At 20 years old, I was a 5’3” 136 pound hard body fresh out of Army Basic Training. Within a year, however, I gained about 60 pounds due to lack of exercise, poor food choices, and a medication that causes weight gain. (But mostly due to my poor choices.) Over the next several years gained the additional 40 pounds which led me to my highest weight of 236 pounds.
I was in denial about how my weight was affecting my quality of life. I was in a constant state of pain (My back, my feet, my stomach, my knees.) which gave me just the excuse I needed to stay inactive. Emotional eating, lack of activity, and failure to take care of my spiritual self left me spinning out of control. Every time I even thought about getting healthy, I was overwhelmed before I even started due to all of the major changes that seemed required of me at the time. Eat this, avoid that, pop this pill, avoid that exercise, drink this water, stop with the coffee. After gathering all of the research and tools I needed to begin, I was exhausted and sat down with a big bowl of ice cream to read and coordinate. (Sound familiar? Go ahead. Raise your hand. No one is looking.)
When it came to eating, I had a lot of really good excuses. I was married at the time, I have two small children, and who can afford to buy two types of foods for the family? How could I eat healthy without punishing my family? Calories, fat grams, sugar grams, carbs, hydro-whatever... AGH! Or, my sad discovery was that I had become "the table Hoover". I cleaned up the kids plates, regardless of how full I was.
Exercise? Who has time for that? In this society of "bigger, better, faster", who honestly has time to slow down long enough to get a good workout in? (Everyone, but I'll get to that.) My mindset was as follows: I can't afford a gym membership; I can't be away from my kids any more than I already am; I don't have the right clothes; the right shoes; I am scared to sweat in front of people; I'm afraid of what people will think of my fat ass in the gym; I'm so out of shape- I'm embarrassed. And then guess what...I ate to comfort myself. (Anyone else raising your hands?)
I made several excuses over the years, but when it came right down to it, I was overweight because of choice. I had chosen not to prioritize my health and was now suffering the consequences. In January of 2009, I tipped the scale at 236 pounds. I saw pictures of myself at Christmas and I nearly sobbed. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, how I was feeling, and I made the decision, then, that something had to be done.
I lost thirty pounds in 4 months the old fashioned way...calories in vs. calories out. I maintained that weight for 8 months, and then I gained back 11 pounds during the holidays. So, back at it again!
I will write more later. Here's your first mission: find your tennis shoes.
I was in denial about how my weight was affecting my quality of life. I was in a constant state of pain (My back, my feet, my stomach, my knees.) which gave me just the excuse I needed to stay inactive. Emotional eating, lack of activity, and failure to take care of my spiritual self left me spinning out of control. Every time I even thought about getting healthy, I was overwhelmed before I even started due to all of the major changes that seemed required of me at the time. Eat this, avoid that, pop this pill, avoid that exercise, drink this water, stop with the coffee. After gathering all of the research and tools I needed to begin, I was exhausted and sat down with a big bowl of ice cream to read and coordinate. (Sound familiar? Go ahead. Raise your hand. No one is looking.)
When it came to eating, I had a lot of really good excuses. I was married at the time, I have two small children, and who can afford to buy two types of foods for the family? How could I eat healthy without punishing my family? Calories, fat grams, sugar grams, carbs, hydro-whatever... AGH! Or, my sad discovery was that I had become "the table Hoover". I cleaned up the kids plates, regardless of how full I was.
Exercise? Who has time for that? In this society of "bigger, better, faster", who honestly has time to slow down long enough to get a good workout in? (Everyone, but I'll get to that.) My mindset was as follows: I can't afford a gym membership; I can't be away from my kids any more than I already am; I don't have the right clothes; the right shoes; I am scared to sweat in front of people; I'm afraid of what people will think of my fat ass in the gym; I'm so out of shape- I'm embarrassed. And then guess what...I ate to comfort myself. (Anyone else raising your hands?)
I made several excuses over the years, but when it came right down to it, I was overweight because of choice. I had chosen not to prioritize my health and was now suffering the consequences. In January of 2009, I tipped the scale at 236 pounds. I saw pictures of myself at Christmas and I nearly sobbed. I just couldn't believe what I was seeing, how I was feeling, and I made the decision, then, that something had to be done.
I lost thirty pounds in 4 months the old fashioned way...calories in vs. calories out. I maintained that weight for 8 months, and then I gained back 11 pounds during the holidays. So, back at it again!
I will write more later. Here's your first mission: find your tennis shoes.
