So let's get right down to the point. I'm tired of being big and unhealthy, and I'm ready to do something about it. I'd be lying if I said this was absolutely NOT about how I look. Right now I'm stuck at a size 16, with an XL shirt size, generally. Not big, but not small. I'm not big enough to shop at the "plus size" women's stores, and I'm too big for fashionable clothing in the regular places. I need to make a move in one direction or the other, and therefore I choose to move down.
But it's not all about looks. My family history is full of people with diabetes, heart disease, strokes and the like. It's either get healthy now or die trying later, like so many others on both sides of my family have already done.
I wasn't always big. For the first 11 years of my life I was a skinny kid, who was active in everything. Then puberty hit, and things haven't ever been the same.
So at the age of 26, I decided to give it a go. I've recently gotten married, and the hubby isn't behind this. It's all me. I want to get in shape, look good in clothes again and be ready to, eventually, get pregnant and have healthy babies.
Our local hospital has a "wellness center" run by the physical therapy department. I joined it two weeks ago, on July 30. I've been going five days a week, and through today, I've been 11 times (it's closed on weekends). Yes, it's a small town, and this is literally the only option short of driving 80 round-trip miles a day to a gym somewhere else and back home.
I began at 220 pounds, and now, 11 workouts later, after 25 minutes a day on a treadmill at differing steep inclines and 3.5 mph, and 20+ minutes lifting all sorts of weights, I'm still at 220 pounds.
Disheartening? Sure. But not depressing. I can feel a difference in my legs, and in how much easier the weights are getting. I can tell it's doing some good, physically. But I still don't want to be 220 pounds any longer.
The physical therapist who was there this morning said she thinks maybe, just maybe, I'm not eating enough. For breakfast I generally eat a NutriGrain bar, or drink a Carnation instant breakfast shake made with 2% milk. Then lunch is a bowl of cereal, either raisin bran or honey nut cheerios. Then I'll eat an apple or banana in the afternoon, and go home and eat supper.
Supper. That's a sticking point. See, in this little, one grocery store with limited supplies town, eating healthy is hard. Sure we can get chicken and pork to grill or bake, but that's about it, other than red meat. My hubby and I eat too much red meat, but we're trying SO hard to add more veggies, chicken and things to our daily dinner menus. It's a question of time, too. My job keeps me very, very busy during most of the year, and I literally sometimes have less than an hour to get home, get dinner cooked, eat and then get working again. So the quick meals get thrown in...hot dogs, hamburger helper, nachos and things. Not good, I know. But we're trying.
Today, for example, at 12:35 p.m., I've had:
• A NutriGrain bar - 3 g. fat, 140 calories
• Apple Juice - 220 calories
• Raisin Bran - 200 calories, 1.5 g. fat
• Milk (w/cereal) - 120 calories, 5 g. fat
As of lunch I've had a grand total of 700 calories and 9.5 grams of fat.
I've got a small apple to eat as an afternoon snack
(80 calories) to take me to a total of 780 calories and 9.5 grams of fat by dinner.
Dinner, tonight, since I've got that hour and a hungry man to feed, will be hot dogs. Two dogs on buns, without chips, will be 460 calories and 24 grams of fat, to take my daily total to about 1,240 calories and 33.5 grams of fat.
But the physical therapist at the hospital said she thinks it's possible I'm not eating enough to keep my body going, and that's the reason why I'm not losing weight. In working out each morning (or afternoon), I burn around 300 calories a day, and 2,100 or so per week, without any other activities. I've also already upped my muscle mass, etc. She thinks cutting my 220 pound body, that's probably needed upwards of 2,500 calories a day to maintain that weight, down to 1,200 or 1,300 (that's about 5,000 less a week than before) is causing it to instinctively go into "starvation mode" and begin storing what I'm eating as fat to continue to feed itself. She suggested sticking in another banana, nutrigrain bar or apple into my daily routine of food to see what happens.
But oh my gosh! Counting and figuring all of that has taken such a HUGE amount of time from my day already, I know I can't keep it up! I don't want to become one of those people who spends hours a day counting and recounting and stressing over exactly the number of calories going into my body.
So from this moment on I'm going to try to continue on this same path...eating healthier snacks, more fruits and veggies, and at least cut back on the amount of dinner I eat when I can't make it healthy. And continue to work out a minimum of four days a week. It's ONLY been two weeks, for goodness sake, so in theory I shouldn't be seeing a world of results yet. I'll give it another month, to take it to six weeks, before I worry.
At least that's the plan for now. And NOW I have to get to work.
But it's not all about looks. My family history is full of people with diabetes, heart disease, strokes and the like. It's either get healthy now or die trying later, like so many others on both sides of my family have already done.
I wasn't always big. For the first 11 years of my life I was a skinny kid, who was active in everything. Then puberty hit, and things haven't ever been the same.
So at the age of 26, I decided to give it a go. I've recently gotten married, and the hubby isn't behind this. It's all me. I want to get in shape, look good in clothes again and be ready to, eventually, get pregnant and have healthy babies.
Our local hospital has a "wellness center" run by the physical therapy department. I joined it two weeks ago, on July 30. I've been going five days a week, and through today, I've been 11 times (it's closed on weekends). Yes, it's a small town, and this is literally the only option short of driving 80 round-trip miles a day to a gym somewhere else and back home.
I began at 220 pounds, and now, 11 workouts later, after 25 minutes a day on a treadmill at differing steep inclines and 3.5 mph, and 20+ minutes lifting all sorts of weights, I'm still at 220 pounds.
Disheartening? Sure. But not depressing. I can feel a difference in my legs, and in how much easier the weights are getting. I can tell it's doing some good, physically. But I still don't want to be 220 pounds any longer.
The physical therapist who was there this morning said she thinks maybe, just maybe, I'm not eating enough. For breakfast I generally eat a NutriGrain bar, or drink a Carnation instant breakfast shake made with 2% milk. Then lunch is a bowl of cereal, either raisin bran or honey nut cheerios. Then I'll eat an apple or banana in the afternoon, and go home and eat supper.
Supper. That's a sticking point. See, in this little, one grocery store with limited supplies town, eating healthy is hard. Sure we can get chicken and pork to grill or bake, but that's about it, other than red meat. My hubby and I eat too much red meat, but we're trying SO hard to add more veggies, chicken and things to our daily dinner menus. It's a question of time, too. My job keeps me very, very busy during most of the year, and I literally sometimes have less than an hour to get home, get dinner cooked, eat and then get working again. So the quick meals get thrown in...hot dogs, hamburger helper, nachos and things. Not good, I know. But we're trying.
Today, for example, at 12:35 p.m., I've had:
• A NutriGrain bar - 3 g. fat, 140 calories
• Apple Juice - 220 calories
• Raisin Bran - 200 calories, 1.5 g. fat
• Milk (w/cereal) - 120 calories, 5 g. fat
As of lunch I've had a grand total of 700 calories and 9.5 grams of fat.
I've got a small apple to eat as an afternoon snack
(80 calories) to take me to a total of 780 calories and 9.5 grams of fat by dinner.
Dinner, tonight, since I've got that hour and a hungry man to feed, will be hot dogs. Two dogs on buns, without chips, will be 460 calories and 24 grams of fat, to take my daily total to about 1,240 calories and 33.5 grams of fat.
But the physical therapist at the hospital said she thinks it's possible I'm not eating enough to keep my body going, and that's the reason why I'm not losing weight. In working out each morning (or afternoon), I burn around 300 calories a day, and 2,100 or so per week, without any other activities. I've also already upped my muscle mass, etc. She thinks cutting my 220 pound body, that's probably needed upwards of 2,500 calories a day to maintain that weight, down to 1,200 or 1,300 (that's about 5,000 less a week than before) is causing it to instinctively go into "starvation mode" and begin storing what I'm eating as fat to continue to feed itself. She suggested sticking in another banana, nutrigrain bar or apple into my daily routine of food to see what happens.
But oh my gosh! Counting and figuring all of that has taken such a HUGE amount of time from my day already, I know I can't keep it up! I don't want to become one of those people who spends hours a day counting and recounting and stressing over exactly the number of calories going into my body.
So from this moment on I'm going to try to continue on this same path...eating healthier snacks, more fruits and veggies, and at least cut back on the amount of dinner I eat when I can't make it healthy. And continue to work out a minimum of four days a week. It's ONLY been two weeks, for goodness sake, so in theory I shouldn't be seeing a world of results yet. I'll give it another month, to take it to six weeks, before I worry.
At least that's the plan for now. And NOW I have to get to work.
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And my butt NEEDS to burn.
