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Let it begin today...

I plan to start sharing here how my journey for my weight loss and improved strength and flexibility moves forward (or backward). I started including those thoughts when I jumped fully on the bandwagon a couple years ago.  I’ll try to go back and link those few posts here.

You’ll notice I just started calling it what it is.  Yes, I want to lose weight.  No, I don’t want to be skinny or a size 7. I want to live longer, live better, have enough strength in my hands to hold and carry babies and toddlers, and to pour water into the coffee pot without my wrist giving out on me. I want my bone density to be healthy and support my body for as long as possible.  I have a lot of things I still hope to do in this life time and I need my health and strength.  Flexibility is so much more important that I ever could have imagined.  Stretching during my walks has been the solution to so many issues with my feet.

So, there you have it.  The continuation of my journey.  I always end up swimming in the same old neighborhood of spiritual issues concerning the desire to lose weight. It’s a strange thing. I’ve actually heard the voice in my head saying, maybe losing weight is not what God has planned for you.  It’s pure vanity, pride, selfishness. Maybe you shouldn’t go that direction.  What? Really? Because I’m pretty sure gluttony is a big issue in some places in scripture. But mostly, it’s about taking care of the body that He gave me for this one and only life I get to experience on earth. The temple of the Holy Spirit, the living God. I’m pretty sure keeping it healthy and strong would be on the to-do list rather than the not-to-do list.  Just sayin’

So the status right now? MyFitnessPal says I started at 215 on Friday, July 12, 2013.  That’s almost four years ago as of this writing. 214 on Monday, September 29, 2014. 207 on Friday, January 30, 2015. Back up to 210 on Saturday, August 8, 2015. That’s when it got real.

My sister-in-love discovered she had issues with gluten and started cutting out carbs. She dropped weight so quickly it was unbelievable. It wasn’t her fast weight loss that impressed me though. It was the fact that she was able to keep it off. I’d never really seen anyone I personally knew lose weight and keep it off for the long haul. I’ve seen plenty of weight loss, and the yo-yo affect that so often accompanies it. I just hate the idea of battling my body my whole life only to live in that space.

I digress...

Anyway, that’s when I started getting serious about logging what I was eating and making changes. I weight trained with my daughter for several months, and although I can’t say I loved the work, I did for sure LOVE the results. I’m really ticked at myself for stopping when I did. :-( My favorite change was my frequent walks in the park - even in the temperature extremes of hot July and August and the cold in November and December. I cannot tell a lie, though, this year the cold extremes did keep me from walking during December and still today in February I have not yet fully resumed the habit. I’m waiting, waiting, waiting for a bit warmer weather.

With the changes I made, I reached my bottom weight of 176.5 pounds on Sunday, October 30, 2016. Two days after the second wedding of two daughters that month. :-0  Then came Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, birthdays, Valentines (whatever - quit making excuses).  By March 26, 2017 I was weighing in at 184.1. And so it began - the gradual and sustained journey of gaining weight back.  Then came our two week vacation in August. By September 23, 2017, the scale said 192. Damn it. Here we go. Then Christmas, again. On Wednesday, December 27, 2017 the scale was screaming 206 pounds again. I promised I would never see that number on a scale again.

So, here we are. I’m trying to get back on board. It’s been too cold to walk outdoors and I have not made the choice to go to the Y and walk or do anything else for that matter. We’ve been paying for a membership for 16 years and we never use it. That’s about to change. That was the last time I saw 200 anything on the scale. I pray it’s the last time I ever will. This week, the scale started climbing again - I weigh every day and figure the average at the end of the week to know what’s really happening.  Too many fluctuations in a week to see a clear I picture without this technique.

Two days ago, I wrote a menu and logged my plan in advance. Yesterday I stayed pretty close to my macros. The scale came down immediately. My goal is to start all in again. Sharing this is part of my effort - accountability. It will also help me see what I was thinking and feeling when I look back. So, in my future Day Book posts, there will be a category for health, fitness, weight loss journey - something like that. Because it is more than just losing weight. It’s about improving my ability to live well and love well. And that is my ultimate goal. I pray that if I am able to love well and live well, I will, at the end of this life, hear, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.” And that is my ultimate prayer and purpose in this life.

Peace (and a gentle and quiet spirit)

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