Resolution 2014: Back to Basics

This is me when I was fit, running a 5K, something I did 3 or 4 times a year until fairly recently. But I wasn’t always a runner. A decade ago, I was about as far from being a runner as you can get.

Back in 2001, a visit to my doctor for an annual checkup caused me to take a good, hard look at my 25-year-old self and the road I was headed down. Mostly sedentary and entrenched in bad eating habits, diabetes was just waiting to knock on my door, along with a host of other ailments. That same week, my pastor gave a striking sermon on honoring God by stewarding your health. I was galvanized into action. I took a nutrition class, joined a gym, and over the next year and a half, lost 105 pounds and dropped six clothing sizes. I worked out five days a week, counted calories, ate salads for dinner almost every night. I had never felt better. I loved my new lifestyle, loved my new body. I kept the weight off for the next eight years. With that kind of maintenance, I thought I was safe from a relapse. And then, everything changed.

For years, I’ve been hearing people (okay, married people with children) say how much easier it is to be goal-oriented when you’re single and childless, because there’s nothing to steal your focus. I used to think to myself, “I don’t care what they say. I’ll never ever let my healthy lifestyle slip. I’ll never go back to eating badly. I’ll never stop going to the gym. I’ve come too far to let that happen.” Well, friends, at nearly two and a half years into marriage and 18 months into parenthood, I’m ready to humbly admit that all those people were right. Marriage and parenthood bring epic changes to your life, and if you don’t have a plan to stay on track in the face of all that change, they can be real curveballs. They were for me.

I’m not blaming my precious family for my failure to stay on the health wagon. I wouldn’t go back to my single life for anything. I’m just trying to be real here. The choices have all been mine. I’m the one who has chosen to let healthy eating slide. I’m the one who has chosen not to work out on so many days. People tell you that marriage can make you too comfortable, that it’s easy to become lazy, to let your healthiest habits slide. I knew the dangers, and I allowed it to happen anyway. When it was clear in 2009 that my salad-for-dinner life was over, I should have made adjustments to compensate. I should have stuck to my regular gym routine. Instead, I told myself, “It’s okay. I’m in good enough shape to let things slide a little. I’ll eventually get back to business.” And now, here I am. My workouts are sporadic, my eating is sometimes mindless. I have in no way returned to the all-out bad habits of my pre-fit life, but I stopped counting calories and stopped making exercise one of my top priorities.

My best workout time has never been first thing in the morning. I’m sluggish. It takes me at least an hour to really come alive in the morning, which means I just don’t perform very well if I hit the gym right after rolling out of bed. My best fitness time has always been later in the day, and with an 8-5 job, that meant working out came after work. After I met E, working all day, then working out, showering, and getting prettied up all over again meant I didn’t see my boyfriend until 7 p.m. on days I worked out. So my good habits started to slide, and they kept right on sliding through engagement and marriage. By the time I got pregnant with L, I was up 30 pounds. Pregnancy left me with 30 more.

Parenting added an additional complication: lack of energy. Mainly, I’ve been just so darn tired, and I’ll just say honestly that I think age may have a little something to do with it. All the nights of interrupted sleep have been a mountain I can’t seem to conquer at age 38, whereas I might have brushed them off easily at 25. It’s finally getting better, with L sleeping through the night about 50 percent of the time. If she does wake up, it’s brief.

I’ve recognized that I’ll probably never be able to go back to 5 p.m. workouts, and it’s impossible to work out later in the evening. By the time dinner, play time, bath time, and bed time are over, I’m spent.  6-8 a.m. is the time I spend here, with all of you. Basically, that leaves my lunch hour as the only available workout time Monday through Friday. I also realize that going back to salad for dinner is not an option. I cook nutritious, well-rounded dinners for my family six days a week, and it’s ludicrous to consider not eating the same meal. It’s time to assess other things, like the content of my breakfast and lunch each day, and my portion sizes at dinner, so that I can keep on feeding my family well without compromising my own weight loss.

My longtime friend Melissa, who is a coach at Beachbody, has started an accountability group for the month of January. I’ve joined her group, and I’m going to report in on my results here, too, throughout the year. It’s kind of ugly, putting myself out there for the world to see, but I know the commitment to my accountability group and to all of you will help me stay motivated and committed. So here’s the goal: 60 pounds in 12 months, 3 sizes, and as many inches as it takes. That’s five pounds a month, and yes, it’s the same goal I wanted to achieve last year. The difference is that this year, I’m partnering with a group of people, and with you, to make it happen. I’ll post more later on my interim goals, the reward system I’ve created for myself, and my strategies, so stay tuned.

If you want to join me, leave a comment below, and we can do this thing together.

Blessings,

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