Healthy 2019

My health hasn’t always been something I’ve paid much attention to. Don’t get me wrong, when something unordinary goes wrong, I go to the doctor. What I’m talking about is exercising, eating right, taking the appropriate steps to ensure my body is in top shape. I don’t do that. I haven’t done that. But perhaps it’s time to reevaluate that frame of mind.

Before I met SS, I would eat almost every single meal out. It was fast food all the time. Just about the only time I had anything even close to home cooking or healthy, was when Thanksgiving or Christmas would roll around. I couldn’t gain weight to save my life. In fact, I still have a pair of size 1 jeans that I obviously can’t fit into now. When we moved in together, we started cooking actual meals. Some healthy, some not, but I was getting more nutrients and sustenance than I was before, so started to put on the weight. At 127 pounds, I’m thinking it’s time to start changing my body shape to something I’m a little happier about.

When I turned 38, I started feeling things change in my body. My knees started to hurt more, my back would randomly hurt at inopportune times, and I couldn’t comfortably sleep in the same positions I always had. Things were changing, and I wasn’t okay with it. I tried to fight it, but do you want to know what happened? My knees got worse, I got into a car accident and my back got worse, and I was sleeping less and less every night.

One day, SS’s folks came over with a giant economy sized bottle of Glucosamine and Chondroitin. I had never heard of this stuff, but they had been taking it for quite some time, and it was helping with their pain. So, I decided to give it a try. What could it hurt? The pain I was feeling when I would stand up, was beginning to become too much, and this could be a solution.

After about three weeks of taking it, I noticed I was able to stand up without slowly limping like an old lady. The everyday pain in my knees was gone. I was shocked. It hasn’t helped the pain in my back, likely because it’s completely unrelated to joint pain, but it has helped my knee pain tremendously. I’ve read several things since, and it seems that results are conflicting. What works for one, doesn’t seem to work for another. I’m here to tell you that it has helped me.

Now that I’m 40, and things are changing at a much more rapid pace, I feel the sense of urgency. I know what my grandparents looked like when they were 70. Do I want to be like that? Because honestly, I’m headed that direction. It’s extremely hard to do these things when I don’t have anyone around to push me. It’s what motivates me. I have coworkers that go to the gym and work out, and another who is really into powerlifting, and another who is really into hiking, but they’re coworkers. They live their own lives and have their own agendas. I’ve concluded that I just need to do this on my own. I just need to step out of my comfort zone and attack it head-on.

Here’s to a healthier 2019!

Calorie counting

I have never, not once, not even as part of an experiment, counted calories. I’ve never had to watch what I eat. I eat anything and everything. I do not eat healthy. I do not eat vegetables. Ew. Anything green makes me want to vomit. I eat chips, fast food, and lots of other junk (not usually sweets, though) on a daily basis.

I have never, not once, counted calories.

Sis recently participated in a weight loss contest at her work. For a couple of months, several people competed against each other. I watched her count calorie after calorie, and pass up rather delicious food, just to be able to say, “I WON!”. And she did. She won $260.

Today, I downloaded a calorie counter app. I’m not doing it to lose weight. My 110lb physic doesn’t need to lose anything else. It’s just fine. However, I am just a little bit curious about my calorie intake.

I entered in my stats, and it calculated some things for me. I entered in everything I’d eaten today, so far, and Wha-La! As of 5:08pm, I was only allowed 415 more calories today. And I hadn’t even eaten dinner yet. Or had my late night snacks. Uh oh. I think I’m in trouble. :-(  It’s 8:04pm, and my meter currently reads -435.

There’s no doubt I don’t eat healthy, I just wonder how I keep losing weight.

It’s a struggle to keep the pounds on, I swear.

At my heaviest weight during my pregnancy, I was 158lbs. Before that, I was a whopping 107. (I have a photo somewhere around here.)

RM#1 came home from the ranch yesterday and said, “I saw MF (she’s a WE I see once every three or four months and happened to have seen the day prior) today and she said, “I saw Val yesterday and she looks so thin. Is she okay?” RM#1 told her I’d been sick recently, but other than that, no weight changes.

See! This is what happens when I wear clothes that are fitting. When I’m at home, I tend to dress like I’m at home. I’m relaxed, and not often seen wearing anything but sweat pants and a wife beater. When I’m heading to the ranch during the day, I’m dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. In the winter, a sweatshirt or jacket is a must for me. Under all that, you can’t see the skinny little me that exists.

I don’t eat healthy. I don’t eat vegetables. I eat a lot of pasta and LOVE bread. I enjoy a good salad every few days, but it’s always covered in Thousand Island or Ranch dressing, and the only kind of lettuce I’ll eat is Iceberg. Not exactly the healthiest salad. There are weeks I’ll eat nothing but fast food. (Note: when I eat fast food, it’s often I don’t eat the entire meal. fries aren’t something I typically finish, and if I get a burger of some sort, I never finish it.) I don’t drink a lot of sodas. I probably have two Cokes a week. The rest of the time, it’s water or iced tea (no lemon, no sweetener). I don’t eat sugary sweets. Donuts, once every four or five months. Candy, once a month. Cookies, once a month.

           

So, please, the next time you see me, know that I’m not doing anything shady in order to stay under 110lbs. The 108 lbs I currently am, is the same I’ll continue to average. It’s the way I’m built. About a year ago, I think I topped 114. There are a few things different today that I could blame for the drop in weight, but in reality, I’m just thin. I can’t change it. Love me or hate me, it is who I am.

Happy Sunday!