America is Fat. And getting fatter. Sadly, I am no exception.
As a child, I grew fast. By my early teenage years, I reached my adult height of 6 feet. When you are growing that fast, you can't keep weight on - but you are eating house and home. I am not sure how I turned into a picky eater - but I definitely had a limited color palate for food. If it wasn't in the white/yellow realm, I probably wasn't going to eat it (read, I loved starches, and not so much the vegetables).
As my father so kindly pointed out, "Once you stop growing up, you start growing out!" And out I did. My own family called me Two Tons of Fun. I was obese by no means, and I slowly leaned out as I didn't have to eat to keep up with growth spurts. As a high schooler, I ate like a teenager - fast foods, sodas, junk food, heavily processed foods. Still limited to a small food palate.
Now something special happened in college. Add alcohol to buffet style unlimited eating for every meal - you have a recipe for weight gain. I put on the Freshman 40 (or so I said). I maxed out at about 199 pounds. Yes, I just admitted my weight publicly.
There is this magical point were you realize you have to change something. It has to be met by a desire and determination to change. I found it with the help of my family the summer after my freshman year of college. I don't remember the details of how I got to that point and mindset, but I just remember thinking that I was fat and hating it.
So I started paying attention to what I was eating for the first time in my life. I learned how to eat salads with broccoli and less cheese/dressings and more vegetables (don't get too excited, I am still a picky eater). I drank less and cut out the sugary mixed drinks. I started working out, mainly cardio for about an hour a day, 5 times a week.
My eating wasn't great but my workout dedication was. In less than year, I was in better shape and health than when I entered college. I dropped down to around 165 lbs. Life was good.
I kept most of the weight off. I found kickboxing as my main source of cardio - and once again I couldn't eat enough! It was like being a kid again. As with life, things changed again. I changed jobs and thereby changed lifestyles.
Traveling 100% for my job left me living out of hotels and on 3 restaurant meals a day. I would come home on the weekends, not to go to the grocery store or cook, but to eat out more. An uncertain schedule on the road left me kept me from workingout - in reality only I kept myself from working out.
So, I watched the weight go back up. I remember last Lent seeing someone post on Facebook a comment that Lent was not about dieting or losing weight - and it dawned on me - people so often just need a good 30 or so days of removing bad habits to get them back on track.
Back in June, I decided that I had had enough with gaining weight again. I took a "Lent" approach and decided to try to give up "bad stuff" one month at a time. You can do anything for a month, right? I only had to do it for a month, and then when I allow it back into my diet, hopefully I won't be craving it, but rather have it in limited quantities.
Here is what I have tried out so far:
June - Nothing fried - this was hard - but it made me realize how much stuff was fried. Chips - I wouldn't even go out to eat Mexican because I couldn't resist the chips/salsa!
July - No sodas - I found that I switched to drinking more sweet tea - so this month was a wash for me. I probably need to do it again only without sweetened drinks.
August - No meat - I actually am sticking with a vegetarian diet - I loved this and found that I ate healthier, less fried, and virtually no fast food when I do this. I like the taste and the options for vegetarians. I found it to be cheaper (with the higher costs of meat) and that I get more protein as I am conscious of what I am eating.
September - No alcohol - I hated this month. I enjoy my glass of wine with dinner or with a group of friends. I found that I substituted desserts or snacks for a glass of wine. The good news - well, bad news for my gas bill, I was able to be the DD for all of our events this month.
Next month - I am thinking about requiring myself to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Who knows - I just try to think of what I should be doing, but not a great job of doing and that is my goal.
So while I am not my college weight and I will never be a size 2 - I am exercising more and eating healthier. I will never be the girl that doesn't eat cake or survives on rabbit food (salads only). I am going to enjoy chocolate and good wine.
What I have realized through all of this... weight management and health is a life long process - I don't think that you can "diet" and reach an end goal. My 30 day challenges make me stronger and help me focus on my health - it really takes will power. Life is about balance and learning about yourself - and being happy with it!
