On the 8th of December, I headed to the doctor to check on my left thumb. I left with a note for a thumb x-ray and some new knowledge: my blood pressure was high. Really high. Pre-hypertensive high. I knew I was carrying a bit of extra weight but I lifted weights at the gym twice a week and was bumping it up to three times in the new year. Doc said that wasn’t enough and wanted to see me lighter the next time she saw me.
For whatever reason, hearing that lit a fire under my ass. I already had to manage my Celiac, anxiety and depression and I didn’t feel like adding one more health issue and any accompanying medication along with it. I bumped up to three workouts a week a bit early, reached out to a running and food coach and started heading back to my favorite yoga studio 3-4x a week. I went from two workouts a week to nine pretty much overnight. I was taking this seriously.
Luckily, that seriousness paid off. I joined a Dietbet Transformer and during my first weigh in last week, I was at 220 lbs, easily eight pounds lower than I’d started. The day before I’d seen 218, a full 10 pounds lighter.
What this picture doesn’t show, what the numbers don’t show, is how I’ve changed in that month mentally. My fitness became a matter of life-and-death to me rather than a “someday, I should…”I give myself small passes when I need to, 100 extra carb calories here, a missed run when I’m just feeling worn out from other things but on a day to day basis, I’m 100% committed to this. I’ve never experienced that in my life about anything. It’s strange but fantastic.
This commitment has snowballed into other areas of my life. I realized that there was so much noise and clutter in my life and that it was directly impacting my ability to do almost anything. Feeling empowered by my focus in the gym, I was able to focus on that. I spent a day and just cleared everything out of my workspace. Suddenly, there were so many possibilities. I got myself an accountability coach and she and I have been working together to take all this new energy and lead it into a direction. This blog is a part of that.
I hope this blog is inspirational. I’m just a normal chick. I was never athletic. I have a lot going against me. But, when my body made the choice for me, I stood up and took control. I hope this inspires you to as well.
2014! I know it’s not even Christmas yet but I’ve already started thinking about my goals for 2014… In neon pink Sharpie, no less!
As any of my fellow crafters know, it’s super easy for your hobby to take over not just your life, but your whole home. Papercrafting is my main hobby and I just recently had to cancel all of my Studio Calico subscriptions so that I could stem the rising tide of paper taking over my home. It killed me to do it since one of my favorite days of the month is SC Delivery Day, but I couldn’t keep bringing paper into the house unless it was purchased specifically for a project.
