Last January I made a decision that it was time to take control of my health. I had reached my heaviest weight ever and I did not feel good at all. I was feeling terrible both physically and mentally. Honestly, it had gotten to the point that I could not even sleep well as I could not get comfortable in any position due to the extra weight I was carrying.
I weighed in at 237 lbs. I am 5’7″. While I have always been a bigger person (big boned as my mama always said), I was well over where I should be have been at this point. How did I get here? Why was it so hard to change this? I kept asking myself these questions in the months leading up to finally deciding to take charge.
So, how did I get to this point? I have spent the last 13 years of my life having babies, working a sedentary job and concentrating on the needs of my kids. This led me to eating fast food on a regular basis, snacking all day long (especially on sweets) and getting absolutely no exercise. The pounds come on quickly with that kind of lifestyle.
I started my journey on January 1, 2018. I know, very cliche, new start, new year but I was determined. On January 1, 2018 I started by getting on my treadmill and starting a Couch to 5k program. What that did was give me motivation and accountability. I have a bit of a competitive nature in me and when my phone would ding at me that I needed to run, that spurred me into action. So, getting moving was the first step.
The second step was changing my diet. I knew immediately that starting some fad diet or trying to starve myself (as I had done in the past) was not going to work. I just needed to slowly change my eating habits. That’s what I did. I started by cutting out snacking and completely cutting out any kind of soda. Then I started working on my lunch habits. When you work in an office and have an hour break for lunch, it’s so easy to run down the street to pick up a burger, tacos or whatever other fatty place awaits. Instead, I started packing my lunch. They were still not always the healthiest lunches (even now my favorite is a frozen chicken pot pie), but they were much better than Taco Bell. Now, I did not completely cut these out, there are still times that I have to pick up something but it is much, much rarer than what I was doing. I also discovered that by working out, I paid way more attention to what I was eating. I did not want to “ruin my workout” by eating something bad a couple of hours later. Basically, it made me more aware and that led to better eating habits.
I have seen slow results as this year has gone one. Some weeks I saw big successes, some weeks were a struggle. Slow and steady weight loss was what I was looking for and that is what I have seen. It has taken me a full year to lose 30 lbs. Also, I still can’t RUN an entire 5k. However, I am working out by doing a 3-5 mile run/walk at least 3 days per week. That is far beyond what I was doing a year ago which was a 1-1.5 mile run/walk 3 days per week.
My goal was to hit 200lbs by the end of 2018. I was on my way to that, but the holidays kind of got in the way (imagine that!). I did more cheating and less working out in the last month just due to the busyness December brought with it. I ended 2018 at 206.6 lbs and down one pants size. I feel better now that I have in several years.
Now, it’s time to set new goals. I am starting off 2019 at 206.6 lbs. My goal is to be at 175 lbs by Jan. 1, 2020. I plan on adding more body toning to my workout routines. I have really concentrated on cardio this past year. I plan on continuing that but adding a weight workout on the days in between. I will also continue watching my diet. The goal this year is to cook healthier foods for my family while also working toward getting my entire family more active with me.
Here we go, bring on 2019!
