Busting My Ass

Today we had a substitute instructor at aquafit who seemed intent on turning the class into boot camp. Eventually it transpired that she had confused us with the aquapower class afterwards and drilled us with tabata, a high intensity interval workout. Finally the most brazen lady yelled from the pool: „This is aquafit for chubbies!“ Not that it made the instructor change her programme.

It was still fun, but I’m afraid my arms and legs will be screaming tomorrow. I prefer our usual routine, which leaves me energized afterwards – today just made me feel powered out.

My weight went up and down a bit this week, but the general trend is down. I was 98.9 kg this morning, – 1.7 kg from last Friday. Low carb is quite effective for me. I think I burned more fat than the scale shows, though, because I lost 2.5 cm (one inch) of girth on my belly in just six weeks, but am a mere 3 pounds lighter than at the beginning of March. I must be building muscle from all those exercises where we work with the water resistance. It’s doing wonders for my back, in any case!

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Giving Low Carb A Go

Despite aquafit, cutting out the coke and counting calories, I gained 1.1 kg in a week – almost two pounds. After the initial disappointment, I knew I had to make up my mind: either continue as I did, with the very slow weight loss and occasional gains in between, or get serious about it. So I am officially dieting now. Calorie counting, and no carbohydrates after 6 PM; and in just two days the weight went back down to 99.5 kg.

I’m not going to lie, the low carb approach is hard for me. Contrary to popular opinion, proteins don’t fill me up longer than carbohydrates. Going hungry during the day is not too bad, because I know the next meal is coming eventually, but I also get hungry before it is time for bed. Last night, I got so desperate that I drank a huge cup of broth – at 23 kcal and a negligible amount of carbs, it was the only way to shut up my stomach without messing up.

During the day, I still eat carbohydrates. Partly because high protein breakfasts don’t sit well with my stomach, partly because I would fall off the wagon within 72 hours. I like them too much. Funny how it is not the cola or chocolate that are giving me a hard time, but stuff like rice or fruit.

I am not sure how long I am going to do this. As long as it doesn’t make me miserable, I guess. Even though I can boast a long history of unsuccessful diets, the last one was a few years back, and I never tried low carb. I hope that this new approach in combination with the depression treatment will give me the willpower to stick to it for a while.

Coming Clean About My Weight

I have always been reluctant to share the actual numbers when it comes to my weight. It wasn’t so much being afraid of what the anonymous blog readers would think, but rather my real life friends. Which doesn’t make much sense, since everyone I meet can see how heavy I am at first glance. So I decided to own up about the numbers, for better or worse, because it’s a pain in the ass to write about the whole topic without being able to give precise figures.

I am 171 cm (5’6”) tall. The normal weight for my size and age would be 61 – 72 kg (134 – 159 lbs).

My all-time maximum weight was 117 kg (258 lbs) in 2003.
I started therapy with 104 kg (229 lbs) in 2010 and was relatively stable at that weight until the venlafaxine seriously cut into my physical activity.
November 2014 saw me at 108 kg (238 lbs).
As of last week, I am back in the two-digits, weighing in at 99.5 kg (219 lbs) on Friday.

So there you go. I have not been under 100 kilograms since the first semester of university. My next goal is to make 95 kg, then 90 kg… The line between the overweight BMI-category and obesity lies at 88 kg (194 lbs) for my height, and I guess that is my current target weight. If I ever make it that far, I will decide whether it’s worth the effort to try losing more weight. It took me 15 years to get back under 100 kg, so I’m not really spending any serious thoughts on that as of now. Instead, my eyes are firmly on the 95 kg mark.

One Pound At A Time

As I am typing these lines, I am 100 g or 3.5 oz away from reaching the weight that has been my target for the past 15 years. When I do – and since the aquafitness class starts this week, I have no doubt that I will – it means that I have successfully lost all of my excess university weight. It’s been my goal for such a long time that I don’t even know what the next one should be. Most likely, I’ll just try to lose another 5 kg / 11 lbs and take it from there – but I am also aware that muscles are heavier than fat, so my short-term goal is losing visible belly fat rather than a certain number on the scale.

There’s a certain genetic predisposition for weight gain coming from my maternal family’s side. Even on the oldest family pictures we own, that pre-date the First World War, my ancestors appear stocky and rotund. The only difference between them and me is that I am quite a bit taller than they were.

I was born a chubby baby, and never lost that appearance. Robust build, strong muscles; not fast, but good stamina; extracting every last calorie from a meal. Genetically designed for foraging or farm work. But unlike during prehistory (and most of history), I don’t have to actually find or grow my own food. There are no famines anymore in my part of the world where those “genetic gifts” would have made the difference between life and death.

Without the thyroid problems, I still would have been overweight. No illusions about that. They pushed me firmly into obesity territory, though, and ever since I have been struggling to leave it. Every ounce lost is the result of great effort, as if my body was desperately trying to hold on to the weight.

My husband, who easily eats twice as much as I do, has a different kind of metabolism. He used to be skinny, and even though he isn’t anymore, all it takes for him to lose some pounds is to exercise more. Within two weeks of starting his new job (where he’s on his feet all the time) he began looking visibly slimmer. If he put his mind to it, in a few short weeks he’d probably lose the 8 kg it took me over a year to get rid of.

I’m really hoping that the exercise will make the difference. My eating habits are pretty good – not perfect, but I very rarely exceed my calorie limit. Anything excessive makes me sick quite quickly anyway – fast food or junk food usually results in digestive problems. The only time when I can’t seem to go without it is when PMSing…

My ambition is not to become thin; that would be unrealistic. I never was, never will be. Sometimes, I wonder what that would be like. Would I carry myself differently? Would it influence my behaviour? Because being large has certainly left its mark on my psyche – I had my fair share of ridicule from strangers, and criticism from relatives. I never forget that I am fat, not even when alone. I wonder whether there is a certain point where I would?

Signed Up For Aquafitness

I’m not a “sporty” person, quite the opposite: about 50 pounds overweight – not morbidly obese (anymore), but in the area where my weight will most likely lead to health problems down the road. The last big check-up was five years ago when I applied for the clinical study. Back then I was physically healthy, but I am aware that it doesn’t take much to change that.

Since November 2014, I lost 8 kg/ 18 lbs. Not through dieting, because going on a diet flips some kind of switch in my brain which causes me to think about nothing but food all day long. Instead, I practice moderation, and thanks to the escitalopram, I am a little more active than I used to be. It’s a slow process, just a pound lost per month on average, but it’s trending towards the right direction.

My all-time maximum weight I had in 2003, when I was 17 kg / 37 lbs heavier than today. It was mostly due to the untreated hypothyroidism that I gained that much, but if I thought taking the appropriate medication would melt the fat away, I was mistaken. Even during my most active times, I would shed the pounds very slowly only.

A few weeks ago, I decided to sign up for an aquafit course – one especially for overweight and/or unfit people. Even though I loved the Tae Bo class, it was so physically demanding that I don’t think I’d be able to do it anymore, and even at the best of times it made me very self-conscious about my body, because the rest of the people were really toned… That definitely shouldn’t be a problem anymore.

Even though I talked a lot about weight, losing it is not my main motivation: I want to be healthy. At almost 36 years old, it is for the first time ever that I feel like my body might fail me if I do not take care of it. I don’t want to get rid of the physical symptoms of depression just to suffer from the side-effects of ill health. Thanks to Facebook I know that somebody I went to school with suffered two heart attacks last year, and even though his lifestyle was a lot unhealthier than mine, I don’t want to be next in line.

Apart from the physical benefits, I also hope for a positive effect on my mental health. I do not believe that an active lifestyle can prevent depression – it was from my most active period ever that I crashed into one of the bleakest phases of my life, and there are too many amateur and professional athletes suffering from it – but that it can help prevent a rebound. Especially since the biggest anxiety factor (being the only fat person among a group of slim people) is being eliminated.

Class starts the first week of April; just an hour once a week. Not a massive programme, but it’s one hour less of sitting on my butt.