I am one of the thousands of people out there who resolved to lose weight this year. I could make a million excuses for why I gained weight, but none of them matter. The facts are the facts: I'm the heaviest i've ever been in my life and I have greatly regressed in my ability to perform any athletic endeavors at the level I once was able to.
A brief history of being an "athlete" and my body. Growing up, I was an active child, mainly as a dancer, which I attended college to study. I lived in New York for 12 years, from the ages of 18 - 30. I didn't own a car for those twelve years, so I relied on public transportation or my own two feet to get me around. It's a face-paced lifestyle and I was keeping up. I was still dancing fairly regularly until about the age of 25. Shortly thereafter, I joined a gym, started working a trainer and found I enjoyed running. So up until I turned 30 year old, I stood at 5'8" and never weighed over 135 pounds (mostly I remained in the 120s). When I turned 30, I graduated with my Masters and decided to move back to the Philadelphia area. I got a car, I started training for marathons and triathlons, and began nursing multiple injuries and stressful career changes. I was never a healthy eater, but I ate smaller portions of whatever it was when I was in NY. I just wasn't as hungry. The stress that I felt when I moved to Philadelphia, with injuries, career stress and unhappiness and dealing with failed relationships, I started to turn to food for comfort.
So here I am today. I've found love and am happy with the career path i'm taking. At the moment, i'm mainly injury free. So the last piece of the puzzle is to win my life back by taking control of my lifestyle. To live with less stress, to enjoy cooking and eating healthy meals, and to participate in the many physical activities I enjoy and not feel like i'm going to pass out or vomit.
I realize, this sounds incredibly cliche. I can accept that. I just need to act on it, to reach my goal, to find happiness in myself.
The Goal: Lose 40 pounds by my 35th birthday (in mid-July)
Post-goal desired outcomes: to participate in sports again and record personal bests. to love life and live it to the fullest.
How to Achieve this goal:
- Nutrition: This area will be my greatest challenge. I only recently started cooking the past few years I've been with Patrick, so i'm still learning to be comfortable in a kitchen. The good news is, as I write this, our contractors are putting the finishing touches on a gorgeous, newly remodeled kitchen in our house. I'm going to want to spend alot of time in there. The struggle is learning what the best nutrition plan is for me to lose weight and to remain healthy once I reach my goal weight. I'm reading several books - from the P90X nutrition plan to Jillian Michael's Master your Metabolism to my monthly subscription of Cooking Light to see what I can learn and create for myself.
-Physical Activity: I've had a coach (for marathons/triathlons/swimming) for 4 years now. He's been a constant source of encouragement for me through my ups and downs. I've also joined a brand new Y facility that opened up not far from my house and have begun working with a personal trainer there for strength training and even more encouragement. He will also be weighing me weekly - so the pressure is on for me to successfully shed the fat. I'm hoping this will help me stay on track with my nutrition in between my sessions with him.
-Less Stress: I'm a full-time student again, and I do stress out about getting A's. In order to alleviate this stress, i'm going to organize my time and my physical space, so that I get the right amount of studying in and feel confident about my readiness for exams. I'm also going to get ample sleep each night so I can think clearly.
-Celebrate Mini-goals: When I successfully lose my first 10 pounds, i'll reward myself with getting a new top to add to my wardrobe.
-Take on Mini-challenges: My first mini-challenge will be to finish a local 5-mile run I registered for towards the end of February at a somewhat challenging pace (at that time).
I have nothing to lose (except the weight) and everything to gain! (except the weight).
