Emily Davis, trendingly.com
Almost exactly a year ago – mid August 2015 – I came home from my doctor’s office and changed my life. My quarterly blood work, where we monitor my thyroid dosage, was high, high, high. I had again told him, looking him right in the eye, that my husband and I were trying to eat in a more healthy fashion and I was trying to exercise. Bah, humbug. Lies!
I MEANT well, but I was lying to him and myself, and not fooling either of us. Whenever I tried to do better, my husband would sabotage me, trying to protect me from another disappointment, in a long line of them.
This time was different. I decided that day I was either going to actually seriously change my lifestyle or I was going to quit lying about it. I was disgusted with myself, didn’t feel well, and wanted to change. I decided to try low carb. I had had a little bit of success with this in the past and talked to my son on chat (since he’s in Thailand) about it. True to form, he was super supportive. He suggested that I try to eat 40 grams of carbs per day, staying at 1200 or fewer calories. I found MyFitnessPal.com, a wonderful site where you can list your goals, record what you’re eating (and change it if you find you’re going over either the carbs or calories), plus track your exercise. You can do this in solo fashion or interact with others on the website. (Yesterday I checked in for day # 365).
I found Dana Carpender’s wonderful low carb recipe books. This is the first set of recipe books that uses mostly ingredients you can easily find, giving you simple, GOOD tasting recipes that even my husband likes. I bought one book for slow cooker recipes and another for 15 minute prep or less. I love both of them.
I dug out my ‘Woman’s Walk’ DVD by Leslie Sansone that I got when I was doing NutriSystem years ago. I also found 3 lb weights in the closet, and printed off some really basic lower and upper body strength exercises to do with them. I also wiped down the elliptical trainer in the garage, and found an MP3 player with earphones to use with it.
One year later I have lost 45 lbs and 22 inches. Slow and steady is the name of the game, as far as I’m concerned. As long as I keep on keepin’ on, my weight is going lower (even though I get in 3 lb loops, where I gain and lose the same three over and over). I developed a bit of a digestion problem, due to my lack of gallbladder and a difficulty in fully processing fat) a couple of months ago. I talked to my doctor about it this week and he gave me some sample pills that he thinks will solve my problem. :0)
- I feel better, with more energy than I’ve felt in years
- When I am good about exercising regularly, I have much less pain in my hips and knees!
- My blood test numbers are in the NORMAL range in all categories for the first time I can remember. (Isn’t “normal” a beautiful word?)
- I’m down 3 sizes in jeans so far.
- I’m receiving compliments and support from people I see regularly, plus amazement from people I only see occasionally.
- Even my husband is supportive of my efforts this time. He knows I’m serious, and he’s actually told me that he admires me for my persistence.
I’m hopeful that as I begin another year, I can reach my goal of my weight being in the normal range for my height, healthy BMI number, even better blood tests, and getting more fit. I’m hoping that my joint pain will continue to lessen, my blood pressure will get into the normal range and I can stop the medicine I now take, and that I can plan to take long, wonderful walks with my husband without looking for someplace to sit down!
My mantra is
taolife.com
I hope that you’re doing good things for yourself, as well.
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