Time for Change

The Beginning!



Here it comes the spiel for the "Time for Change".  The yearly quest to make our New Years resolutions that are never full-filled.  I am so guilty of that.  I have not made "the" resolution in several years. "The" one I am referring to is the "D" word.  I have avoided the "D" word for many years and vowed to never do it again.  Diet, there I said it.  I prefer to call it a lifestyle change, which is as it should be.  I have done fairly well on my own for several years but it is not enough.  Yesterday when B&B2 were over we watched old home movies that The Hubby has converted to DVD's, and there I was, skinny.  (14 years old)
I miss that old friend. 

Not that I want to be skinny but I'm tired of my belly, and it is less belly than the past few years.  I will publicly share my weight here and my struggles, although this will not become a diet/weight loss blog.  Several years ago I blossomed to 276 pounds,

the most I have ever weighed.  The year (2006) Gail died and my mother went through her horrible health issues and passed was a turning point.  It was a devasting year for me.  I decided that my knees and back were not going to survive unless I started getting with it.  I loved Gail dearly but she was horribly obese and smoked (I don't) and probably had a massive heart attack from it.  I was not going to leave my family and friends like that.  I had been doing Jazzercise for several years and had dropped about 30 or 40 pounds but it was not enough so I kicked it up with walking and really changing a lot of my eating habits, more than I already had.  I have battled this issue most of my adult life and felt fat when young even though I wasn't.  In fact, when I met The Hubby I was wearing a size 1 in jeans, my sis's jeans, and didn't eat, really, not much.  I met him and we ate, a lot.  He was a skinny-mini with energy out the rear.  My battled started.  We didn't have take out food much where I grew up.  There were only a couple of take out places and it was expensive and we could not afford it when I was home.  Meeting The Hubby and taking me to the "big"city of Tulsa my eyes and stomach were spoiled and the blossoming and war began.  After our first child, B, I went to Weight Watchers and was rigid in following it.  I lost the weight.  I looked good.

I was a stay-at-home mom, mostly because our business was out of our house and I was the office help.  So I dieted and worked in the yard in a huge garden, daily.  I tilled and weeded and got skinny.  I learned a lot about how to eat, and portions and habits were changed.  After the second little one, A, I didn't lose it, I gained more.

This is me today.  I still have a long way to go but I am in better shape physically than I have been for many years. 

*  I don't taste when I cook. 
*  I've cut tons of fats out of my diet. 
*  Cut the consumption of diet pop to 1 a day (used to be 6). 
*  I drink tons of water. 
*  I have a personal trainer 3 days a week.  (Quit Jazzercise because we moved too far away.)
*  Take multi-vitamins.
*  Don't snack.
These were very big steps for me but obviously they are not enough and I need to make some more changes.  It is time.

I have decided that I am going to break down and start the carb count.  ICK!  I know it works.  I'm not going to be perfect but it is a place to start.  I've tried the "new" Weight Watchers but just can't seem to do it anymore. 

My Plan:
*  Increase my cardio
*  Cut diet pop
*  Track my carbs
*  Continue the previous good I've done

I think I've got my mind there, I just need to take the extra step for a healthier life.  I'm 53 years old and I want to live, healthy for the next 50 or so.  Wish me luck.  I probably won't start right on Jan 1 but it will be January.  Weather permitting, 'cause I don't drive if it is snowy or icy to workout and I'm not a home workout kind of gal.  Got to make it work in my life for it to be successful.  Walking may start up when the weather begins to get better.  Oh, I'm making excuses already.  See how that slipperly slope gets started.  I just know me.  I'm not a self-motivator.  Got to work on it. 

(Speaking of change, I'm playing around with template colors as I am bored with the same old thing.  Bare with me.)