So I suppose you’re wondering what the heck my last blog has to do with me changing my career. There is a point to all this drivel and I will get to it soon, I promise.
When I last left you I had just gotten married, and this was about the time when the serious yo-yo pattern of dieting and exercise started to take complete control of my life. Our first few years of marriage I was little Suzy homemaker … playing the traditional role of a housewife, even though I had a full time job outside of the home. One of my household duties was cooking an extravagant home cooked dinner each and every night. We did eat out at least once a week, but for the most part our meals were homemade, and since I loved to cook and we both liked to eat, we ate good !!
Needless to say, after a few years of eating this way, we both start to notice a little extra junk in the trunk. It’s funny how you don’t see it coming; you just seem to wake up one day and look in the mirror and wonder ‘how the hell did I get this way’ ?? Well we both came to this realization, and we decided to do something about it, together. We started a diet, joined (yet another) gym and started working out. We lost the weight and got into shape and started to feel good about ourselves again. And as soon as we reached our goals, we stopped going to the gym and fell back into our old eating habits. Back came the weight, and the whole cycle started all over again. Sometimes we joined efforts in our quest for good health, sometimes I went it alone, and those times were tough !! If you are in a relationship it’s much easier if your partner is joining you in the battle of the bulge, otherwise it’s much tougher when your eating and exercise habits are not aligned.
I would have to say in all honesty that this up and down pattern continued for the duration of our marriage, which lasted 14 years. I had spurts of regular gym attendance, and like a large percentage of people in the world that join gyms, I attended furiously for the first few months (or weeks) and then abruptly stopped going. I’ve tried various diets along the way too. I tried the Zone Diet, counted calories, hired nutritionists, and I’ve been a member of Weight Watchers several times in my life with successful results each time, however I hesitate to call it successful if you put all the weight back on again, which I did.
When my husband and I first separated I was in pretty decent shape and had been back into a regular schedule at the gym. But just like every other time in my life, once I reached a place where I was happy and feeling good about my body and my health, I fell right back to my old bad habits. Back came all the weight for the umpteenth time in my life. UGH :(
This now brings us to a date approximately 2 years ago from today. Actually I can tell you the exact date (I said it was an obsession right ??). It was October 17, 2008. That was the date I started on yet another journey to lose those extra pounds and tone up the flab that had invaded my body. I was tired of not liking what I saw in the mirror, of going through summers sweating it out in pants because I was too ashamed to wear shorts and reveal my dimply thighs, of covering myself up in baggy and over-sized shirts and sweaters in my efforts to hide the muffin top that precariously peeked out over my ill-fitting polyester pants.
However there is one not-so-subtle difference between all my past efforts and this pilgrimage that I started on that fall day of 2008 … this time I think I finally got it !!!!! It’s been almost 2 years since then, and I’m proud to say the weight has not crept back on :) It took me about 25 weeks to lose close to 27 pounds, so just about a pound a week. Slow yes, but as they say, losing it slowly is the best way to keep it off, and I think they finally got it right this time. I’ve maintained that weight loss for a year and a half now, and in total since my highest known weight I’ve lost a grand total of 35 pounds. That number may not seem huge to everyone out there (no pun intended), but for someone who is all of 5’3” tall with a small bone structure, it was a lot, and in my eyes it was a ton.
Perhaps what I’m most proud of about this latest and LAST effort though, is that I did it all by myself. I didn’t try any fad diets or join any weight loss programs; no cleanses or pills or supplements. I unlocked the key and found the big secret to weight loss that so many people in the world are on a magical quest for … are you ready for it ??
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