This blog has been a
long time in the making, over a year in the making, actually.
Thanks to not-so-wonderful
genetics and poor habits, I had been diagnosed with insulin resistance and high
cholesterol some time ago, but in the summer of 2012, I had some pretty bad lab
test results regarding my liver enzymes. Around the same time, my hubby wanted
to join a gym. So, being the engineer I am, I formed a plan. If we were going
to invest the money, I wanted to do it wisely.
Engineers are known for being tightwads too.
Step 1: Use www.myfitnesspal.com
for one month to collect data to be used in Step 2.
There are several free websites that work similarly, where you track
what you eat and how much you exercise.
The account has an easy setup, and you can use their calculations for
your calorie goal or you can customize it.
I used a weight loss goal of 1 pound per week for the calculations,
since that was recommended. My favorite tool
is the recipe calculator, because I cook a lot from scratch. It allows me to see the nutritional
information for my recipes, and I can play with ingredients or portion sizes to
make them "healthier". The first week was a real eye opener about
what was going in my mouth.
Step 2: Meet with nutritionist at Wellness Center. She was pleased that I
came with “data”, and it made our meeting much better since I had info to give
her. At this point, I had already lost
5 pounds. We only had to tweak a few
things. The greatest change for me was
that she said I needed to snack in the afternoon. What?!?!?
I was of the "three square meals" upbringing. She gave me a
recommended calorie and carb goal, based on my health at the time. I thought she was crazy, saying that I could
have 140g of carbs a day, but she said to trust her. So I did. And that's why she is the
nutritionist and I am an engineer.
Step 3: Pick a gym. Between Step 1 and Step 2, my husband and I
did the free week at the local Wellness Center and the local YMCA to see which
one we liked better. Both places have
their advantages and disadvantages. We
chose to go with the Wellness Center. When you sign up, they do blood work, an
assessment of your flexibility and strength, and give you a recommended routine
for your health goals. Once again, the
engineer in me liked this data-based approach to your overall health. You can see where to you start and get body
measurements (besides just weight) along the way to see how you are
progressing.
Step 4: Get committed through goals and
accountability. One of the things
that I was told that I needed to do was cardio 3-4 days a week, 30 minutes each
time. I have some girlfriends that wanted to do the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run in
October, so I decided that the Couch-to-5K plan would be my tool for committing
to the treadmill. Plus, I asked these
same girlfriends to pray for me in this new endeavor. This kept me accountable as well. Now that I
knew I had an audience and a cheering section, I must succeed! (Pride can be a terrible thing.) I even bought a pack of smiley face stickers,
and every day that I went to the gym or ran in the neighborhood, I put a
sticker on that day on our kitchen calendar.
You have to find what works for you when it comes to positive feedback. I am eternally 12 and goal-oriented, so
stickers work for me. And quite
honestly, when you start seeing results, it is much easier to stay committed
because you know that what you are doing will actually work.
Step 5: Stay the course by finding support. Big T
and I made the decision together that the gym would be our first stop after
work each day. We were also very blessed
by having family and friends to not only support us, but join us, in our
lifestyle change. This made family and
social gatherings less of a challenge.
Sometimes you may have to seek out your support. It may be someone you notice is at the gym at
the same time you are. It may be an online
friend on the tracking website. And if
nothing else works, invest in a full length mirror and chat with yourself every
day about how good you are doing!
Step 6: Andi's Rule #7- Find your fun. For
the record, I do not "like" running.
I like weight training. I really
enjoy playing softball. But more than
anything, I really, really enjoy hanging out with my friends. Being social and just to see if I could
really do it, I agreed to what I call The Special 5K Challenge (not to be
confused with that cereal commercial). One
of my running buddies thought it was a great idea that we all participate in
one 5K per month in 2013 to keep us motivated.
Here is my photo proof of participating in each 5K. I wasn't able to run 100% of each 5K, but I did run at least 95%:
February- Wounded
Warrior 5K-Huntsville
March - RoadRunner 5K-Huntsville
April - Double Helix
Dash 5K-Huntsville
May - Poke Salat 5K-Arab
June - Color Me Rad-Birmingham
July - Fiddler 5K-Smithville
July - Blizzard in Blossomwood-Huntsville
August - Autism 5K-Town Creek
September - Schoolhouse 5K-Huntsville
October - Liz Hurley Ribbon Run-Huntsville
November - Attack of the Lions-Monrovia
December – Galaxy of Lights Fun Run
(2.5K)-Huntsville
December - Rudolph Run-Huntsville
So now here it is 2014. My plan is to remain “fit for service”. Fingers crossed!
