Another Journey

Life is truly about journeys.  If you have been reading this blog, you know about my toughest journey....but today I am writing about yet another part of that journey which is an entire journey of its own.....weight loss.

Before my nervous breakdown I had quite the nice shaped body.  I was a total of 140lbs (even after having 2 kids!), but unfortunately between the agoraphobia and the multiple medications (of the 9 I was on at one point, 4 had a side effect of weight gain)  I rapidly became at my highest 270lbs.  This only added to my depression and lack of self esteem as well as creating other health issues.

Just as with my depression/anxiety, I had to stop blaming and feeling sorry for myself and do something about it.  While I wanted the weight off and off now, I also didn't want to set myself up for a failure.  My first goal was to just get back to work and get to full time.  I had to focus on my mental health, while ensuring that I wasn't going to make work harder on my body or mind by starving it or over working it.  During the first 4 months back to work I lost 20lbs without changing my eating habits.

Ok so I am back to work and up to full time hours.  Now is the time to make some more changes.  My next task was to visit a nutritionist.  While I was eating fairly healthy, I was eating more than my body needed.  So the next step was to scale back my portions, and make some small changes.  Over the next 6 months I lost yet another 30lbs.  While not as fast as I would have liked, it was coming off in a healthy way.

Then came the plateau.......and this plateau lasted a few months.  I visited my nutritionist yet again and she suggested a few more changes, but I really was eating quite well, so she said the word that I knew was coming but was dreading.....EXERCISE!!!!

While I had gone to the YMCA while I was off work and preparing myself to go back to work, I had stopped with returning to work.  My personal trainer had me doing a half hour of cardio and a half hour of weight training 3 times a week.  I work 12 hour rotating shifts, so trying to get to the gym 3 times a week is practically impossible.  Plus on my days off I am so tired and also busy with household duties and errands that finding the time to spend an hour at the gym plus the travel time made it agonizing to go.  So I thought I would do the next best thing......exercise videos at home.  Yep, total failure.  It was too easy to say I would do it later, didn't feel like it or whatever excuse I could dream up.  Walking was great in the summer and fall but once winter came....forget it....I hibernate.

After awhile I had a really bad few days of feeling depressed.  I hated the way I looked, the way I felt, how I ached all the time and was winded just taking the 2 flights of stairs at work to get to my work area and also again each time I went to the cafeteria for break.   I felt horrible, money was tight, life in general seemed to suck the big one!  I decided that I was going to do something yet again instead of sitting around crying and risking a relapse.  What did I do?  I surfed the internet!  I was looking for a 'diet and exercise' plan either online or a download program that would allow me to schedule my exercise and plan my meals out in advance.  During the few days of surfing I found all sorts of free advice, programs and online forums, but none seemed right.

Then I came across the "Curves" website**.  They now offered a weight management class and best of all it was free to attend.  More than prepared that they would try to get me to buy all sorts of stuff I enrolled and went but left my purse at home.  I was extremely surprised.  The only thing they said I would have to buy is the weight management book that gives the info on the eating plan and more than enough recipes to feed yourself for the 30days the plan runs for.

Ok, I haven't started the eating plan.  I joined their gym instead.  BEFORE you call me crazy, hear me out.  I wasn't pressured to join the gym, in fact they said I didn't have to.  The gym didn't look like a normal gym so I asked about it.  Their workout is designed to give you not only your cardio workout, but also your weight training in 30 minutes.  Yep 30 minutes.  So I figured I would give that a try......I could fit in 30 mins a couple times a week for sure and the cost was right. 

I was given a 3 week free trail before signing up.  I was also weighed and measured for the weight management plan which they also do for gym members.  My first month I gained 2 pounds but lost half an inch in most places.  My second month I lost 5 pounds and lost 2 inches from my waist, abs and hips AND lost 1% body fat!!  I am very very excited.  I have made some small changes again to the way I eat, but am not following the eating plan yet.  I decided to focus solely on getting familiar with the workout and getting myself 'addicted' to going before I tackled changing my eating.  Again I did not want to take on too much and get frustrated.

So here I am....5 pounds lighter and 2 inches less round LOL.  I am going to make a few more changes to my eating to get that little bit closer to the eating plan before I jump in.  They warned that jumping right in could cause headaches and fatigue for the first week, so I thought if I made more changes before jumping it it wouldn't be as difficult to keep on going.  For 2 months now I have gone to the gym at least 2 times a week.  I plan to try and squeeze in another workout before work once a week, but that is going to be tough to do, so for now I am happy with 2 and editing eating habits.  The greatest thing about this achievement is that I haven't had to give up my true love...pizza!  LOL  I still order out pizza once or so a month, that is my treat after working my 3 night shifts in a row, and I had chocolate over the month because of Easter, but still lost 5 pounds.  While chocolate and pizza are not part of the eating plan and I might have lost more without them, it is nice to know that I won't have to worry about gaining every time I do treat myself so long as I am reasonable.

Well that is all for me tonight.  I am working tomorrow so it is early to bed to read and relax before sleep.


Cheers!



**I am in NO WAY being paid to endorse Curves.  I haven't even told them I am writing about them on my blog, or that I even have a blog.  I am only a woman who has found it is working for me.