Gentle blog readers, it's time.
A little over a year ago I made a funny little fake cover spoof of Oprah's O Magazine, and announced to the blogosphere my intention to eat less and move more.
I called my weight-related posts "Tales from the Scale" and reported a handful of times on my various successes and failures. I kept up the whining for a few posts, then let it sort of fall to the wayside, much like how the sides of my hips began to fall over the ever-expanding waistband of my Old Navy yoga pants.
For much of 2009, I simply ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and did little if any form of exercise.
End of story.
(But of course, that isn't the end of my story, otherwise where would the fun be in a blog post announcing the intention to climb back up on that treadmill and ride?)
At the end of 2009, I was finding increasingly more inventive ways to try and cover the mounting evidence of my sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle. In other words, I was living in a world of big shirts and stretchy pants, all in varying shades of black.
Even with my noble attempts at chub camouflage, I just wasn't very happy with the me I saw in the mirror.
I've hit the feeling of being thoroughly miserable and ready to start over SEVERAL times during the past year. But for some reason, self-loathing alone is never enough to effect any sort of real change in my life.
This year, I don't want to be yet another out-of-shape 40-something woman who whines about what she's unwilling to really change. I want to be a person who takes action and does.
Why now? And why should I believe myself this time?
Good question. I rececently read about my friend Jenn Bertsch's physical transformation. I've known Jenn for a number of years. I used to seek her out at scrapbooking tradeshows and conventions because she was always game to sneak out near the dumpsters and share a smoke with me. Reading her story was really inspiring. She went from an out-of-shape, smoker to a veritable athlete, and she did it the old-fashioned way: through regular exercise and consciously healthy eating. For Jenn, it's not just a means to and end: it's a new way of living.
While I will never look like Jenn as an 'after'—I'm just not a small-boned girl—I find incredible inspiration in the story of someone who has taken charge of her life the way she has.
It is important for me to feel good about me. This is why I am trying again to change the way I live my life.
I recently had a complete physical. All of my numbers look good except one: my weight. At my height of 5'6, another 11 pounds from where I started from (175) would put me into the clinically obese category.
That's a sobering thought. And if that number goes up, my other numbers ain't gonna look so good anymore.
So last week, I grabbed the camera, donned the only workout clothes I could find, and smiled for the camera:
My goal? Change my life from one who doesn't to one who does all the things needed for a healthy lifestyle.
And how am I planning to do this? By employing a mix of the following:
• Joining Weight Watchers online—This is the only program I've ever tried, and for now this is the right one for me. I will try to max out my choices (lots of veggies and whole foods) and not starve in the process. It will help me make better choices. For the beginning stages, I need to follow the points religiously without much wiggle room for at least the first few months.
• Getting some form of excercise every single day—From jogging on my treadmill, to lifting weights, to yoga DVDs, to a walk out in the fresh air, I need to move every day, if possible. This is going to be my biggest challenge.
• Wearing a pedometer and shooting for 10,000 steps a day—Even if this means I end up taking laps around my dining room, living room and kitchen, it's worth doing more than simply sitting in front of my computer non-stop.
• Being accountable—I'm going to document the process via the only way I know how: blogging and scrapooking. I'm a sucker for a before and after shot. I really want to be a person who can prove there is an 'after'.
• Enlisting fitness buddies—I've announced my intentions to my girlfriends, and we have all agreed to encourage, support and even push one another on our paths to better health. I realize in the end, your buddy isn't moving your legs on that treadmill, but support does matter and I plan to share with these women, as well as piss and moan with them when the spirit moves me.
• Buying new shoes and new workout clothes—I've never shopped at Lucy in my life, but I bought these, this and this, then I went to our local runner's store and bought these. The financial investment alone should hold me accountable at least for a little while. I detest spending money on something and not making use of it. But, I also enjoy not having my legs chafe when I jog, and feeling like I am getting dressed to really DO something.
So there's the plan, and we'll see what happens next.
I plan to check in once a month with the reloaded version of Tales from the Scale, and I also plan to share my documentation, which isn't flashy, but it looks like this:
(click on layout too read the journaling in a larger window)
I can't guarantee that the journaling will be G-rated, but it will be honest, and it will include a picture of me, each month, taken in my lovely bathroom mirror.
I also can't guarantee success or failure. Only that I'm trying really hard to effect real and lasting change in my own life.
So that's where it begins as of last week. Stay tuned…
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Want to join in? Or document your journey? Or whine along? Or celebrate successes? Both the template above and this one are available at Designer Digitals for those who want to track their progress along with me.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Here's to grabbing the weight loss bull by the horns.
