All my life I've struggled with my weight. As a child, as a teen, I was always overweight. It wasn't until I had my first baby did I tip the scales towards obesity. That's not an easy thing for me to admit, being obese. For years I've blamed it on pregnancy, bad genetics, bad relationships, the death of my son, and even "happy fat" when I married my husband. Anything but MY fault. Until very recently that is. I had a wake up call when a friend took a picture of my husband and I and I could not believe how far I'd let myself go over the years! I couldn't believe my face had gotten so chunky when it's always been spared the fatness. Usually my ass took the hit, and okay my mid section looks like I've smuggled a set of Goodyear's from Tire Warehouse. I think my vision of myself over the years has been a little like a grieving process. First I was sad and depressed over my body. Then I joked and laughed it off. Next I made excuses and bargained with myself like, if I don't eat all day then I can eat a HUGE dinner and it'll balance off. Wrong-o! That is a current picture of me.. I am not happy with what I see.
I'll admit I have a secret weapon thanks to a terrific Valentines gift my husband gave me. The iPod Touch came at the right time for the "new" me. I downloaded an application called "Lose It!" that allows me to input my weightloss goal and it gave me the amount of calories I could consume to reach it. I started off at 1800 calories a day. I made sure to input everything I ate in a day and exercise too. It does all the work for me. All I have to do is make smart food choices and stay within my alotted cals. Most days I manage to stay under 1500. The weight loss was really slow.. but was still loss. I would use the treadmill every day for at least 15 minutes... and burn a whopping 40 calories. It's a little discouraging I'll admit. Then the Wii Fit craze came along and I jumped on that bandwagon the moment I found one of the hard to find Balance Boards.
Who knew exercising could be so fun? And who knew that a brain rotting video game could be so motivational to a couch potatoe like me?? It's been awesome. I even got my neighbor involved and we both have just enough healthy competition to make it motivational! Yesterday we both did an entire HOUR of exercise! If you would have told me I was capable of 60 whole minutes of work out I would have called you nuts! First I begin with the Yoga, move to the Strength Training and Aerobics before rewarding myself with Balance Games. I'm so motivated seeing my progress on the daily Body Test, I can't wait to get back on and start all over again!
That's not to say I haven't experienced some soreness. Wow. I can't believe how many stagnant muscles I have awakened. I feel better, I sleep better, my clothes are close to needing a replacement, things are great. Even my husband and kids are trying to follow my footsteps! I read labels religiously now and can't believe how much crap we were putting inside our bodies! More fresh fruits and veggies, more grains and fibers. Nothing enriched, no simple sugars... it's been THREE weeks since I've had soda (even diet), candy, chips, anything of the sort and I'm a total sugar junkie. Honestly I could care about the candy or soda. Sometimes it's hard... especially when I think I'm really hungry. But I either brush my teeth with a strong toothpaste of chew some sugarless gum and it goes away.
I can do this. I can make the healthy change. I can reverse the effects of years of poor diet. I can play with my kids more, I can do more things, and most importantly, I'm improving my chances of living long enough to enjoy my grandchildren (many years from now!)
Let the journey begin!!
I'll admit I have a secret weapon thanks to a terrific Valentines gift my husband gave me. The iPod Touch came at the right time for the "new" me. I downloaded an application called "Lose It!" that allows me to input my weightloss goal and it gave me the amount of calories I could consume to reach it. I started off at 1800 calories a day. I made sure to input everything I ate in a day and exercise too. It does all the work for me. All I have to do is make smart food choices and stay within my alotted cals. Most days I manage to stay under 1500. The weight loss was really slow.. but was still loss. I would use the treadmill every day for at least 15 minutes... and burn a whopping 40 calories. It's a little discouraging I'll admit. Then the Wii Fit craze came along and I jumped on that bandwagon the moment I found one of the hard to find Balance Boards.
Who knew exercising could be so fun? And who knew that a brain rotting video game could be so motivational to a couch potatoe like me?? It's been awesome. I even got my neighbor involved and we both have just enough healthy competition to make it motivational! Yesterday we both did an entire HOUR of exercise! If you would have told me I was capable of 60 whole minutes of work out I would have called you nuts! First I begin with the Yoga, move to the Strength Training and Aerobics before rewarding myself with Balance Games. I'm so motivated seeing my progress on the daily Body Test, I can't wait to get back on and start all over again!
That's not to say I haven't experienced some soreness. Wow. I can't believe how many stagnant muscles I have awakened. I feel better, I sleep better, my clothes are close to needing a replacement, things are great. Even my husband and kids are trying to follow my footsteps! I read labels religiously now and can't believe how much crap we were putting inside our bodies! More fresh fruits and veggies, more grains and fibers. Nothing enriched, no simple sugars... it's been THREE weeks since I've had soda (even diet), candy, chips, anything of the sort and I'm a total sugar junkie. Honestly I could care about the candy or soda. Sometimes it's hard... especially when I think I'm really hungry. But I either brush my teeth with a strong toothpaste of chew some sugarless gum and it goes away.
I can do this. I can make the healthy change. I can reverse the effects of years of poor diet. I can play with my kids more, I can do more things, and most importantly, I'm improving my chances of living long enough to enjoy my grandchildren (many years from now!)
Let the journey begin!!
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