Week one: starting again

Well I’ve had a few misfires over the past year. I watched my weight creep up 5 pounds, 10 pounds, 15…all the way to 25 pounds up from my lowest weight last year, and that wasn’t even my goal weight.

I’m now 50 pounds overweight. I’ve been hiding it ok. But after seeing pictures of me over the past couple months, I knew it was time to change something. Plus…I’m badly out of shape and my joints hurt. Carrying 200 pounds on a 5’8” frame is putting a lot of stress on my body.

I’m kick starting this with #whole30 - it’s basically an elimination diet. No sugar, no soy, no dairy (can’t do that anyway), no grains, no alcohol. This will carry on for 30 or more days and then we’ll see where I’ve got to.

But it’s more than that. You are encouraged to eat slower (that is one of my problems - I eat and drink everything too fast!) and to eat without distraction. No computer or TV, just taking time to enjoy your food and the company you’re with. Also you need to look at why you eat the way you do. If I’m stressed, bored or if it’s available, I eat. I’m a machine. A machine that’s going to not live very long if I don’t slow down.

Alcohol is a huge problem for me.

I have one drink, and then a few more and then I need to eat. Chips, noodles, whatever is available. It’s bad bad bad. So not only have I filled myself with empty calories but I’ve eaten all the wrong things super late at night.

Another problem I have is “free.” You buy me a drink or food or I’m at an event, I have to partake. But actually I don’t. I read “It Starts with Food" - the theory and outline of #whole30 and one thing really stuck out. "We’re adults. We can buy our own food…and we can say no." (Paraphrased but true)

I’m not cheap but somehow free seems better. But it’s not. Because it is not free. The picture above shows that.

Just as I know eating well is key, exercise is even more important. I need to exercise - it helps my body, my mind and my overall outlook. It’s where I get rid of the stress. I need to do this or I go back down the eating for pleasure route. 

So in order to stay on track, I’m asking for your help. The help of my friends and my family. Sometimes I’m going to say no. To food, to an event, to that glass of red. And I need you to be ok with that. 

I also need partners and cheerleaders along the way. This is very very key for my success. So if you want to set one day a week to exercise with me, I’d love that. I want to try spinning and yoga and start running again. My schedule because of travel makes this difficult but if you’re up for it, then I am too. I need to be active everyday. Maybe it’s just a walk at lunch or a class or a Saturday morning run. 

Let’s do this together shall we?

(PS you can follow my progress here and on my Instagram @heregoesheather where I’ll be diarizing my food and exercise)