Happy New Year aka Happy Anniversary

As the New Year rings in, many of us get restless about what we have or haven't been doing in our lives.  This is the time of year most of us decide to get on the health train to lose weight, exercise, or quit something (smoking, overeating, or other). 

Last year, I did that same thing.  I decided I was going to lose weight.  I was wondering if I would do my usual new year's resolution dance.  Say I'm going to stop or start something to live "better" with all of the best intentions but end up frustrated and quit within 2 weeks of the initial declaration.  On January 2nd of 2011 I started my journey to health.  At that time, I weighed 289lbs and I was miserable.  My "fatter" clothes were tight and I felt tired, heavy, and uninspired.  I was willing to try anything.  There were times during the 2010 year that I had considered lap band surgery or even gastric bypass.  Luckily I was a chicken about hospitals and knives.  I've never been one to have an overabundance of will power but due to an unfortunate event that occurred in Aug 2010 my inspiration had arrived.  A tragic event can be a catalyst to permanent change.  At the time of the event, I didn't see any sort of silver lining but a year and a half later I now understand that most, if not all, tragedies come with lessons.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), these can change our lives for better or worse.  The trick is to use them to our benefit.

This plan to health has morphed many times from point A to point L (I'm not to Z yet).  At first I eliminated all sugar from standard table sugar, to the more hidden sugar in sauces and condiments and prepackaged highly processed foods.  Some of these items consisted of high fructose corn syrup or just plain corn syrup, white flour baked goods and pastas.  It took 30 days for most of the cravings for sugar to subside but they eventually did.  I started cooking almost every meal and reading the labels very carefully when grocery shopping.  These first stages were tough to me for two reasons, I love to eat out and once you start reading the labels you find that there are chemicals in almost everything we eat.  The chemicals are everywhere including most canned veggies, beans, boxed foods, and sadly, our meat.  When you drop the highly processed overly packaged items from your diet you will be shocked at how fast the weight drops off.  You will "melt" in places you never thought would be "fat free".  I know how hard it is in the beginning because I was a twinkie-a-holic most of my life.  Once you make the committment to be "box" free your body will respond with weight loss, energy gain, less moodswings, and general feeling of well being.

FYI:  You don't have to do it ALL at once.  I wasn't able to exercise early on.  My motivation wasn't UP enough at that time but after about 3 months of being "on track" I started warming up to exercise.  I started playing tennis in March and I absolutely love it.  I also started riding a stationary bike on cold and rainy days.  I was only able to peddle for 10 minutes in the beginning but eventually worked up to 50 minutes on the bike.  Conquer the food first and continue to work in additional changes as you feel ready.  Remember to always give yourself a little push in the right direction but don't give up and "throw the baby out with the bathwater" if you slip up.  NOBODY IS PERFECT.

You can do this.  Believe me if I can do it ANYBODY can.  More tips and nutritional finds in upcoming blog posts.

Cheers to Health!

Disclaimer:  Always check with your MD, NP, or health care advisor prior to starting a new eating plan.