Salud!
It's funny how living in a city that has year round summer hasn't changed my motivation! Now that it is April, I feel ready to do the typical "spring-cleaning" stuff!
So let me start by saying: I am in the worst shape of my life. If I don't change now, I fear there will be consequences.
Since most of you know me quite well, you know that ever since the age of 9-10, I have struggled with my weight. I joke that I can look at pastries and sweets and put on the pounds! For most of my life, it has never really concerned me, as I have had excellent family and friends and a healthy dose of self-confidence. Like anyone, I have "body issues" (for me it's my tummy), but I have always been active to some degree.
Now, I won't say that I was motivated my whole life to be doing things, but I grew to love exercise. What started out as me going to Aquasize with my mom when I was 14 (for a Pathfinders badge) became a weekly visit with my friend Terra, and then a whole family affair (my mom, sister and occasionally dad, and Terra and her family would go). Fun times in the pool! (We sometimes got in trouble because we would socialize too much in class...)
By university, I joined the triathlon club, and this really spurred on my activeness. I felt stronger, and "elite". I may have been one of the slowest triathletes out there, but I WAS a triathlete, something many people don't even dream of doing. Swimming has always been where I excelled, but it was evident that I really needed to work on running. It's funny, my mom used to write us letters every year on our birthdays (although we never saw them) and even from an early age, she had commented that "Julie really likes swimming, but doesn't like running." With the dream of completing an Olympic distance tri (which hasn't happened yet), I focused my energy on running, and am proud to say that I have completed a half marathon! (Along with several 5-10 km races).
All of this made me feel good, strong and healthy, despite the fact that I completed my half at my heaviest (173-175 lbs). (I have now been at that weight pretty much since I started teaching 8 years ago, after an impressive 20 lb gain in less than 6 months in my first year). I have tried Weight Watchers, and the first time, was successful, dropping about 15 lbs. Volunteering in Kenya was the most effective, since we walked everywhere and only ate at meal times (no opportunities for snacking, unless you wanted to walk 5 km to go get it). But, alas, I have never been successful in keeping the weight off.
So, now, I am making the commitment to getting healthy (getting stronger and losing weight). This year has been one of the most stressful and draining years of my career and now that I finally feel somewhat normal, I am addressing my health issues. Those include:
Mental Health: Using exercise, and relaxation techniques to deal with stress. I have also made the decision that I will be leaving the classroom (temporarily) next year. I have not decided whether this will be 6 months, or indefinitely. I don't want to give up teaching, as I do really enjoy it, but I would like to do it in another context, without having to spend 90% or my energy on management and tracking, and only 10% teaching. (PS, those of you who have left the teaching profession/changed tracks within it, I will likely be contacting you, if I haven't already talked to you. I want to pick your brains!)
Physical health: Like I said at the beginning: I am in the worst shape of my life. This is not even an understatement. This year has been extremely rough on me. I have been so exhausted, that many nights, the most I can do is put on the TV and sleep. I have also been dealing with ongoing knee pain (which we have now figured out is Patellar tendonitis) caused by my quads seizing. This meant I had to stop my favourite activity (Zumba) and had to take a break from the gym and high-impact exercises. It also means that I am still at my heaviest (which I got back to while traveling Australia and New Zealand).
Last year, another thing that happened, was that my sugars spiked, pushing me into the pre-diabetic realm. The doctors were concerned, and I have had at least 2 different doctors plus a physio tell me that I need to lose weight. Today, I had my blood work done again, to check blood sugar, creatine, thyroid, insuline, cholesterol etc as a new baseline before I make changes (and the doctors wanted an updated one, since it's been a year). This is part of what is driving this change. I do not want to become diabetic, so I am going to change now.
The Plan:
I have made a plan, so that hopefully I can stick to it. Part of my posting this, is so that I have others who can hold me accountable, as I am not so great with will-power.
Step 1: Food. One of my loves... This will likely be the hardest part, and is what I am tackling first. In Barranquilla, it is very easy to get things delivered to you, and there are tons of restaurants to try. I have been very lazy when it comes to meal prep (as I don't like cooking, but enjoy eating). So, part one of this plan is to start preparing my own meals. I will be bringing my lunch to school most days, instead of buying it, and I will plan my dinners out in advance. Although I still plan to go out on Fridays with my friends for our weekly dinner date!
Step 2: Exercise. While I work on my food intake, I will maintain my current activity level (going to the gym 2-3/week) and make sure that my step count reaches 10,000 on non-gym days. Then, in a couple of weeks, I will increase my strength training (I am a cardio fan, but not so much resistance training). I have not yet decided how (but not cross-fit!), but I need to increase my muscle mass.
So, that is the plan thus-far. I am confident that this time I will actually achieve my goal. In the past, I have only half-heartedly tried to change, as I wasn't convinced that I was unhealthy. This time, I am much more determined to succeed.
THIS IS MY TIME!
Thanks for reading!
So let me start by saying: I am in the worst shape of my life. If I don't change now, I fear there will be consequences.
Since most of you know me quite well, you know that ever since the age of 9-10, I have struggled with my weight. I joke that I can look at pastries and sweets and put on the pounds! For most of my life, it has never really concerned me, as I have had excellent family and friends and a healthy dose of self-confidence. Like anyone, I have "body issues" (for me it's my tummy), but I have always been active to some degree.
Now, I won't say that I was motivated my whole life to be doing things, but I grew to love exercise. What started out as me going to Aquasize with my mom when I was 14 (for a Pathfinders badge) became a weekly visit with my friend Terra, and then a whole family affair (my mom, sister and occasionally dad, and Terra and her family would go). Fun times in the pool! (We sometimes got in trouble because we would socialize too much in class...)
By university, I joined the triathlon club, and this really spurred on my activeness. I felt stronger, and "elite". I may have been one of the slowest triathletes out there, but I WAS a triathlete, something many people don't even dream of doing. Swimming has always been where I excelled, but it was evident that I really needed to work on running. It's funny, my mom used to write us letters every year on our birthdays (although we never saw them) and even from an early age, she had commented that "Julie really likes swimming, but doesn't like running." With the dream of completing an Olympic distance tri (which hasn't happened yet), I focused my energy on running, and am proud to say that I have completed a half marathon! (Along with several 5-10 km races).
All of this made me feel good, strong and healthy, despite the fact that I completed my half at my heaviest (173-175 lbs). (I have now been at that weight pretty much since I started teaching 8 years ago, after an impressive 20 lb gain in less than 6 months in my first year). I have tried Weight Watchers, and the first time, was successful, dropping about 15 lbs. Volunteering in Kenya was the most effective, since we walked everywhere and only ate at meal times (no opportunities for snacking, unless you wanted to walk 5 km to go get it). But, alas, I have never been successful in keeping the weight off.
So, now, I am making the commitment to getting healthy (getting stronger and losing weight). This year has been one of the most stressful and draining years of my career and now that I finally feel somewhat normal, I am addressing my health issues. Those include:
Mental Health: Using exercise, and relaxation techniques to deal with stress. I have also made the decision that I will be leaving the classroom (temporarily) next year. I have not decided whether this will be 6 months, or indefinitely. I don't want to give up teaching, as I do really enjoy it, but I would like to do it in another context, without having to spend 90% or my energy on management and tracking, and only 10% teaching. (PS, those of you who have left the teaching profession/changed tracks within it, I will likely be contacting you, if I haven't already talked to you. I want to pick your brains!)
Physical health: Like I said at the beginning: I am in the worst shape of my life. This is not even an understatement. This year has been extremely rough on me. I have been so exhausted, that many nights, the most I can do is put on the TV and sleep. I have also been dealing with ongoing knee pain (which we have now figured out is Patellar tendonitis) caused by my quads seizing. This meant I had to stop my favourite activity (Zumba) and had to take a break from the gym and high-impact exercises. It also means that I am still at my heaviest (which I got back to while traveling Australia and New Zealand).
Last year, another thing that happened, was that my sugars spiked, pushing me into the pre-diabetic realm. The doctors were concerned, and I have had at least 2 different doctors plus a physio tell me that I need to lose weight. Today, I had my blood work done again, to check blood sugar, creatine, thyroid, insuline, cholesterol etc as a new baseline before I make changes (and the doctors wanted an updated one, since it's been a year). This is part of what is driving this change. I do not want to become diabetic, so I am going to change now.
The Plan:
I have made a plan, so that hopefully I can stick to it. Part of my posting this, is so that I have others who can hold me accountable, as I am not so great with will-power.
Step 1: Food. One of my loves... This will likely be the hardest part, and is what I am tackling first. In Barranquilla, it is very easy to get things delivered to you, and there are tons of restaurants to try. I have been very lazy when it comes to meal prep (as I don't like cooking, but enjoy eating). So, part one of this plan is to start preparing my own meals. I will be bringing my lunch to school most days, instead of buying it, and I will plan my dinners out in advance. Although I still plan to go out on Fridays with my friends for our weekly dinner date!
Step 2: Exercise. While I work on my food intake, I will maintain my current activity level (going to the gym 2-3/week) and make sure that my step count reaches 10,000 on non-gym days. Then, in a couple of weeks, I will increase my strength training (I am a cardio fan, but not so much resistance training). I have not yet decided how (but not cross-fit!), but I need to increase my muscle mass.
So, that is the plan thus-far. I am confident that this time I will actually achieve my goal. In the past, I have only half-heartedly tried to change, as I wasn't convinced that I was unhealthy. This time, I am much more determined to succeed.
THIS IS MY TIME!
Thanks for reading!
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