People who know me know that I don’t like to exercise. People who don’t know me can probably tell that I don’t exercise. My weight has been a struggle off and on for the past 10 years or so. I wasn’t overweight as a child, teen, or young adult. It was after having children, and becoming more sedentary that the pounds have been adding up. When D2 was a baby, I went on Weight Watchers. It was the first ‘diet’ I’d ever tried, and I used the online program. It was fantastic! I loved it. I counted my points, learned how messed up my eating really was (portion sizes in particular), and I lost weight. 55 Pounds, to be exact, in six months. I am 5′3″, so this was a very exciting, obvious weight loss!
I look at most of the people that I know and they all seem to fall into one of two categories: Overweight, or in seriously GOOD shape. I don’t know too many people who are in the middle, and I don’t fall in there either. We used to ride bikes almost every evening after dinner. It wasn’t “for fitness”, and hauling two toddlers in child seats on the backs of our (then very top of the line, nice mountain) bikes isn’t exactly conducive to heavy duty biking, but we got out nearly every day. For me, that was the extent of my exercise. I rode bikes and chased toddlers.
What I really want is something which I don’t even know is attainable, for me. Or realistic. What I really want is to be able to run Bloomsday. Weird? Probably. Bloomsday is one of the largest road races in North America, and it just so happens to take place right here where I live. It is 12k, which is 7.6 miles. I can walk/jog 2 miles pretty well. I have never attempted anything more than that since I was a kid and did March of Dimes’ WalkAmerica in 5th & 6th grades, and that was 20 miles. But I would like to be in good enough shape to just do it, not necessarily RUN the entire thing.
I would also like to be able to swim laps. I know it sounds strange, but I am not a very good swimmer. I can swim, but I can do maybe 3 pool lengths, which is 1.5 laps, and I’m done. I feel like I’m going to die, that I will just drown half way across the pool because I can’t swim any more. And it’s beside the fact that right now I don’t even own a swimsuit. No one would want to see me in one anyway. I don’t wish anyone to see me in one anyway. I know practice makes perfect. That means I need to get myself into a swimsuit and try to find a time when the Y’s lap pool isn’t packed.
What I REALLY want is to not get sleepy at 2pm every day, ‘feel the burn’ when I walk up ONE flight of stairs (to my bedroom!), or get winded when I have to do anything strenuous. I’m tired of feeling fat & tired. I want to be healthy before my total health begins to really take a turn. I am 39. It could happen.
So I’m getting real here. I lost 55Lbs. 6 years ago, and kept it off for nearly 3 years. I went from a size 14 to a size 6. Then I got lazy, slipped back into my old terrible eating habits, and never did force myself to exercise on a regular basis. And now I’m back in a 12-14, wishing I were still a size 6. Yes, I am basically starting over. I weigh 7 lbs. less than I did when I started last time around, but it’s still a 14. I need to get back to counting points. I need to be diligent to journal my intake and to get myself to the gym regularly.
“I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”
Philippians 4:13
I will be sharing some cool tools I found, which are helping me along the way. I wouldn’t just randomly post this without the hope of cool tools! =) I wouldn’t be ME if I didn’t find some techie gadgets to share with you, so stand by for good stuff!
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I hope you can do it. I started Sparkspeople back in November, but I am not motivated enough to keep it up. I am walking and eating less, but not enough. I need to get serious about it, though.
We have the Gate River Run here, which is a 15K run. I have no desire to run that. lol Maybe a 5k??
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