Hello! Welcome to the first post of my blog! I'll be honest with you, I am so excited to start this blog, that I honestly don't even know where to begin. My mind is swimming with ideas! I guess I will just have to take one step at a time. Let's start with what I hope to achieve with this blog...
For many years, I've been interested in health and fitness. When I was a Junior (several, several years ago) in college at East Carolina University, I got serious about exercise and eating a healthier diet. By the time I was a graduating Senior, I had lost over 30 pounds, looked great, felt great, and really had a sense of pride of what I had accomplished physically over the year and a half I had been following healthier habits.
Over the next 8 years or so, I continued to pursue my interest in healthy living, though sporatically. "Life" was happening during this time. Moving to Wisconsin from North Carolina, going to graduate school at UW-Stout, new jobs (I've had a couple), getting married, buying a house, getting a puppy, etc. My weight and healthy habits tended to yo-yo during this time period. I was always within the size 4-6 range though. Then, in 2008 we bought another house and moved. I stopped working out, and basically ate anything that wouldn't eat me for several months as we packed up and sold our other house, moved to a temporary home, moved to our new home, and then had to restart and reorganize our lives all over again. I gained A LOT of weight during all of this. Nilla Wafers became my sanity food. Every night (I'm not exaggerating, it was every night), I would sit and eat Nilla Wafers until I went to bed. They were true deliciousness, but they were also driving me to a size 10! Yes, I was coming close to being a size 10. I had just recently bought size 8 work clothes, telling myself, "I guess this is the way it's going to be, you might as well face it and be a size 8," and now, I was on the verge of buying more clothes in a size 10. I felt out of control, and not at all like myself. I should also add that I was tired all of the time, having a lot of stomach issues, and was just generally not feeling well.
In February of 2009, I decided that I had had enough. I thought back on the number of diets and exercise routines I had been on over the years, and had abandoned time after time. What exactly caused me to abandon them? Why couldn't I stick with the program? Then it hit me. I would lose weight, feel great, then proceed to think "Oh, I can eat whatever I want now because I'm thin again. I can skip this workout just this one time, I mean, I am doing SO well, it won't matter." But, it would matter. Because inevitably I would end up eating the "wrong" foods all week, and I would skip another work out, and another. Plus, I would let my friends get to me, "Oh Angie, don't be such a health nut, have a french fry (or 20) for crying out loud." And I would have those french fries at that lunch, and the lunch on the next day. I couldn't stay committed.
After thinking all of this through, I decided right then and there I was going to live a healthier lifestyle. Not because I necessarily wanted to lose weight - that wasn't the ONLY reason - but because I wanted to live a long, healthy life. I wanted to feel good physically, and I wanted to feel good about myself as a person. I wanted to be alive! And, I did it. I actually stuck to my guns, and I'm still going after an entire year. I have never missed a scheduled workout, and I eat a healthy diet almost all of the time. I am now a size 4 again, and weigh between 120 and 125 pounds (I'm 5ft 4in). And, I feel GREAT!
The diet I practiced during the year that I was pushing myself to stay on track is a little different than my current diet. And I literally mean "a little different." The only true difference now, is that I allow myself a few (2-3 times per week) food indulgences. Now that my body burns fat and calories more efficiently, my metabolism is faster, and I continue to maintain a rigourous workout routine, the indulgences I allow myself burn themselves off quickly. But, I'm very careful to take note of the indulgences I do allow myself. Most of the time, I plan for them - a dinner out, a couple of cookies, popcorn at the movies. I don't let them sneak up on me, and I don't let unplanned opportunites take over. If I've eaten a healthy diet all week, and someone at work brings in brownies, then I will have a small one. But, if I've just gone out to dinner the night before and indulged in two margaritas, then I will pass. It's all about control, and being mindful of your eating.
Now with all of that said, I'm not going to lie and say that maintaining a healthy diet, planning out all of your meals and snacks, and working out now matter what isn't HARD! It totally is hard. Which is why I've started this blog. I really want to keep on track with living a healthy lifestyle. And, to do so requires constant vigilance on my part. I'm going to use this blog like a journal to report on what I'm eating, how I'm exercising, how I like different healthy recipies and new health food products, how I keep motivated, how I maintain a sense of balance in my life (which is very, very important to me too), and just to generally talk about my life. Also, I hope to maybe inspire other people to eat healthier and lifestyle of wellbeing. Like I said at the beginning of this post, I really do have a passion for health and fitness. I should also say that my husband, Carl, shares this passion as well. I'll write about him in a later post, but just so you know he will also be posting some ideas too along the way.
So, here we go! I hope you enjoy my (our) journey!
Angie
1 comment:
Great Blog Angie! Hope to be reading more soon.
Eva
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