Saturday, February 27, 2010

My First Blog Post! Welcome!

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:

Our Family said...

Great Blog Angie! Hope to be reading more soon.
Eva

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