The Sports Doctor

26 January, 2011 Off By Renée

I went to the sports doctor (is that the right term? here in NL it is but I’m not sure what you would call these professionals in North America or the UK for example) this morning and it was an interesting experience. He asked me questions and I re-told my story and he made meticulous notes on what I was saying.

I had to get down to my bra and underwear at some point so he could take some measurements and check how my body was working. Then he gave me some feedback.

It breaks down like this;
I weighed in at 81kG
I measured at 167cm (I thought I was 165cm)
There is no visable sign of water retention
My heart and lungs sound great
My muscle capability looks good – bending, stretching, how the muscles feel – all good.

He measured my fat percentage but didn’t tell me what it was. I’ll probably get a letter in the mail from him confirming what we talked about.

Then he said to me: “Yes you are slightly overweight on the charts, but you absolutely do not need to lose weight.” He went on to say that IF I was still going to attempt to lose weight, I could count on it taking minimum one year to lose 5 Kilos. IF I made some changes.

He went on to tell me that based on what I eat regularly, I do not eat enough during the day and I eat too much at dinner. The amazing mind fuck here is: On Weight Watchers, tallying up my points during the day most often, for example, I usually only have around 6 or 7 points left for dinner. Then I eat my dinner, even in a smaller portion than what would really satisfy me and it’s still 10 – 14 points. Then I would feel awful because every day I would go over my points and every day the numbers would start to do me in. I have tried so many different ways of eating and the truth is, I am indeed absolutely ravenous during the day and I just wait it out, thinking lunch will be soon, or a snack will be soon, or I will be home soon for dinner.

He also said that because I’m not eating enough, the activity that I do in the evenings is completely useless. My body is fighting for it’s life, because it’s been in starvation mode all day, so he suggests that I spread out my activity and do at least 30 minutes in the morning or during the day, rather than kill myself in the evening, eat a full meal afterwards and go to bed too late.

He confirmed that I will never be able to lose weight doing what I’m doing now AND not getting seven hours of sleep at night. So added to what my boss already told me, I have to take advantage of the flexibility and I HAVE to get more sleep. I honestly have no idea how I’m going to do that.

So the suggestions were:
Ride my bike to and from the station (40 minutes)
Take 2 breaks at work of 15 minutes each to walk outside
still run
still go to the gym
more breakfast and lunch, don’t starve myself, less dinner
get more sleep

Supposedly I should eat enough breakfast to keep me going until almost noon. I should eat more at lunch (more bread! again!) and I should eat less at dinner. Then I should go to bed on time.

The only thing is, I don’t know how to incorporate all of this stuff. I don’t know how to go to bed on time. I don’t know how to get in my gym, running, fun time with friends or my husband and go to bed on time. I also have no idea how or what to eat and this has been an ongoing challenge. I am so programmed by Weight Watchers that I am scared to function with out it.

But, I have to stop it now. It’s not what I need. It works for others, but it’s not working for me. The doctor said that I’m just not getting the energy I need from the foods I am eating during the day. My salad, with all it’s veggies, the good fats and protein, don’t do anything for me. I’ve known this for a long time because of the hunger, but now it’s all been confirmed.

I am pulling the plug on my Weight Watchers membership for good. I am focusing and celebrating the fact that I am healthy. When I get these other things in balance I may lose weight again. Until then, it’s my extra bit of fluff and me, running, racing, gyming, biking and focusing on non -weight related goals.

Oh and I have some good news about something I won :) I finally won something from the interwebz! Next Post I promise!

on that note, I’m off to shower and then bed.