Monday, August 12, 2013

New Commitment

No knitting to show today.  I have been working on the sock and Kristin's blanket, but they look about the same so I'm not going to post new pictures.  Once I turn the heel on the sock, I'll post a picture.

Today's blog is a pledge to myself.  Last week I was told by my doctor that my cholesterol has gone up in the past year.  Not by much, but enough that she felt she needed to issue me a warning to take better care of myself.  I don't need to go on medication.  I do need to lose some weight and start eating a healthier diet.  This really isn't a new concept for me.  I started this year with a goal to lose 50 pounds by my 50th birthday.  I have lost about 6 pounds so far, but that was a couple back in the winter, a couple in the spring and a couple more this summer.  Not a rate to make 50 by 50.  I need to get more serious about this, and I'm using my doctor's warning as motivation.

The first change I am making is to pack my lunch instead of buying from the cafeteria at work.  This is going to be a hard one.  I've been with the same company for over 29 years.  I have bought my lunch probably 28 1/2 of those years.  By packing, not only will I be saving calories, I will be saving money.  I don't even want to think about how much I've spent at the cafeteria over the years.  Instead, I'm thinking about how much money I will have for more fiber.  I'm combining this with planning healthier meals at home.  My husband has noticed that he is finding it harder to lose weight, so he's on board with this.  Gone are the days where he would stand at the kitchen counter and eat an entire loaf of Italian bread as a snack.

The second change I am making is to resume my walking habit.  During my late 30s, I walked every night after dinner for 30 minutes.  It was my time to unwind.  The weather wasn't a factor.  In fact, I enjoyed walking in the cold winter air, as long as it wasn't single digits Fahrenheit or below.  These walks gave me some much needed exercise, a 10 pound weight loss without trying, and some spectacular starry night views. In fact, on one particular walk I witnessed a once-in-a-lifetime event.  I got to see and hear a meteor. It was in November around the time of the Leonid meteor shower.  I heard a whistling noise behind me and glanced over my shoulder just in time to see the meteor.  Just as the meteor fizzed out, the whistling stopped.  I still get a thrill thinking about that.  (Yes, I'm a geek!)

A couple months ago I started back into yoga.   Doing yoga regularly was part of my life during my mid-40s.  The walking habit has waned and I replaced it with yoga.  I really loved it but when my yogi quit I stopped.  I have really missed it.  Earlier this summer my hairdresser told me about another client who had just become certified in yoga.  I contacted the lady and now I take a class from her every week.  It feels good to be back into it.

For the past 2 1/2 years, I have been going to a personal trainer.  It has been difficult getting up two days a week at 5:30 am and working out for an hour, but I am seeing the benefits.  He has been having me focus on weightlifting for the past year.  I am stronger now and see muscle definition that I've never had before.  I used to weight lift with some guys from work back in my single days, but that ended when Ed and I started dating.  Dumb decision on my part to stop.  I stopped because Ed was a little jealous of me spending time with those guys.  For the sake of our relationship I quit.  Looking back I wished I had stood my ground and told him that our relationship was strong enough to withstand me working out with other guys.  I guess that was my 'dumb and in love' phase.

In the past I've always done one of the above activities, but I had never had the discipline to do it all.  I'm making my commitment now to eat healthier, walk at least 5 days a week, do yoga at least once a week and weight lift twice a week.  I am 6 pounds down from my all time high weight.  44 pounds to go.  I will periodically report my progress.  You can read the updates if you wish, or pass on by.  No worries here.

PS:  before sitting down to type this, I took a 30 minute interval walk outside.  I'm cooled off now.  Time to get to bed because 5:30 comes mighty early.

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