I can't believe it been almost a year since I started this journey. So MANY changes, good ones of course. I've learned a lot, mostly by mistakes or reading. But I've had a lot of help along the way. Amber, (my personal hero) has been there as a guiding force. Even though its been almost a year since I started and I have seen a great improvement, I still have a life time of improvements ahead of me.
ok, so onto the good stuff, what has improved?
First, my mental understanding of what HEALTHY really is.. Many people think that if you weigh a certain amount (according to your Dr) that you are healthy. This just ISNT the case.. I have learned, after a LIFETIME (43 yrs) that HEALTHY isn't judged by my bathroom scale. Its merely a "guide".. Why is it that the american woman is SO comsumed with a NUMBER instead of how her body looks and feels (in other words, healthy)? Is there some truth in "we are what we see"? Have the magazines, tv ads, clothing shops been catering to our "wishes" and not our needs? Or is this just some way to pass the buck (or fault if you will) onto someone else? People need to stand up and be accountable for who they are.. What they have become? And what they put in their mouth.. The list could go on and on.. The point is, people need to ask questions, instead of assigning "blame" for why they look like they do..
Second, I have come to terms with my eating.. Another UNTRUTH out there.. I can name hundreds of people who believe that if you eat less, or skip a meal, or exchange a real meal with a shake that somehow THIS will MAKE you healthy and/or skinny.. The truth is a BIG FAT NO!!! You might lose weight, but you'll also lose muscle as well. Who in their "right mind" wants to be skinny? If you defined the word, "skinny" here's what it says..
skin ny
adjective: (of a person or part of their body) unattractively thin,
synonyms: lean-thin-gaunt-scraggy-scrawny-meager-meagre
So, like I said-who wants to be skinny? Did you catch the KEY words in there??? UNATTRACTIVELY thin, GAUNT, SCRAWNY... But nowhere in there did it say "thin and HEALTHY"..
For years I was eating WELL under 1k calories a day, more like 500 (or less).. YEP you read right.. FOR YEARS I did this.. To the point my hair was falling out, I was SKINNY (119 body weight), tired/sleepy, little or no cycles and I was by all accounts a BITCH.. All of this because I wasn't eating and giving my body what it needed.
I now PROUDLY weigh 148, with a 26" waist, have lean muscles and I EAT whatever the hell I want.. Why, because I workout.. I have learned that eating is my fuel.. My fuel is for my workouts.. The more I eat the better my fuel reserv is-the greater the workout-the better my body looks, feels and the more healthy it becomes.
I once had a Dr. (a cardiologist) tell me I was "addicted" to working out.. My answer to this idiots remark...
"I'm trying to put you out of a job"!! I said it with a smile, but he got the point..
It is SO easy to blame someone else for the changes we know we should be making in our lives. But no one will ever work harder than a person who is WILLING to accept change and isn't affraid of hard work.
It doesn't matter if you walk, bike, run lift weights, change your diet-what matters is that you take responsibility for your actions DAILY!!! Make these changes happen EVERYDAY for the rest of your life.
Your journey begins with just a single step, but your marathon is your life-make sure you take daily steps in that race as well.
