Recently my doctor told me that I need to lower my cholesterol within 6 months or I will be placed on a maintenance pill to assist me. After only 30+ years on this Earth, I do not intend to be placed on any type of maintenance medication. I thought when I stopped eating beef and pork almost 15 years ago that I could avoid the heart disease that plagues both sides of my family. Now, I’m not light as a feather and have indulged in my share of fried foods and sweets. I love sour cream and salted butter. Over the past 15 years and 2 pregnancies since I gave up beef and pork, I’ve fluctuated in gaining between 30-50 pounds. Whoa! Writing those numbers down is a little devastating, but I can only blame me for allowing myself to gain that much weight. Because of this I have decided to change my lifestyle.
I’ve been on several fad diets over the years such as shakes, 3 day military diet, lemonade diet, detox diets, etc. I’m pretty good following the different rules short-term, but after awhile I would lose sight of the goal. I have a vision board with positive affirmations, weight goal, and how much I’ve loss. Before I gave up on that, I’d lost 10 lbs. Since I’ve gained back 8.5. Sometimes I’ve wondered what is it going to take for me to get healthy and maintain a healthy weight? Most of the time, I have varied answers, but that typically ends with an excuse for the day.
Until now. My motivation is completely restored. I am absolutely horrible with taking pills daily. Birth control pills? Yeah right. I even had a daily timer and still couldn’t stay on track. Cholesterol pills would be detrimental to my life, so for a permanent failsafe I will eliminate the need. Another motivation was watching this video of 77 year old Ernestine Shepherd. She is a bodybuilder and fitness instructor.
Now, after seeing this video what excuse can I use now? Keeping it all the way real, I have consistency issues and a vein disease that causes chronic pain. But again, she’s 77 and I’m 32. If she ran in my 5k in April she would smoke me and I would be embarrassed. After dealing with the leg thing for over 15 years, I know certain exercises will cause more pain. Really, I just need to think of the greater good and not be so selfish to the better me.
I have a toddler who can have a mother adventurous and capable enough to do whatever she wants me to do. I can feel amazing in my clothes without the aid of shapers or waist trainers. I told my semi-conservative husband that when l reach my goal I’ll be prancing around butter ball naked every moment I can. He won’t stand a chance. I don’t wear footie pj’s or anything remotely close to that now, but when he comes downstairs and I’m cooking his breakfast naked…. I’m just saying. Lol.
Anywho, I’ve now been on this journey for a few weeks and I’ve lost 8 lbs. Everyday I eat breakfast, drink a green smoothie at least once a day, eat smaller portions, eat healthy snacks like the fruit cup I posted previously, exercise via youtube and various apps including the 30 day challenge app, drink lots of water and green tea, follow healthy and fitness posts on various social media sites, etc. I’ve eliminated some bad habits and replaced bad fats with good ones. As you can see, I’m not following one thing. And you know what, that works for me. This is about changing my life and the various elements are aiding me in becoming consistent. I should’ve recognized this year’s ago, but I don’t like routines. I surprise myself by cooking different healthy recipes from various cooks or cookbooks. I make up my own green smoothies and use others recipes. As I work out, I found out my daughter loves it too. Check her out!
Last year, my friends and I participated in the Dirty Girl 5k Mud Run Atlanta. We had so much fun and got so dirty. I didn’t run much because my shins were hurting and they say you don’t have to train in preparation for this day.Thankfully, I had already taken pain meds, so my vein issue didn’t bother me so much. I was late so I had to run to catch up with my group. I was out of breath and wished every hill we encountered would die. This year, I intend for my experience to be completely different. I will begin a 5k training program on March 1st that is laid out in the Nike+ Running app. I’m super stoked about it. Here are a couple pics from last year.
Have you too found yourself wanting to make a change, but can’t stick with it? In your process, what did you find successful and what was challenging? Did you go back to it? Any fitness pros out there that would like to share any tips? Feel free to comment.
💪🍓🍏🍉🍑🍌👟👍 KT
hothoneyedcocoa 