Friday, December 14, 2018

One year later, and I'm 5lbs heavier

https://i.imgur.com/Lr1Irpb.jpg

The picture on the left is me last December at my heaviest--170lbs at 5'9". I saw the picture and decided I really needed to do better/stop eating/work out more/etc. It took me until the beginning of April to really get into it, after some false starts and some giving up.

I've always been in decent shape, I've run a few half marathons, and somehow I just let myself go. As I started gaining weight running became harder, 2 miles would wear me out, I'd have less energy to work out and I'd choose between walking my two large high-energy dogs or going to the gym (I'd almost always choose walking the dogs). I have a desk job and I started packing more and more snacks to get me through the day. Suddenly I weighed 170lbs and was really disgusted and disappointed in myself.

At the beginning of April, I decided I had enough of being a fat shit and started training for another half marathon. I cut out the crackers and cheese, or peanut butter and crackers, or toast and butter for snacks and started eating a piece of fruit or some vegetables. Instead of 2 pieces of toast and a bowl of cereal for breakfast I ate a plain Greek yogurt with a tablespoon of honey. Instead of rewarding my gym time with hours of sitting on the couch time, I'd do gym time plus walk the dogs after work. Instead of a heavy dinner with potatoes and rices as sides, I'd make a protein and some vegetables. I've always had a problem throwing away food that I've paid for and prepared, so even if I was full I'd finish my plate. Instead of doing that, I stopped when I wasn't hungry anymore and saved the leftover portion for lunch the next day. I refocused my motivation and stopped making excuses to skip the gym today, or have dessert 2 days in a row, or eat fast food for dinner. It's funny how the more often you find reasons to skip the gym or eat an unhealthy meal, the easier it is to keep making those excuses over and over.

Between April and June I lost 18lbs. I was running 5 times a week, 2 longer run days and 3 moderate run days, plus 3-4 days of weight training mixed in. Around the end of June my weight loss started to plateau, I found myself with less energy, and a hard workout would make me really light headed. Finally at the end of July, after I almost fainted in the middle of a long run, I went to the doctor. I'm always borderline anemic, so I assumed they'd tell me my iron was low and give me a supplement. They ran some tests, and discovered to my great surprise that I was actually 18 weeks pregnant, not anemic.

I'm now a week out from my due date, and I've gained the 18lbs back plus 5 more, but it's ok. Because I had started being fit and healthy back in April I've been able to keep up that trend and work out several times a week, and stick to a healthy diet that I had already laid a foundation for. I know that once this kid is out of me I'll be able to keep it up too and not end up being one of those women who hasn't lost the "baby weight" 10 years later. I'm trying my best to stay positive about how my body will look after the baby, and I think everything will be OK :)

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