Starting Weight as of January 6th, 2014:
~191.0 lbs~
In the past year, ever since early November 2012 I've been slowly gaining/losing/gaining/gaining weight. I'm 28 years old, 5 foot 5, 38 D cup, and used to always teeter around a healthy 160-170 pounds for my body type. I'm not a petite woman, never have been, and I used to be very proud of my naturally curvy, big boned, big breasted body. Somewhere along the trips to the gym, the walking at lunch, the eating salads, no fast food (I'm not kidding, I hardly eat it), and having the willpower to try for 10,000 steps a day...my body just lost the fight. It raised it's white flag and started distributed anything I ate to parts of my body it NEVER used to go. It stopped giving me the energy to go on, setting severe fatigue in, and attacking my emotional psyche in the process. Something is off...very off.
Step #1: Today, minus a $50 co-pay later, I gave 8 vials of blood to a specialist to check out my body. I had gone to my primary doctor and due to a positive ANA test (I'm still not quite sure what that means), he suggested I get further blood work done to further the research my body in case I have an underlying condition that has gone unnoticed. This process is my step #1.
However after 3 hours of waiting around due to that I was a new patient, my little gears in my brain started turning after a question the specialist asked me...
"So you've gained approximately 30 pounds in the past year. Well, what has changed in the last year of life?"
The flood gates of my mind starting spewing a montage of all the events and feelings that have surpassed me in the past year and a little light bulb went on in my head. Moving in with Craig, my best friend's wedding and the stress that ensues, two more weddings last year, my work-out buddy leaving me alone to work out only with her sister, my job getting more stressful, my family situations I have no control with boiling over, my patience & stress levels rising and disintegrating at the same time, what appears to be chronic fatigue setting up camp in my body, loss of friendships, penny pinching over the rising gas prices making me conserve my car more, not working out in the morning or night with Craig living in the same room with me, and my doctor hated to say this she told me, but just getting older is a factor that can literally fuck up your weight and ability to lose weight.
I told the specialist a brief summary of the above and more and when I said "Oh these are excuses", she very nicely stated, "No...these are factors that when recognized can be worked on and resolved." I smiled and she continued to say "Don't worry, this is just Day 1. It's going to be okay." I was shocked at how nice she was and how acknowledging outside factors were to all of this...
So now...It is my Day #1. Day #1 to pull my life together and really see what I'm capable of doing here on out. I love that tomorrow is a brand new day for this journey...A brand spanking new day.
I've decided to not make this a resolution, but a goal and a journey for 2014.
If you've made getting healthy and losing weight your resolution...What have you changed so far to help in the process?
I'd love to hear!
The Big Bang Theory, TV Show
I'm in the same position as you. I'll join you on the journey!
ReplyDeleteoh, my favorite topic!
ReplyDeleteyour first step in getting a full workup done is correct. sometimes your thyroid can go all wacky and around 30, your hormones decide they just want to not be around anymore and will cause your metabolism to slow down. that said, you are not relegated to never getting healthy; it just makes it EXTRA HARD to lose weight.
i'm also 5'4 and have never been the "skinny". i have a lot of muscle tone/density so those thin, waif-like modelesque figures will never be in the cards for me. i'm ok with that. instead, i embrace my muscularity and work on them to define and build them further.
so the first thing i did was clean up my diet. that was hard as i loved eating chips and junk and all the things. i cut out all the sugar and crap and processed foods and salty wonderfulness and began prepping and bringing my meals to work and cooking everything from scratch. that in itself made a HUGE positive dent in my health, weight, skin and sleep as in it improved everything 100%. i worked on clean eating for about 3 months and slowly started introducing exercise into my routine; continuing to challenge myself over time.
that was two years ago and now, at the age of 38, i am in the best shape of my life; better than when i was younger. i continue to eat clean and exercise every day, always pushing myself to lift heavier, run faster, race harder...basically, i have found fitness jesus but it did not come without hard work, frustration and determination.
so you can do this!! i love that you're taking baby steps; it's the key to success :)
kathy
Vodka and Soda
I can't even work out right now because I have a really bad pinched nerve in my lower back. My goal is to clean up my eating habits now so when I can exercise again at least I've already started something.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Please go check out my post about recycling with Repreve!
It takes a lot to talk about these issues, and I'm so proud of you for doing so. I'm also inspired by how determined you are to work towards helping yourself and your body! Never give up. You inspire me!
ReplyDeleteMelissa
wildflwrchild.blogspot.com