Sunday Pondering

Another week, another series of goals achieved. It has me wondering why this seems to be working now. It's not like I haven't tried most of this (excluding the trainers, which is a new thing completely) before. Why am I now able to eat healthy and exercise regularly? I've been thinking about it off and on today, and I've come up with a timeline, of sorts, that got me here:

1. In 2005, I learned that a new friend had, over the past several years, lost weight by exercising and changing her diet. That's not so unusual, except that she didn't work her way down to a size 2. She's a double-digit size, she looks great, and physically, she's the strongest person I know. She's also the first person I've ever known who recognized when it felt good and said, "I'm here." That's not to say she quit working at it. It's an everyday thing for her now (and it shows!) Everyone else I know keeps going for the lower numbers, and it occurs to me now that I don't know anyone personally who made it.

2. A little over a year ago, I started walking regularly. I tried to upgrade my eating habits, but it was kind of hit and miss. It seemed as though I couldn't get the diet and the walking/yoga working together. If I did one well, I let the other slide. A few times (dark days/weeks), I let them both go. But I always circled back to one or the other.

3. At the beginning of May of this year, I hit the treadmill again. At the same time, the Style Network kicked off a Make Me Over May campaign. Now, you have to know that this time last year, you could not have made me watch this channel if you had promised me a lifetime supply of Little Debbie's. I think my exact words were, "This is the worst excuse for a network I've ever seen." Fortunately for me, those words are fat-free and non-caloric, because Style's airing of The Biggest Loser was life changing for me. Here were fat people setting goals and meeting them. People my size exercising hard...and not dying from it. I decided to play along in my own version of a home game and cut out all the junk food from my daily diet.

4. In early June, I joined sparkpeople.com. I started reading articles on health, nutrition, and motivation. I set goals and began learning how to achieve them.

5. Last week, I started recording what I ate, paying attention to nutritional goals (calories, protein, fat, carbs), and ended the week by signing on with a personal trainer. I met my triceps. They're nice, if a bit unrefined at present.

So here I am. Nowhere near the end of this journey and not even sure where I am on the map. But it's nice to be off of the two-lane blacktop and onto the highway. I think, though, that I'll stay on this road rather than look for an expressway. It will take me longer to get there, sure, but I'll stand a better chance of arriving safely at my destination. :)

Have a happy...and healthy week everyone!