A Wake-Up Call

So, my inferiorities at keeping up a blog aside it is time to start anew.  And now, with added gusto, I begin a completely new phase of my life in which I take control again of who I want to be and how I want to live.  You may be asking yourself, "why, Amy, whatever can you mean?  You seem so happy with your life?"  or maybe your saying "geez, Amy, finally, now stop your self-indulgent pity-party and get your butt in gear!"  Of course, I'm putting words in your mouth but that is exactly what I am going to be doing, putting my butt in gear to lose weight, change my lifestyle and hopefully my life.

Enough is enough.  This realization came to me in the past two weeks after visiting my doctor and getting some pretty uncomfortable news.  At 29, I am now pre-diabetic, have high blood pressure and am on the verge of a very tall cliff with my internal organs.  At 29.  20-freaking-9. 

So after this news was taken in and process for a whole of 5 minutes I realized that I need to stop playing around.  While a variety of things can cause the above-mentioned issues, I am in no more denial that ultimately my weight is playing the biggest role.  I am 119 lbs overweight.  There, I said it.  Done and done.

The doctor has put me on medication for blood pressure, restricted my diet to little to no refined sugar, no alcohol (aaahhh!!!), and more exercise with the message that if I don't turn my lifestyle around soon, it's going to get worse.  So instead of curling up on my not-so-comfy couch and taking a good, self-pity cry with a bag of cookies and my remote control, I have decided to attack this issue from all sides.  What does that mean, you ask?  Well, in a nutshell, it means this:

• No more fast food
• No more pizza
• No more soda
• No more candy
• No more cookies or ice cream or sugar coated sugar sticks (jk!)
• No more sitting on my butt watching tv all weekend
• Salads for lunch and dinner
• Fruit all day long
• Exercise and activity 7 (yes 7!) days a week
• Etc, etc, etc.

Sounds tough, right?  You couldn't be more wrong.

What it sounds like is I can finally stop kidding myself and giving myself excuses, right?  I have made excuses not to have salads or fruit or healthy foods around me at all times.  I've made excuses not to exercise and lose weight.  I've got every excuse in the book.  And now, there's not an excuse good enough.

What about this excuse:  "I'm too busy to get to the gym every day."

Lame, that's what.  How about this one:  "Making a good salad is too hard and requires too many ingredients."

Ultra lame.  My response now is:  "This is how you live.  You eat salad, you work out every day, you care about you enough to get healthy.  So stop being such a pansy and do it!"

It's actually been a great week and full of discoveries.  I'm remembering that I actually like to live this way and eat this way and it's really not that difficult.  I'm remembering that I am a strong and active person.  I am learning and discovering a lot about the self-sabotage I have used in the past few years that has kept me from making the commitment to being healthy. 

So now begins the journey to find that inner-skinny person who has been fighting to get out all these years.  My first goal is 28 lbs by August 31st and between now and then I hope I will figure out how to keep up the momentum to finish this once and for all!

Working It Out

Whew, I'm spent.  After a grueling 60 minute strength and cardio workout I know I'll be feeling this tomorrow.  And the next day.  And probably even the day after that!  But what's great is that I can feel muscles again that I haven't felt in a very long time...kinda sad, really.  Lately, I've been having flashbacks to the days when I worked out every day and pushed my body to it's limits.  I remember my arms and legs and how toned I was at that point and can't wait to get there again!  Here's a pic of me around that time:



It's a little small, but this was about 50 lbs ago at least, maybe more (boy I'm being honest here...), and I really miss that time!  I think about how much energy I had, the confidence, the ease in my body and it's great motivation to reflect back to that time.  It's so easy to forget how much the exercise was a part of my life and how great it is to do that again.

This week, the goal is to go to the gym at least 4-5 times and to mix up the cardio and the strength.  The trainer at the gym told me to get at least 45 minutes cardio in when I do that and to start with 3x per week with the strength exercises.  I'm looking forward to getting that body back, but the most important thing, too, is to make sure it's something I can sustain.  It has to be a commitment.

Here's to feeling the burn! :-)

My Weight Loss Resume

Okay, this is kinda silly, but I thought it was a good exercise in positive self-talk.  I've been a member of WeightWatchers for several years and have had some success with the program.  I committed to continuing to go the last time I signed up and so far I have been doing great with that goal.  I may be losing slowly, but I am still losing!  And beyond that, this process is absolutely about lifestyle and health and not as much about the weight.  I want to make sure that I am learning how to eat and live so that I am healthy and passing on good habits to Kaela especially.

Last week in our meeting the leader asked if we were to make a resume to reflect our career in weightloss what would it include as our achievements, because that's what a resume highlights.  It was fun to hear other people's ideas and what they would include and I thought it would be fun to do one just for me.  It's important in the process of trying to change a habit to also stay positive.  It takes time and energy and it is so easy to go to the bad place where you feel depressed because you haven't achieved your goal yet.  So here is my weightloss resume and all the things I am proud of!


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Amy McGreevy

Objective

To effectively establish a healthy lifestyle through diet and exercise

Experience

2009-present                         Weight Watchers                                    Fort Collins, CO Member ·     Identified needed changes to personal health habits. ·     Established a healthy grocery shopping ritual. ·     Increased planning for daily healthy eating habits. ·     Increased positive self talk for maximum success. ·     Joined and attended a gym for improved exercise regiment. ·     Identified personal goals and stuck to them. ·     Learned how to cook in creative and new ways. ·     Experimented with new routines and ways to approach weight loss. ·     Attended regular meetings and committed to the on-going process of weight loss. ·     Established social connections and relationships with other members. ·     Experimented with new types of food and cooking. ·     Identified and implemented increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. ·     Rewarded positive efforts of both self and others in the goal of establishing a healthy lifestyle. ·     Engaged in the on-going process of focusing on self-achievements rather than setbacks.