Fit Before 40

How many times have I done this?

How many times have I started and stopped?

I will be 40 this year. I’ve always told myself I’ve still got time to get my sh*t together before its too late. Before I’m old and achy. Before things have gone too far. Before I have diabetes. But that door is closing. Potential mid life. I’d like to spend this next half of my life feeling better in my body and my mind.

I’ve been overweight since I was 19 years old.

20 years…

20 years of tired. 20 years of disappointment in my body. 20 years of a screwed up back. 20 years of excuses.

Things need to be different. I need to get off some of my medications. I don’t want to end up a diabetic. I want to feel energetic.  So I need a plan.

Luckily I have one! A plan that is…

Both my husband and I have joined Weight Watchers. I tried this program for a 3 month period early last year and lost a little weight but failed to follow through when the person I signed up with never really participated. Another excuse, I know… I need to do this for me and with me but having some support would be super great! Being on the same plan as my husband will make meal times so much easier since we’ll be following the same route.

Exercise! This is where I usually lack. I go too hard off the bat and can’t maintain so I give up. I need to find a routine that will start me off slow (any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!). More research needed! Things need to change, just not all at once.

So, here I am. Starting. Taking this week to figure things out and on Monday, its on! I’m hoping sharing what I go through will help me sort everything out and keep me on track.  If anyone has taken the time to read this, thank you.  There will be more to come.

Heres to a year of changes and entering my 40th year on this earth as a healthier, smaller person!

 

Week One

First week, done!

Overall it was a good week. My eating was on track but I also gave myself a couple of indulgences (2 glasses of wine and a 6″Subway sub). I pushed myself to get on the treadmill 5 out of 7 days. I made my activity goals on those 5 days but without those treadmill steps, it’s really difficult to reach my daily activity requirements.

Let’s get to the good stuff…

I lost 4.1 lbs! There’s no better feeling that stepping on that scale and expecting a couple of lb loss and seeing double! I know that not every week will have numbers like this but seeing that makes me ready and willing to do it all again this week. My husband and I have been down this road before, lose weight, do well, slip back to old habits, put it all back on again. Usually since he’s a man, he loses considerably more than I do each week. But this week, we were pretty even (he lost 4.6)! I attribute it to my exercise and it only makes what I already know to be true even clearer, I MUST EXERCISE TO BE SUCCESSFUL!

Mind set, mind set, mind set.

Goal!

Yep, yep. Made my steps today! It was a bit of push since I’m feeling rather stiff and sore from hitting my step goals for the last three days but I did it. Just a little “Yay me!” post.

Onward and downward!

So, yeah.

**Sneaks quietly back in, head bowed in shame.**

So, yeah. I disappeared, lost my way. Returned to old habits and had a jolly time. So jolly in fact, that I’ve put all that I lost back on. Yep, back up there. 238.5 lbs… BUT, I’m back at it. 3 days in. Sore from walking and jogging. Hungry from fatless/sugarless foods. But I feel good. New year, new me… (that sounds familiar…)

So this time:

1. I’m not going to be so hard on myself. If I slip up, tomorrow’s a new day. That doesn’t mean, if I slip up I get to eat everything in sight for the remainder of that day. It means I effed up, move on, charge forward.

2. I need new ideas for healthy food (ideas will be greatly appreciated with virtual hugs and kisses!). I was so bored of my previous fail safes and it lead to feeling deprived which lead to me feeling like “Screw this, I’m done”. At the moment, I’m logging what I eat and sticking to a 1200 calorie diet.

3. Get my butt on that treadmill every day! 30 minutes is not an outrageous amount of time and I always feel good (albeit very red faced and sweaty) after I’m done. Must remind self that I NEED to get moving more. I’ve also acquired this lovely Polar loop activity tracker for my birthday and the treadmill really makes a difference in my step/activity count.

This list will probably expand as the weeks and months go by but for now it reflects my thoughts and feelings about doing this long term.

So, yeah.

Back at it.

Lets go!

Goodbye Fat Girl!

MIA

What a two weeks it has been! 

In my previous post, I posted concerns with staying with friends (who’s eating habits are so much different from ours) and giving in to all the foods I crave and miss. Well, it seems, my will power is not where I would like it to be. I gave in. I ate. Lots. But boy oh boy, did I pay for it. I felt like crap and had much tummy trouble to boot! I weighed after coming home and I was up 4 lbs! I’m sure some of that was water since all crappy foods are laden with so much salt. But yikes! 

So I return home, work for two days and my husband gets hit with the flu. Home in bed, laid out, dying sick. (Poor guy) Guess who’s next in line? Yup, me. So, I spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday in bed. Yesterday was the first day I was able to be out of bed for short periods.  Thank goodness my son avoided this sickness, it was terrible! I got on the scale yesterday morning and I’m 2 lbs down from my original weight before I went away to our friends for the weekend. I lost between 4-6 lbs while I was sick. 

In retrospect, it looks as though I’m not ready to be in an uncontrolled food environment. Will I ever be? I struggle a lot with wanting so many of the things I shouldn’t have and if I do have them, I can’t keep them at reasonable portions. Something to think on.

Have a wonderful hump day!

~Jenn