Podcast Thoughts

I have started listening to podcasts. Before anybody knocks me out and calls me old they are a good source of information. The podcast I listened to today was by Jillian Micahels from the show The Biggest Loser. I loved her as a trainer on the show and she is one of my inspirations as a personal trainer myself. The podcast I listened to had 4 contestants from The Biggest Loser, and as so many others recommended in the comments I would love to see more episodes with the contestants. I would like to see a combination of the contestants who have kept the weight off after they lost the weight on the show but also the ones who gained the weight back.

While listening to Jillian talk to the contestants a few things stuck out. One being what Hannah said about having an exit plan. For her, and the other contestants, it means what are they going to do after they leave the ranch and they are back in real life? For me it means what I am going to do after I hit my goal weight to continue to be at my goal weight and not gain the weight back? What do I see myself doing to  lose the weight and maintain the weightloss?

For a lot of people who have gained weight there's a trauma aspect. Pete from season 5 kept the weight off for 20 years now and talked about the trauma from his childhood and ACES, which stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. Everybody has had a different childhood. Some people’s childhoods are better than others.

The first season that I watched from beginning to end had a contestant quit during week 1 because they weren't ready for the emotional side of why they gained weight. They did lose weight on their own and went to therapy. Sadly they did pass away from colon cancer.

I want to lose weight and keep it off. I am getting older so what worked for me in my 20s doesn’t work in my 30s but one thing’s for sure is there is one thing that I won’t do during my weightloss journey. I have talked to quite a few coaches from this one company that promoted meal replacement shakes, which are completely different than protein shakes which I am not against because protein shakes are a good tool to meet your goal. I am more interested in the fitness programs aspect of that particular company than I am in the meal replacement shakes that I can’t afford. Even if I could afford them I still wouldn’t get them to use while I am losing weight. Why? For several reasons. One is the cost of them. Next is I would rather have real food for my meal like a salmon quinoa bowl that keeps me filled up for hours. The next reason is I don’t see myself using the meal replacement shakes long term or after I have reached my goal. My question is once a person is done with the meal replacement shakes and they go back to eating food for that meal what is going to happen? Like are they going to keep the weight off or are they going to gain the weight back? Gaining the weight back is my biggest concern. The meal replacement shakes don’t teach people portion sizes or anything like that. The coaches I have talked to about the shakes tell me they feel so good on the shakes because of the nutrients in them. I saw a video about recreating these meal replacement shakes with actual food that they bought in the grocery store. One thing I can see myself doing both during my weightloss journey and while maintaining is exercising and doing the exercises that I enjoy the most like hiking/walking, weight lifting and using the rowing machine. Working out is one of the best things I can do for myself. Working out doesn’t mean spending hours and hours in the gym or running a ton of miles everyday if it’s not something you enjoy doing. Working out can be as simple as a 30 minute weightlifting session at home with a pair of dumbbells or a 15 minute yoga video if it’s something you enjoy. The best form of exercise is one that you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy doing a certain exercise it’s going to feel like a chore.

I know that there is a successful way for me to lose weight at my age. I’ll entering a new decade this year and I want the new decade of my life to be better than the previous decades. I have learned a lot in each decade of my life and there’s still more to learn. I am getting closer to being in perimenopause, if I’m not already there yet, and menopause. I’ll be looking into the signs of perimenopause.