In the manner of unforeseen consequences, though, I now teeter on the edge of body dysmorphia, that failure of perception that causes women to see their own bodies inaccurately.
So before I started this 1400 calories-a-day regimen, I looked in the mirror and thought I was looking not that bad. Now I look in the mirror and see Kirstie Alley the way she presents herself in her new show, My Big Life.
From that fog of skewed perception, a balance must emerge.
And indeed, something profound has already shifted. It reminds me of the way Michelangelo said that his sculptures already existed in blocks of marble and all he had to do was set them free. That’s me: all I have to do is carve away some of this excess weight to set myself free. I know I’m in here! I can feel it.
It has been three weeks now. I don’t know how much I’ve lost, but I am sure I’ve lost something. I don’t know whether it shows yet, because it doesn’t show to me. The people I see regularly probably won’t notice a slow and gradual weight loss after only three weeks, either. So I have to take progress on faith at this point.
I’m on spring break from my graduate studies and don’t return to campus for another week. Maybe by then something will be visible. I look forward to finding out.
Here’s the most remarkable thing that happened in Hawaii: one evening we went to the outdoors restaurant for dinner. The sun had set perhaps an hour earlier. I was wearing my usual tropical climate clothing — gauzy cottons. The trade winds were blowing during this visit, and they put a chill in the air as soon as it got dark. I am usually grateful for a cool breeze. This time, though, I was so cold I could hardly eat. I had to ask the waiter if he could manage to find a beach towel I could use as a shawl just to get through dinner.
Could it be I’ve begun to lose some of that insulation that has always kept me running from slightly warm to overheated nearly all the time?
Maybe some of what I’ve chalked up to hot flushes of perimenopause was actually a result of being overly insulated?
So maybe the first sign that I’ve lost weight is that I’m no longer going to suffer from the discomfort of being too warm all the time once summer rolls around.
Is anyone else overly sensitive to warm weather due to excess padding? I really dislike feeling overheated, so this has become one more reason to stick with this 1400-calorie approach.
Here’s something I’m embarrassed to admit: I didn’t put on my bathing suit once the whole time I was in Hawaii. Now that has to change. It’s crazy! So I have another little goal to add to my list.
Best wishes to all!
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Beautifully expressed. I especially love the reference to Michelangelo. I am interested to hear about Week 4.
I am also in the midst of a surge to drop the extra weight, after all of the years of being of acceptable weight and working out as a lifetime endeavor, I started overeating after some life traumas. It also hit me in time and I am on a mission now. From my experience, I can say that I work out 5-6 days a week, do every form of exercise one might imagine, and the only change in my life is that I started eating carelessly and the pounds starting going on almost at a daily pace! So, while exercise is essential, absolutely essential for fitness and health, the only way to lost weight is to literally STOP eating so much food. This has been my experience and I love your idea of 1,400 calories per day.
Update us when you have time!