The graph represents my data for the month of May showing my overall change, and also the bumps that I had now and then as my weight did its usual jump at one or two places. I can not always account for it either. And then there is a self photograph made with a small camera into a mirror. Not a before photograph but I am getting close to my goal weight and perhaps will reach it within 60 days.
At the end of the previous month, I set a goal to reach 165 lbs. by the end of May. I began the month of May weighing 170.2 lbs and completed the month weighing 163.2 lbs., a net change in weight reduction of 7.0 lbs. For me, as I think in ounces instead of pounds, that is 112 ounces for an average of 3.6 oz./day, which is something I can manage and believe in. Also, I exceeded my stated goal of 165 by 1.8 lbs.
The main thing in my program, once again, is process. A process, planned and executed well, gives results. Also, a process that is not planned gives results. Eating indiscriminately or the wrong foods is as much a process as planned eating of the right foods. What are right foods? They are not what I once believed and even was taught.
After I read the book, "Protein Power," by the Doctors Eades, I began to follow their program and I lost weight. I do lose weight each and every time that I follow their program and practice what I learned from them. But it took more attempts and failures to understand how my body and system respond to carbohydrates. I fall off of the wagon now and then. Carbohydrates are addictive, and in my case, they are destructive. Excessive carbohydrate consumption for me creates depression, so it's not an idle and small issue for me; it's life threatening.
After the Eades, I also read Dr. Atkins book and learned that he was teaching almost the same thing. Then Gary Taubes book, "Good Calories, Bad Calories" was published and I read it, more than one time. Since then, Gary has published "Why We Get Fat and What to do about it."
I try to keep my carbohydrate consumption below ten grams per day. Carbohydrates are sneaky and creep into many things. I had a friend who was losing weight and she told me that she was on a low carbohydrate regimen. She was eating yogurts and smoothies so I asked her how many she consumed and she replied that it was several a day, sometimes four. I asked her to look at the label and see how many grams of carbohydrates she was consuming. Some of her yogurt dishes had more than 40 grams in the container; and she was drinking smoothies, also around 40 grams. She threw all of them out then and restarted with a different perspective. Carbohydrates are sneaky and often are hidden in what we eat; that is why I try for ten and may actually be consuming twenty; but in general, I consume much fewer than I did and fewer than many other people do.
My goal for the month of June is to reduce my weight by 4.4 lbs. to reach a weight of 158.8 lbs. That is 70.4 oz. and requires an average of only 2.4 oz. per day, again, something I can manage and believe in. I have now arrived at that last ten pounds, the difficult part we often say. But I don't think it will be difficult, as long as I continue with the process of eating low carbohydrate and continuing a vigorous exercise program. The 2.4 oz. is .15 lbs. per day, barely noticeable on a standard bathroom scale but in a month's time, it should present itself as a visible weight loss.
Stevie Joe Payne
Body by Payne
