I'd like to start out by saying that in no way am I thin or really even all that physically fit at the moment. I, however, DO know what it takes to lose weight, having lost 100 lbs. in the past (after having been heavy most of my childhood and young adulthood) and keeping it off for a decade. I gained WELL over 100 lbs. during my pregnancy and continuing on after the birth of my daughter, which is not the easiest thing to admit, but anyone who knows me would know that without my saying so anyway. I lost around 90lbs. from August of 2006 up to last year, having begun my journey in 2006 weighing well over 300 lbs., which I'd never weighed before. Imagine weighing yourself finally after years of ignoring the accumulating pounds only to find you can't even get the scale to register your weight! TILT!!!
The humility hit me pretty hard. It's like anything in your life you let go of...credit cards, outstanding debt, housecleaning. I was so depressed after I had my daughter (her father left just days before she was born after being caught cheating, all the while I was dealing with the fact that he returned to alcoholism and all of the mental/emotional anguish that's tied up with that roller coaster). I naturally felt sorry for myself. I wanted others to feel sorry for me too. My life was turned upside down. Instead of having the husband, home, 2.5 kids, the dog, the summer vacations, and room-mom kind of life I had envisioned, I was moving back in with my parents, had a baby who screamed for 8 months, student loads to pay on an unfinished college career, one-income/meager-waged job, no child support to speak of, unfinished goals, an extinguished social life, and no light I could see at the end of the tunnel. I was depressed. Who wouldn't be? But instead of seeking counseling or trying to scramble my way out, I succumbed to my depression. Oh, I was a good mother. I loved my baby and I made sure all of her needs were met, however unreasonable infants seem to be, but I drowned myself with every small pleasure I could get my hands on, to make up for the big pleasures I felt I'd been cheated.
By 2006, I weighed somewhere around 327 lbs. I was killing myself. I would get out of bed and my entire body ached. It took literally 10 minutes or more JUST to get out of BED!!! My feet constantly hurt. I was on cement floors and with all of the weight, I had issues I'd never had in my life taking their toll on my physical health, not to mention mental and emotional...and spiritual. I ended up with what are called superficial varicose veins, which started surfacing to the outside of my skin. My legs were hot and itchy and my feet, swollen. My blood pressure, which had always been below normal, was now high, I had heart palpitations, etc. It was a nightmare. People who had pictures of me of how I looked when I was thin and had the tiniest waist ever, would bring them in and think they were inspiring me to lose weight. It made me feel even worse...I knew what I looked like. I never thought I'd ever see 200 lbs. again, let alone look like that again. (Which I still don't today, by the way).
That same year, the store I worked at for nearly 10 years closed and I had no options for how I was going to keep my apartment or where I could go to work. My entire life was out of control. I decided to take the reins. I made the (however unpopular) decision to return to college and complete my degree and to start walking, however painful it was. I returned to school that Winter. I still remember dropping my bottle of water on the sidewalk, bending down to retrieve it and actually having muscle failure on my way back up. With the added weight of my bag, I struggled embarrassingly just to stand back up... That was it for me. I made sure that I took the stairs (and still do) EVERY single time. After four flights of stairs, I'd have to stop and catch my breath, feeling like I was going to throw up in the beginning, but I slowly brought up my stamina and my endurance. I walked the long way, parked as far away as I could...I hated it, I was so hot by the time I got to where I was going. Red-faced, out of breath, feeling like a heart attack waiting to happen...but I quickly lost 40 lbs. within the year. It didn't take long for me to see my weight again on a normal bathroom scale. A humble victory, but a victory nonetheless. I lost another 40 lbs. over the course of the following year, after joining walking classes, step-aerobics classes, yoga, and as many physical activities as I could work into my schedule. While cardiovascular activities, like aerobics, have fast results, there is no exercise quite like walking. Walking is fun, great exercise, provides cardiovascular and anaerobic activity, not to mention you are working many muscles with much less negative impact on your joints, and the fresh air from doing it outside is essential to burning more fat. Today, I've gained a little winter weight, but am about 50 lbs. from my pre-child bearing weight. Sounds like a lot, but after losing so much, it's definitely doable. That's what we all need to remember, as I've reached goals in the past...it's doable.
As I write this, I realize that I'm not the poster-child for amazing health or fitness, but my experiences (both positive and negative) might help provide motivation and understanding for experiences you, yourself, may have encountered or are battling now. I want to be candid in telling my story, because none of us are perfect. I have underlying issues that will likely make me prone to gain weight or proverbially "reaching for the twinkies" my entire life and it's a battle I have to choose to face head on actively EVERY day. We all do. It's like housecleaning. You can clean your house and have it look great, but if you ignore it after a week, it's going to need your attention again...you've got to clean it every day to keep it clean. Same thing here.
So here are some keys to weight loss that I've been researching and incorporating into my own life and I promise you, they work. Simple, easy, common-sense.
Simple, yet Essential Keys
- Drink Plenty of Water (I know we've all heard it before, but you need to understand WHY)
- Water flushes toxins AND fats
- It boosts your metabolism (especially if you drink a couple of glasses first thing in the morning)
- We are made up of around 80% water, we NEED it to function, your organs need it.
- It keeps our skin clear and youthful looking
- Without enough water, we can get lethargic and sick due to dehydration and accumulated toxins that collect in our bodies. We can encounter digestion issues, not to mention problems with our kidneys and liver.
- Get Enough Sleep
- Without enough sleep, our bodies don't get a chance to repair damage to our bodies from every day wear and tear.
- Without enough sleep, our bodies will be low in energy the next day and we will crave more calories (and usually the junkier variety) just to stay awake, defeating efforts to be fit.
- We will be more prone to illness as our bodies try to stay awake rather than fight off germs and viruses.
- People who don't get enough sleep tend to burn less FAT.
- Take Vitamins
- Vitamins help replenish lost nutrients, but also making sure you have a supplement means that your body will have less cravings on the chance that you shorted yourself of certain nutrients (yes, the body is smart. It creates cravings to BEG you to give it what it needs, but usually we choose foods that are not so healthy when these cravings occur).
- Vitamins supplements may help the body absorb other nutrients it needs that can only be absorbed in combination. It helps ensure that your body will continue working properly and repairing DNA (Vitamin C is your best friend) as it goes.
A word about Journal-keeping and Weigh-ins:
No matter what anyone might tell you (and believe me, I LOVED hearing that I didn't need to count calories or weigh myself when I heard people say that), you OWE it to yourself to do it.
There are programs out there that you can down-load onto your iPods or phones, onto your computer, etc. that make calorie counting and journal-keeping easy. If you don't want to do it electronically, though, that's fine. But you NEED to record your food and calorie intake. Until I started doing this, I had NO idea how many calories (and stupid calories) I was consuming. It's like spending 5$ a day on a cup of coffee and ignoring the fact that by the end of the month, I'm spending $150. Same thing goes for calories. As I said before, I like milk in my coffee....but 265 calories in one morning???? I don't NEED that. I'll switch to tea. I can have 3 cups of tea for a total of 7 calories and I get the same amount of caffeine (which...I need to eliminate one of these days).
I hate formal weigh-ins and will avoid them at all costs (the gym does this occasionally and so does any weight-loss program you do formally). However, I recommend weighing yourself once a week. I choose Sunday as my weigh-in day, just because...it's a day I can easily remember. I recommend buying a Weight-Watchers scale or some kind of scale that weighs to the ounce. I don't get the whole BMI thing and how it works on the scale (I'm technologically challenged), but if that works for you, do it. I also recommend HIGHLY measuring yourself. Measure the biggest part of your arms, your thighs, your hips, waist, chest. Do it. Sometimes the scale won't budge while you're replacing fat with muscle, but seeing what you've done in inches, says a whole lot.
I also recommend getting yourself a blood pressure (if you are prone to high blood pressure) and/or heart monitor to see your progress in fitness. Fred Meyer pharmacy has a free machine to measure your blood pressure and heart rate. It's a nice way to pat yourself on the back and know that you're improving your overall fitness level.
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