This Chubby Yogi is still living life full and thick. Just a few pounds lighter. I’ve been keeping a little secret. I’ve lost weight and am still loosin’. I’m ready to open up about who, what, why and how. Ya’ll know over the last few years I have come to totally embrace my love of food and chubby waist line. For the first time in my entire life I have a real appreciation for my size and give zero F&*ks about what popular culture has to say about beauty and my “plus size”. On top of that my digestive issues have come back full force. Dealing with IBS and my moody BMs is all too unpleasant. I have been trying every “life style” fix to save my gut. Ive been plant based, vegan, veggie, one meal a dryer. You name it I was trying it for the sake of regularity.
A few months ago I was feeling really at a loss with it all. I got to a point of trying everything and was burnt out and just feeling crappy. I sat back and really thought about what it was that I was feeling. The answer was chaos. I was all over the place. There wasn’t a routine, I changed diets all the time, I was somehow celebrating with food ALL THE TIME, and I was really seeking some balance. Normally I would wrestle myself into some over the top psycho gym and diet regime and be burnt out after a week. Feeling already burnt out I knew that that was NOT the answer. So in true Chubby Yogi fashion I took my own advice and did nothing. I was just still and sat with this uncomfortable not knowing feeling for a while.
Sure as hell the universe dropped me a hint. An old high school friend added me on FB and I of course instantly started stalking her. She looked great and had lost a significant amount of weight. More than anything she just looked really happy. I saw that she had done some sort of program and thought “oh lord dare I even ask?”. I was not about that multilevel marketing diet life and was super hesitant (side bar this isn’t that just FIY). But something about the way she talked about her new “life style” made me feel like I just had to ask.
So here’s the deal. She was on a program called Optavia. You buy the company’s “fuelings” (I’ll be real I call them snacks) and eat 5 a day every 2-3 hours. You are responsible for one cooked meal that meets the requirements of protein and veggie for the program and that’s about it. There’s no food prep, no work out program, just eat 5 make one. I dont like food prepping and I always over prep and toss half of it out, so one meal a day is perfect for me. And some of the food I dont like, but they have so many options I’ve found the ones I really like and so I eat those. The ones I like, I REALLY like and look forward to eating daily. AND they have an entire certified gluten free line.
The program asks you to take before photos and measurements. I didn’t (I had to DIG around to find a before pic). I think the reason was two fold. One I already loved my body. Like really loved it. I wasn’t embarrassed by it and I wasn’t seeking to lose weight to love my skin. I already did. So if my body looked different after FANTASTIC but it wasn’t really my “goal”. My goal was to find something to hit my reset button. To meet the needs of my IBS and bring me back to that balanced and healthy relationship of when to indulge and when to stick to routine. The second is I just didn’t think this was going to work. Ive tried so many things and never stuck to them and found reasons to stop that I assumed it would be a month and I’d be miserable and fed up.
It’s been three months and I’ve lost 18lbs. And here’s the kicker. I dont stick to plan 100% of the time. The reason is that I DID NOT WANT another program where the second I sent off I gained all my weight back and went right back to old habits. I also DID NOT WANT to give up food. I LOVE FOOD. LOVE IT. So guess what? Ive attended BBQs, celebrations, girls nights, family gatherings, etc. I plan to have my one meal at those events and I say YES. Here’s the thing. In the past I would be doing some program and I’d show up and say “oh no I cant eat that” so I’d eat 100 other things to satisfy the fact that I couldn’t have the one thing. So screw that. If there’s something I really want to try I TRY it. But in moderation. And the program has seriously helped me realize what a portion actually looks like. Ive been to sushi on plan and ordered my top two my FAV FAV rolls and devoured them and felt zero guilt. I’m on plan more than I’m not. But I let my self have the balance. And I’ve still lost weight. It’s slower than most people on the program but my goal is just different. I have also stuck to gluten free for the longest stretch of time since college. Everything I buy from Optavia is gluten free. My gut is really happy right now.
The skinny is that yes the program costs money. It’s about 300-350 bucks a month. You buy your month all at once that’s 5 “fuelings” a day for 30 days. It’s a lot of food. But for some people this might be out of budget. I was really worried about that. But then I realized that I was spending the same amount on eating out and tossing food gone bad into the trash anyways through out the month. If you have the budget its totally worth it. If you dont you could do like myself and use it as a motivator to stick to it and set a time frame to achieve your goals (mine was 4 months).
The other thing I like about the program is having a coach. Which is more like a friend who just gets it. Erin checks in with me almost daily and she’s been really supportive of me seeking balance and wanting to enjoy my life and program my own way. She recently asked me how much more weight I want to lose. I told her I don’t know. I didn’t really start this program for weight loss but now that it’s happening I dig it. I’m also 31 so my body is different than in my 20s. I’m more active now than in my 20s as well so I don’t know what I’m going to feel like in the 170s or 160s or 150s. Right now I’m 182. I started at 200. I would like to see how the 170s feel but I’m not about to start stressing over scale numbers. So I’m going to just keep with this whole balance thing until it feels solid and then re-evaluate. Happy Saturday Chubblettes! Hope you find time to GRUB CHUB and NAMASTE this weekend.