February 6, 2019

Fit 2019 – February Check-in

verabear The 100 Day Project 2 Comments

What FIT means for me

This year, I have resolved to once again take charge of my health and wellness – to be FIT! I did a pretty good job of it for a good part of 2017 through the early parts of 2018, and it has meant a lot of good things for me, including but not limited to:

• Better-fitting into clothes that made me feel really confident
• Being able to walk straight (instead of crooked), a bit faster and for longer distances too
• Going up the steps without losing breath too quickly or having to rest every now and again
• Having regular menstrual periods (maybe not regular, but definitely better than before)
• Generally feeling better!
• Losing 40 pounds!

Getting to my healthiest self felt so good, losing the weight was really just icing on the cake. Fit is about these things and more – not so much about the weight or how I look.

My health & wellness ‘secret’ sauce

Getting healthier wasn’t an overnight success. This was achieved by taking it one step a time, day after day after day. Making better food choices, taking the right supplementation, and also choosing to lace up and follow a workout 3 to 5 times a week. It also meant keeping junk food and too much sweets off of our grocery cart.

I also had a great support system who cheered me through it all. My husband was a big part of it – working out with me sometimes, trying to cook more of the stuff on my list of foods to enjoy, and switching to black rice with me for good.

I guess it’s not such a secret after all. It’s true what they all say: proper diet and exercise is really all that it takes. Let’s just say I had good advise on what that actually meant. And that’s why losing the weight was such a positive and healthy experience for me instead of being a painful or stressful one. And I know it could be like that.

Falling off the ‘wagon’

In the last quarter of 2018, I allowed myself to slip up on one too many of the good habits I developed for over a year. I had let myself indulge on food that I thought made me happy but really only made me feel overstuffed in the end; my workouts were too spread out, until I just stopped exercising altogether. When at work, I sat around too much instead of finding opportunities to walk around.

Before the year ended, I had felt stuff that signalled my brain that I was in a state of emergency!

• I felt bloated
• I found myself walking awkwardly, and breathing heavily far too soon
• Sometimes I would feel pain on my lower back – maybe from too much sitting around, or perhaps for the weight I had gained back
• And then stepping on the scale confirmed what I had suspected all along: I had gained over 10 pounds throughout the holidays.

This made me feel really bad. Lucky for me, I already know what it takes to get back on track. I have the solution! I just needed to put it in action.

Game Changer

In January, I set up my Passion Planner to help me outline my wellness goals, list actionable steps to take and track them. Hitting my health goals is my Game Changer.

I feel it is so because so much ties back to being truly well and healthy: it means having the energy to do so much more. To be well lends to doing well. It means being better, so I can do better.

So I am making self-care a priority. I do this out of love for myself, not out of a need for punishment. I have no desire to lose weight FAST so I am not going to be pressured in to doing heavier and more challenging workouts when I am not ready for them. I know that those could potentially make me burn more, but I also learned from experience that too much exercise is a lot like too much stress – it tends to harm me.

Celebrating Each Success

This is not to say that everything has been smooth-sailing so far. In truth, I have only met my goal of exercising 5x a week twice last month. There was a week I exercised only twice. For a few days last month I bled too heavily so I prioritised getting ample rest over working out.

That is something I’ve also been working on: rest. I have sleep apnea and have trouble going to bed, I am training myself to sleep better, otherwise, I will not exercise when sleep deprived.

So I’m not the model for a strict routine, but I am still winning at this game. And I intend to keep on winning.

I had junk food one week, and finished up a whole bag of chocolate chip cookies on my own on another. But I’d been pretty consistent with watching my portions, and having veggies with my meals.

I celebrate every win, because each one counts, and is an inspiration to win more.

If you’re also taking steps to care for your health better this year, feel free to share your progress. Specially if you need some cheering on. I know how it feels to do everything and not see the weight go right away. I want to be there for you to tell you to hang in there, and keep going! Cheers to achieving our health and wellness goals for 2019!