Monday, June 3, 2013

Health in Year #3 - WE GOT THIS!

I'm terrible at numbers, but there's one I can't forget.

224.

That's my heaviest-weight-number.

And there's plenty of photographic evidence, thanks to Facebook. Wanna see?

April 2010, 4 months before I began my lifestyle transformation
Oh, I'd known I was putting on weight and I knew that I was overweight. I had tried diets for years and various exercise regimes, but there were little to no results and I hit a point of exhaustion. My efforts seemed to be negated by the diagnosis of two chronic diseases, which wouldn't you know? Yep. Adversely effected my thyroid, depleted my energy levels, and wracked my body with pain to the point that I was confined to a recliner on my good days and I spent my worst nights rocking in my bed in the fetal position wishing for morphine and wondering about the quality of my future life.

I gave up on ever losing weight. The hole I was in just seemed too deep to get out of.

Then, in August 2010, I decided to make a change. You know the powerful thing about change? 
It's not going to happen until you make a choice.

My choice came before I made the change, and waaaayyyy before I ever saw physical changes. There were choices every single day, every single moment of every single day, and I quickly learned that the results in my body were in direct correlation to the choices I made...every single moment of every single day. It might seem insignificant to say, "I'm not going to stop at McDonalds on my way home today," but if you add that choice onto the next choice and onto the next choice, eventually you have a pile of good choices and a positive result.

The moment I lost my obsession to see instant results is the moment I started making lifestyle-transformation decisions that led to lifestyle changes, which led to eventual visual results. 

If you want to read a bit about my health journey, here ya go:
(is it weird that I'm re-inspired after re-reading these?)

Photo update after losing 25 pounds
6 months later, a duathlon!
Food is necessary to live, but wow! All the things I'd used it for
16 months in, I was still making good choices
Then I became a vegetarian
The day I ran a mile (ME!! ran a mile)
Running with Lyme disease
Two years into my journey and still going strong
Celebrating 2 years of improved health with my first 5K - a midnight run!
And a month later, another 5K

Then I started writing a bi-weekly health column, and sometimes I'd pinch myself. YOU ARE HELPING OTHER PEOPLE! If I can do it, you can too.

Oh, and here's me in January of this year with my mom, who has been on her own inspirational health journey:




My motto throughout my journey has been: one small step at a time. If I can only walk 20 minutes, I'm going to walk 20 minutes. If I can run a mile or two, I'll run a mile or two. 

Now I'm about to take another step, and I am so freakin' excited for what it's going to do for me and maybe for you too. I've been researching {all-natural} supplements that I can take on a long-term basis that will fuel my energy levels, keep my sloppy metabolism rockin' AND give my body the nutrients it needs {all-naturally}. 

Well, I've found them, they're on their way to me via mail, and they can't get here fast enough. They're another tool for me to use to maintain health, which will continue to enable me to live my best life. 

Happy almost-three-year-anniversary-of-health to ME! 

If you wanna keep up with me, follow me on Facebook!

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