Forty-Two weeks on the healthy journey has led to many ups and downs. Some have been harder than others and some have answered the famous question. What does it take to get healthy? The answer is simple, right? Eat less and exercise more. But it’s really not that simple, is it? Nope. It’s a journey of endurance, persistence, passion, change…acceptance. What ever your reasons for starting the journey may not be the reasons that drive you to continue or keep you going on dark days, and it may not be the reason you keep going 42-weeks later.
I started because I was sick and tired. Sick of being over weight and tired by the weight of it. Today, one-pound away from my 1st goal weight, I’m sick of the weight of the journey. It’s hard, sure, but it at times has pushed my self-acceptance further away. When you know for certain you’ve come along way, but that the last bend may take double the endurance of the first four, I begin to falter.
Then the questions begin to rise.
What if getting started and getting this far is all I can do. I’m famous for starting a project and not finishing. Should I just add the healthy journey to my long list of incompletes.
Asking these questions is a test, one I’m sure to fail if I do not push through. There has got to be other questions I can ask, right?
A year ago what did I think of my chances of working out each week, or eating less, or losing any weight at all, and keeping it off for even a couple of months. Did I think I’d ever get back into the normal BMI range? No, no, no and no. But, I did all those things. I did. Thinking back at how my mind worked a year ago I can see how far I’ve come and then the light bulb comes on. I’ve come a long way. The girl from a year ago could not push through dark days. BUT the girl from today CAN.
To date I’ve lost 34-pounds, I’ve lowered my BMI 6.2 points and I’ve lost 6.5 inches off my waist (another 1/2 inch in the last month! and another 1/2 off my bust, and 1/4 off my hips, thigh and calf). I may have been 5-pounds away from my goal weight for the last 15-weeks and I might have gained 0.2 pounds this week, but I’m still losing fat and GAINING muscle.
The healthy journey is a head game. We know a ton about our bodies, but there is also a ton we can’t see and it’s our job to insure our heads are screwed on right. Because of the unknown it is our job, our duty to be honest with ourselves. Am I drinking enough water, yes. Am I getting enough sleep, yes. Am I eating enough vegetables, NO! Am I getting enough exercise, YES!<—These last two have been my biggest problem in the last 15-weeks. Better food choices and more exercise. Veggies may always be a problem for me, but exercise has been my addiction since last July. I had not had a week of over 200-minutes of exercise since early March. I’m happy to say that in this last week I got 341 minutes. Oh yeah 😀 do you see that grin, that’s how my whole body feels about that turn around.
Of course I may be full of crap. Yes, probably, literally too. I may actually be under my weight goal right now, but will never know if I don’t get veggies in and the crap out. Sorry for the dirty talk, but this is nitty-gritty business.
Okay, to summarize: I choose to keep moving forward and this week I will keep moving and start eating more veggies.
What do you choose for this week?
Simply Sidney 