcome.  By making a map of your weight from the time you hit puberty to current date, you can see a pattern. 

In my case, the only time I have been a size 4 was back in 7^th grade.   In the 8^th and 9^th grade my body started changing and by the time I was in High School  I had settled into a size 10/12 at 145 lbs.   Move forward 4 years and I gained the freshman 15, but then yo-yo’ d between 5 and 10 lb. loss which kept me somewhere between 150 and 155.  In my 20’s I joined the Army and maintained that weight until my first pregnancy where due to health issues, I had to stop exercising and gained 100 lbs. during the pregnancy.  Afterwards I lost all but 15 which brought me to 175.  Three years later my second pregnancy didn’t go much better, with the weight gain, but this time I kept more of the weight afterwards and found myself floundering around the 210/220 mark.  I started a full time job and went back to school and ended up gaining another 40 lbs.  So at the suggestion of my Doctor, I signed up for a medical weight loss/liquid diet. where I lost about 75 lbs.  Once I was off that program I gained the 75 lbs back Plus another 15 now I was skirting 275 lbs.  In my 30's I got a divorce and lost 50 lbs, but gained 25 of them back after my hysterectomy. I gained another 15 after I started a new job.  Then when I started a combination of medications to treat for anxiety, depression,  hypothyroidism and asthma, the side effects caused me to max out the scales at 298 lbs.

This  pattern did not develop over a few days, but happened over a few decades.  Keeping that in mind, the weight is not going to come off overnight.  In fact  losing weight too fast can trigger a reaction in the body that once you quit the diet can cause you to gain that weight and more back.   The longer your body stays at a weight the more it becomes accustomed to that weight being the norm.  drastic variations can trigger a feast/famine response in your system.  This response is what causes people to gain so much weight back when they go off a diet.  Your body is now signalling that the famine is over and tries to get you back to your "normal" weight again, as well as a little cushion for next famine. 

The Transition program will prevent that because the body is never deprived, and the weight loss is a slower process so it doesn't set off your body's defenses which can cause you to gain the weight back, plus more.