Heavy stuff - no pun intended.

Last week I realized my back was sore, my ankles hurt, and I just didn’t have any energy. I had a cold that lingered. When I finally had enough I was faced with the brutal reality. My lifestyle is making me sick.

My Struggle

I’ve been in this boat before; in fact, it’s a lifelong struggle. Six years ago when my first son was born, I had a lot of weight to lose. I started out optimistically and watched my diet (a strict 1200 calories a day) and exercised six days a week. And for a year and a half, I didn’t lose a pound. It was heartbreaking and depressing, and I thought I’d never fit my pre-pregnancy clothes again. But magically one day, the weight started to melt away and before I knew it I was even smaller than before I got pregnant. It was bliss. I continued to work hard for nearly three years, slowly chipping away at the numbers on the scale, and re-sculpting my body. And then we decided to have another baby.

When I found out I was pregnant with my second son, I had a moment of fear (ok, well more like nine months of fear). I never wanted to go through that all again, so I vowed to gain less the second time around. I worked hard all pregnancy, running until I was 7 months pregnant (and when the snow started to fly). I didn’t succumb to cravings (most of the time). When I came home from the hospital, I had only 10 pounds to lose; I was so proud. In fact, I could very nearly fit into my clothes again.

And then I started to gain weight. It seemed like every day I stepped on the scale, I discovered a new pound or two. With a new baby and a four year old in the house, I didn’t have “me time” for exercise. If I remembered to eat at all I considered myself lucky and when I did, I wanted something comforting. When I went to the doctor’s, I found out something I had all along suspected - I was hypothyroid to boot. So on top of the weight stacking on, I have to deal with a sluggish metabolism. I gave up for a long time.

The fact is, I don’t want to have to start all over. The exercise videos, the food journals, devoting countless hours to losing weight - I am so beyond all of this. I know what I need to do, but let’s face it -it’s much more fun to sit down with some ice cream and watch Survivor. This has been my attitude for the 21 months since my son was born. I still have that 10 pounds post-pregnancy to lose, and another thirty pounds besides. That’s a scary number.

So why bother?

Because I like me better when I feel like I’m being proactive about my health. Notice I don’t say thin. Working toward a weight loss goal is much more about getting your body healthy than it is about the numbers on the scale. A healthy body has energy. A healthy body lends itself to a powerful mind. And to get a healthy body, you need to put in the time. So, here I go.

Month One Goals

So, how does one get started on the process? Realistically it’s all about setting small, attainable goals over and over again until you have success. Implementing small changes frequently helps you to build a healthy lifestyle and body one step at a time. It doesn’t matter how small, as long as you’re constantly moving forward. The goals you set need to be:

** small. Big, sweeping changes aren’t lasting.
** realistic. I’m never giving up bread. Period. I will reduce the amount of bread I eat, and I can live with that.
** something you can live with forever.

You can’t make changes to your diet and exercise regime that you can’t live with for the rest of your life. It might work in the short term, but if you can’t keep it up, the weight will reappear. Also, never set your goals as the number of pounds or inches you’d like to lose. You’re setting yourself up for failure, because ultimately you have no control over how your body will react to the changes you make. Keep goals attainable by selecting only those for which you have complete control - like what you put into your body, or how much time you will spend exercising.
Trust that a positive change in your lifestyle will ultimately lead you to weight loss. No matter how quickly or slowly that happens, remember that all your hard work is an investment in yourself and your future health.

So what are my first goals? I like to pick one food and one exercise goal every week.
Week One Food Goal - Drink my water. Water is crucial to weight loss, especially for those coping with hypothyroidism. My plan is to drink at least 48 ounces of water a day this week - an increase of about 40 ounces a day.
Week One Exercise Goal - Exercise three times (Wednesday, Friday, Sunday). When you set an exercise goal, carve out the time in stone. If you don’t, you’ll always put it off until ‘tomorrow’.