Last week I hit my highest weight ever: 160 pounds. I can literally feel some of you out there rolling your eyes. Yes, I know 160 pounds doesn't qualify me as a Biggest Loser contestant. Yes, I know there are some people who would love to be at my weight. But not me. For me, 160 means I have to take the demoralizing step of buying size 12 jeans. It means I have a double chin, depending on how I hold my head. It means my clothes don't fit like they used to. I've worn sweat shorts and yoga pants out in public more times than I care to admit this summer because they're the only thing that feels comfortable. I feel tired, bloated, disgusted with myself that I'm back at the same place I was before.
In May 2008, I had a friend of mine finally confront me about my lifestyle. I was 158 pounds at the time, hadn't exercised since high school other than a few yoga classes, was a smoker, and there were days when I ate fast food all three meals of the day. In the kindest way he could, he said I needed to take better care of myself. I knew what he was saying was true. I'd known it for years, but sometimes the wake call you need comes from someone else pointing out the obvious. I made a commitment to get the weight off, and I did really well. I exercised 5-7 times a week, changed my diet to high protein, low carb, and got down to 135 pounds - and I did that while quitting smoking. I even did a couple of 5ks and a 10k. I felt great. I maintained that weight for a few months, kicking up the exercise whenever I hit 140, and then I let my "cut off point" slide to 145. Then it was 150. I started to make excuses and promises to myself that I broke over and over: "I'll get back to walking when the spring comes...," "I'll start on Monday....," "I'll start on Saturday...." In the meantime, my mom passed away from cancer and I started back smoking. Then I quit again, only this time I didn't exercise or eat right. I packed on most of my weight gain over the past three months since quitting cigarettes again.
So here I am again. In the same place I was before.
According to weight charts, for my height of 5'2", my ideal weight is 109-136. My goal weight is 130 pounds. But more than that, I just want to be healthier, to feel energetic again.
I know from before there are no shortcuts to weight loss. The formula is easy: eat less, move more. So, I'll be reverting back to tracking my caloric intake using a program called FitDay (http://www.fitday.com/). I'm shooting for no more than 1,500 calories a day, focusing on more lean protein and limiting carbs as much as possible to fruit and whole grains. The biggest challenge of the first few days will be detoxing off the white flour and white sugar. As for exercise, I'm committing to at least four days a week, but shooting for at least 5-6 times a week. I'm a huge fan of Leslie Sansone (http://www.walkathome.com/), so I'll be starting with her DVDs and working into other activities from there. So, that's the plan. I'll be do check-ins on my progress at least a couple of times a week.
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