July 1 - The First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

  Today is the first day of the rest of my life, though the same could be said of tomorrow.  I'll tell you more about me as we go along but for now, my name is Jess, I live in Melbourne, Australia, I am 33 years old, I am overweight and I am ready to do something about that.
  Pictured is me today at 126.7kg (just over 279lbs for my American buddies).  It's an awful weight but it still sounds a lot worse in pounds.  I am 161cm (5'3) tall and that puts my BMI* at 49 which is morbidly obese.
  Is this a surprise to me? Hell no.  I've been this size for many years, learned more about weight loss than you can poke a stick at and come to terms with my size, or so I thought...
  In the last two months I've been getting chest pains.  My doctor says the position of the pain is not consistent with the heart but with dyspepsia (indigestion, so try to start breathing again mum) but of course to be sure the doctor sent me off for a battery of blood tests: diabetes, cholesterol, thyroid function, B12 levels, iron levels etc.  I took the blood tests on the morning of Friday 29th June.  On the evening of that same day my doctor's office called me.  Let's face it, it's never a good sign when they call you.

"It's important, we need to make you an appointment to discuss your cholesterol results."

  To say my heart sank would be an understatement.  For years, despite my weight, blood test results have always come back showing me to be in otherwise great health but of course it couldn't last forever, and it hasn't.  I don't get the exact results back until this coming Friday 6th July but I will share them with you when I get them.  In the mean time, the first steps of my plan of attack:

1. Get back into an exercise habit.
   Today it was 40 minutes on the cross-trainer at load 1 while watching TV.
   Now I know that a greater percentage of weight loss is through diet, but for me the exercise is more about aerobic fitness.  It really sucks when people on the end of the phone say "Have you been running?" and actually I was just walking about like normal.
2. Cut down portion size.
   Often I eat too much because it's just too damn tasty or I eat too fast.  I need to train myself to eat slower and remember that I don't need to eat every thing every time.  I am considering trying out a meal delivery service at a later stage but for now just eating less will do.
3. Lindt 85% Cocoa dark chocolate.
   I'm not going to rave about the health benefits of high-cocoa dark chocolate, you can look that up on your own.  The reality for me is, if I crave chocolate and I don't eat some, I'll just binge on it later and I don't want to do that.  The 85% is just bitter enough that after one square I don't want anymore.. in fact I don't want anything more, it acts as an appetite suppressant to me.

  My doctor is great so I'll be working with her on this but for now her suggestions were:

• 40 minutes of exercise per day.
• Avoid starchy vegetables and sweet fruits, green is your friend.
  Broccoli, spinach, rocket, cucumber, kiwi-fruit, green apples.
• Lean meat, chicken and fish.
• Portion control.  Eat less and more slowly.  Learn to chew.

  As I tromp away on this journey you may be inclined to shout out helpful tips like "you shouldn't have eaten that" or "try substituting cottage cheese" particularly if you know me IRL and care about my personal wellbeing so I feel obliged to insert this cautionary note:
  I'm more than happy to accept your support, to hear feedback and suggestions, but if I don't take up your advice or even if I downright disagree with it, please don't feel offended.  I know myself, and I know what will and won't work for me and when.  If I try to change too much at once I'll be setting myself up to fail so we're going to do this my way.
  Now that's said, I won't be able to do this alone which is why I'm writing this blog.  I need to keep a journal of my progress and I need to keep myself in check.  This won't strictly be about losing weight, though that is the catalyst for starting the blog.  You'll probably find it wanders between weight-loss and foodie fanaticism.
  You don't get this way by hating food.  I love food and that's not going to change.  Food is not an addiction you can go cold turkey on.  This is going to be a tough trip, but with dedication and the right motivation, hopefully I'll get there before my end.

  Thanks for reading,
  Jess

PS: Brilliant Toasted Sandwich:
Turkish bread, baby spinach, cold sliced turkey, brie and cranberry sauce.
Not too much brie though, it gets very runny when you heat it in the sandwich press.
Smoked chicken works well too if you can't get sliced turkey.

*BetterHealth Victoria BMI Calculator