Name? Áine Irene MacCollar
How do we know each other? We share a grand daughter! :)
Favorite pop culture things (Movie, Music(performer or band), Television show, Author, etc(Whatever favorite(s) you want to talk about)) indie music (especially Glen Hansard, and his bands The Swell Season and the Frames (not the US Frames)) and indie films especially English and Irish ones, living on the harbor in a beautiful part of the world, fave actors are : Cillian Murphy, Mads Mikkelson, Daniel Craig, Dame Judy Densch, Kathy Bates, Colin Ferrell, Darren Healy, very rarely watch TV but would gladly watch Mad Men if it ever has another season. Antique and cottage architecture and design, watercolors and writing.
Favorite guilty pleasure with food? dark chocolate covered malt balls, carrot cake and those orange chewy "circus peanuts". I feel guilty just listing them! I have banished circus peanuts from my life indefinitely, as they are almost pure processed sugar and thus very dangerous for me. I try to never use the term "guilty pleasure" because gaining weight is not a pleasure. I call these foods "toxic to my health and dangerous to my future".
General location? (i.e. I'm 15 minutes outside of Albany, NY in a suburb of a suburb of a suburb so I say I'm from Albany when I'm online) Belfast, Maine (A small, artistic, liberal harbor town community not far south of Acadia)
Hometown? Petersburg, NY
Please feel free to tell me as much or as little as you want about your personal life. i.e. what you do for a living, relationship status, etc. Divorced X2, best friends with the first and don't speak to the second, author, poet, artist, very proud mother of one perfect son, an awesome daughter-in-law, and the most beautiful and talented grand-daughter that ever lived (oh and did I say I was humble?). I lived for ten years on a Maine island, and miss it terribly. Planning to move to Ireland at some point in the next two or three years part time and later full time. Can live quite happily for long periods of time without human contact. Former journalist (along with all my other past professions) turned novelist (mostly erotic fiction: think Stephen King & Catherine Cookson meet Dr. Ruth and you'll have an idea of my work).
How did you lose your weight? I personally don't believe that most "diet" plans can lead to permanent weight loss unless it's a way of eating that you can use every day for the rest of your life. I changed my lifestyle permanently:
1. HOW I EAT: smaller portions off a smaller plate. When eating out, I refuse dessert and I ask for a take out box when the meal first arrives at the table so that I can package up half of the meal before I even get started. Set my fork down while I am chewing or talking. MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR MY SUCCESS: every time I go for seconds or larger portions, I ask myself (DEMAND of myself) "am I eating this because I am really still hungry, or is it because the food looks and smells really good?" Almost always I admit I'm not really hungry and it keeps me from eating more. Always STOP eating when I have had just enough (not when I am "full" - learn the difference), and either remove my plate from the table or physically push it away where I can't munch off it while I'm waiting for all the others to finish eating their seconds and thirds. While watching videos and want munchies? I try to keep my hands busy (crochet) and I keep a stash of grapes (easy to pop into the mouth just like chips) and when necessary I pop up some fat free popcorn. I always prepare the plates from the counter and stove, and never set the serving dishes on the table home-style. I ask people that I regularly eat with to help me by not eating dessert at the table because I've worked so hard, am not strong enough to resist, and it is like having a beer in front of a newly recovering alcoholic: cruel.
2. WHAT I EAT: I try to always use organic and fresh and I rarely eat anything processed, commercially frozen or canned food is a very small part of my diet. I know what my triggers are (sugar, mainly) and have to be very strict with myself. I have admitted about myself that processed sugar is not something I can satisfy myself with by taking "just a taste". However, I allow myself one day a month (usually my most hormonal day) when I can eat ALMOST anything I want (chips and chocolate, mostly). If I have an intense craving once in a very great while, I will allow myself a small or normal portion of that food in order to avoid the binging that inevitably results from denying a craving. I know that I cannot have baked goods or snacks in the house or I will binge on them, so I set rules for others to hide it if they must bring it in (and hide it very well, I'm like a hound dog when I know it is there somewhere). I know that if there is a bag of chips in the house or a monster bag of peanut M&Ms (for examples), I will not be satisfied until I have eaten the whole bag in one sitting, so at all costs I try to keep them out of the house.
MY VERSION OF EXERCISE: I'm not a diligent exerciser, so I do other things, for example I ALWAYS do the stairs, try to walk my errands around town instead of driving, and park as far out in a parking lot as is possible so I have to walk a good distance to the store and back - little things like that. Just keep moving every opportunity you have. I know that I will have to do some sort of serious exercise to maintain my loss.
HOW I TRACK MY WEIGHT: I have a quality scale, and weigh myself every day at the same time of day and with the same scale. I know that it's normal or me to gain and lose two or three pounds over the course of a day or two and don't get freaked about it, and don't ever count the ounces only the full pounds (why stress over what is likely water gain or menstrual bloating?). I once had readings 5 lbs apart from each other in the same 24 hour period! If the scale shows that extra couple of lbs more than two days in a row I take it seriously.
FINALLY: I carry a fat picture in my wallet as motivation to stay on track when out. It's a perfect photo because it is me with my son, who is one of my motivations for getting healthy. In it I am wearing clothes I picked out especially to hide my fat behind, and vow I will never look so frumpy and older than my years again. Having gone from a tight 24 to a loose 12, I now walk that fine line between "inappropriately young for my age" and "One hot grandma!!" It's a blast. I also keep a pair of my "fat pants".
What piece of advice would you give someone trying to lose weight? No offense to those who have lost while on commercial diet plans, I too lost on them - several times, but always regained the lbs and then some, which is in keeping with many of the statistics. Some statistics also say that many who gain back those lbs, gain more on top of them, and that is mostly what I've had happen and have seen around me. However, my advice is based on my own experience, and is not representative of everyone's experience. Don't follow any diet plan that you cannot follow every day for the rest of your life. Will you drink a protein shake for breakfast every day? Count points for the rest of your days? You know you won't, and so you run a significant risk of regaining. So, my advice is to change your lifestyle in ways you can live with the rest of your life. These changes can be made a lot more easily than one might think, and the statistics will be on your side for the new you to be healthier and keep off the weight long term. In the last year, I have never been hungry which I am honest in saying, because for the 28 years before that I was a terrible emotional eater - could never feel full until I was actually physically in pain.
Is there someone you'd like to give a shout out to that really has been integral in your weight loss? More than one person? If so, who and why? No shout out by my son and his family are my greatest motivators.
What made you decide to lose weight? I reached middle age and was suddenly aware that I was going to get old and it was now or never. I was pissed at myself for all the years I allowed myself to be a treated like a second class citizen stripped of my femininity and youth and only got second glances because I was fat and not because I was attractive. I knew aging as an obese person increased greatly my propensity for serious health problems, and self-imposed loneliness. Finally, the deciding factor was the birth of my grand daughter. it made me strong enough to say enough was enough.
How did you surprise yourself? It should not have been a surprise, but I just feel like a different person, I'm very happy with myself and my body, and dressing better and not hating myself every day of my life (conciously or not) for allowing myself to be fat. I did that before.
Has your presence on the internet affected your attitude toward your weight loss? If so, how? No-one has actually "attacked" me, but I do find myself having to curtail my enthusiasm around others who have never had to lose weight or who are unhappy with their weight but not doing anything about. My enthusiasm seems to make them sad and I don't want to do that. The only negative thing someone has said was one of my doctors of all people, who commented that statistics prove very few people maintain large weight loss.
Do you feel that people treat you differently? The way others treat me in social and everyday situations. Sad and inexcusable but very true, it's like I am finally a real person that they are interested in talking to and flirting with, etc. My change in physicality is not solely the reason for this. When I felt better and happier with myself, people wanted to be around me more, they are more interested in my life and who I am. It's like I'm a light bulb that finally started to glow.
Are there any changes that you don't like? Don't believe people when they say you'll lose a lot of breast weight, if I thought quality sexy 40 G wire-free bras were nearly impossible to find and afford, quality sexy wire-free 36 G's are impossible. The way everyone talked, I was looking forward to the girls resizing to a C cup or lower! And, much of the time I still see the fat Áine in the mirror and not the thin one, which is emotionally problematic.
What are you going do when you get to goal? Haven't decided, I better decide soon because I reach my goal (70 lbs lost) in 4 lbs. (that's my original goal, I'd really like to lose another 5 after that)
If you would like to be featured in my "Weight Loss Interview Series" please email me
