1. Get jobs
2. Get our own place
3. Figure out the lay of the land
Ha! Winning! Except there are 9.5 months left in 2012, and idle hands and yada yada yada. Clearly I set the bar way too low when I made these goals (but it really didn't seem like they would be that achievable at the time). So, I'm going to make a few new goals to work towards for the duration of 2012! Doesn't "goal" sound better than "resolution"? Less political, in my not so humble opinion.
Where was I? Oh, yes, goals. It is about to get all sorts of selfish up in here, folks. What I really, finally, absolutely need to tackle at this point in my life is the matter of my health. Or rather, my lack of health. I'm overweight, out of shape, and the amount of potential health problems that I will likely face in my future is quite frightening if I don't do something, and soon. I'm 29. After suffering through gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, I'm worried that both of these issues will return in the non-pregnancy form at the rate I'm going.
{this is one of first pictures I saw that really caught my attention. I knew I was overweight, but I thought maybe no one else noticed, ha ha ha}
Of all people, my little sister (younger and MUCH smaller than me) said the most profound thing as a status on Facebook a few days ago. She said, "Losing weight and eating healthy is hard. Being fat is hard. Pick your hard." That was a real "light bulb" moment for me. Duh. I found myself repeating the phrase "pick your hard" any time I faced food for the last few days. I also started planning my future, and how I would eat and physically exert myself going forward.
{check me out - all 6 months post partum, still rockin' the maternity jeans and shirt... and the underarm fat, and that was over 7 months ago!}
Something that I've long been a fan of is the Paleo eating movement, and the Crossfit exercise phenomenon. Paleo is attractive to me because it a form of a lower carbohydrate diet, except there is no counting involved. No point or carb counting. Merely a "these are the categories of foods that you can eat from, do what you will." Fruit and Starchier foods such as potatoes should be eaten in moderation until you are at a healthy weight. Isn't that EASY?!? Well, yes and no. {isn't that always the answer?} One of my main setbacks is my inability to say no. I'll eat heart attack on a plate to avoid hurting people's feelings. I don't expect that other people should have to become experts at my diet, and when I find myself eating in public or food someone else has cooked for me, I will eat things that are completely unhealthy for me just to avoid a potential confrontation. This behavior is silly, and it needs to stop. I would never be offended if someone with diabetes turned down a slice of chocolate cake I had baked, and I'm going to find myself in that exact situation if I don't unf#ck my eating habits.
{I'd like to get closer to this. Actually, I want to get better than this, but this is a nice place to get headed towards.}
Regarding Crossfit, it is just the most awesome thing ever. The new Reebok commercials call it the "Sport of Fitness." It is like Curves for people that actually want to get in shape. Ok, I shouldn't say that - I'm sure Curves is fine. But I want to be able to do a million pull-ups, push-ups, burpees and box-jumps, run a mile, swim a mile, all while chewing on a steak. Does that make sense?
{Not the best picture of me, but one of my favorites because it shows what my face looks like when it isn't buried under fat. Oh, to be a college freshman once again! I still have that sweater!}
Unfortunately, Crossfit it more expensive than a gym membership. I think it would be $190.00 a month for a "couple" membership for both Josh and I. When you look at it in the grand scheme of things, $190.00 is not a lot for what you get. There are two Crossfit Clubs in Greenville, and one in Greer, so after we get this whole schedule with me working thing figured out, we'll have to finally get signed up! This has been a goal of ours for a long time, and it will be nice to finally make it happen!
{the current sad reality, as witnessed in these cellphone self portraits}
This post is already long enough, but there are a few more things related to health that I want to focus on, and that is making an effort to improve my physical appearance in addition to losing weight and working out. Bless my husband, he is no scrub, and rarely does he venture into public without "getting ready." My "getting ready" usually consists of slapping on a t-shirt and a pony tail holder. Do I have shoes on? Lets go! I don't know what happened to me, but that doesn't really matter. I've read way to many studies about how much BETTER you feel when you actually put in the time to get ready for the day. I know that I've been waiting for that magical day when all my clothes from 10 years ago fit again to finally bust the curling iron and makeup out on a regular basis (why bother slapping a new coat of paint on a broken down car, afterall) but I realize that my attitude sucks, and needs to change.
Where was I going with all of this? Oh - yeah - the goals. Simple enough:
1. Follow the Paleo lifestyle for diet
2. Get signed up and GO TO Crossfit as soon as we can swing it
3. Get ready every.single.day.
4. Replace clothing with the right size (in less frumpy varieties) as I shrink.
All of these things should add up to me achieving some pretty amazing results over the next 9.5 months! And as much as I HATE to blog about dieting (a big part of me wishes that I could just silently eat the right way, make no big deal about it and just get results) I really think that posting about it regularly will help me out, so all 3 of you should expect regular posts about what I'm eating, climbing, and shrinking into, and maybe photographic evidence of my strides to be less frumpy.
Awesome Kerith! You will do well. You will also find that you make better eating decisions once you get into the swing of exercising regularly too. You can do it lady ;-).
ReplyDeleteWay to go Kerith! It's really easy to fall into that slumpy mode and not do anything to yourself during the day. I catch myself like that oh, once or twice a week....esp. when I know I am not going anywhere. (Or atleast I THINK I am not going anywhere...but that's when I unexpectedly get invited/told to/have to go out.) Get up, get dressed to the shoes, get ready-hair/makeup so you feel better about yourself and you'll find yourself so motivated to do whatever else comes at you during the day. Yep...that was a pep talk to you and to me, my friend. ;) Have a wonderful Birthday!
ReplyDeleteEating healthy is not hard, my biggest stumbling block with the paleo/primal lifestyle(not a diet) was giving up breads, and baked goods. Departed from paleo for awhile after losing 20 pounds quite easily, and most profoundly losing the belly fat which I had struggled with for years, so much more difficult to lose at my age(57). Truly amazing how paleo lifestyle targets that belly fat!
ReplyDeleteBack on paleo again and committed forever this time. I am so happy to hear that your health and weight concerns have become a priority for you, it truly broke my heart to see the weight you had gained when I last saw you in Arizona a couple years ago. As for my baked goods addiction I have found so many recipes to replace conventional baking. With the use of coconut, coconut flour, coconut manna, coconut palm sugar(so nutritional)almond flour and butter, and numerous other ingredients, I now satisfy myself with paleo breads, muffins, pancakes, cookies, brownies etc. And chocolate/cocoa is good and can have everyday, 85% or more cocao is best. I am always searching for recipes and there are tons out there, order most of my ingredients off of amazon.com, most are hard to find and expensive at grocery stores, unsweetened coconut for instance.Bulk nuts and flours best bought there too, did find good supplier of macadamia nuts on ebay, 3 lb bag and free shipping, best nuts with best omega3/omega6 ratio and so yummy.
Don't feel you have to go out and buy a gym membership or the like right away, lose some weight first and take up some walking with the family in the evenings, looks like you have a nice neighborhood for that, get some weights and do some strength training, find a used stationary bike, thrift store or classifieds, theres a lot you can do at home, eating the paleo diet is the best way to burn fat, start exercising slowly, avoid hurting yourself by beginning too strenuously, concentrate on the diet first. Remember the time constraints of your job and family, committing yourself to some gym/cross training regimen may not be best at this time, finacially or physically. You are such a beautiful woman, you will shine again, I have no doubt. I understand the move complicated things but you both seem to be well on your way finding your comfort zone again with good new jobs again and a new home, congratulations.