Tuesday, March 22, 2011

A journey of 1000 miles...



...begins with the first step. That old cliché rings true for me, as my 1000-mile (or 100 pound) journey started today. The past few days have found me in full-on spring cleaning mode. As I've been purging cabinets and closets and hidden corners, it felt like my house was getting lighter. Looking into my closet and seeing all of the junk gone and the shelves neatly organized felt so good. Then, yesterday, it hit me: if getting rid of the figurative "fat" around the house made me feel so good, wouldn't getting rid of the literal fat around my body make me feel even better? The little light bulb above my head definitely came on yesterday.

I'll be the first to admit that I am not a fit person. My activity level rivals that of a garden slug. Food is my friend, my lover, my confidant, and my comforter. After the past two years, which have been particularly hellacious, I'm at an all time low. (Or high, if we're referring to my weight.) A diagnosis of hypertension back in November put me on red alert that I am not the healthy 22-year old girl I once was. Now that I'm used to the medications and have been cleared for exercise, I finally found the gumption to get to the Y and sign up. I joined Weight Watchers online as well and have been busily tracking my points and filling out my profile. Tomorrow, I will attend my first WW meeting, and Thursday I have orientation at the Y at 9:00 am sharp.

Here I am on Day 1 of my journey to find the new me. I'm trying very hard to be realistic here. I know that I will never burst through a huge paper reproduction of my "before" picture and be the sort of skinny, muscular goddess you see on The Biggest Loser. I'm almost positive I won't ever weigh 125 lbs. (Not without contracting some sort of fun old-timey disease like consumption or the Black Plague.) My goal is to get to a healthy weight, have a healthy BMI, get my blood pressure down without meds and hopefully not have a stroke before I'm 50. I want to be there for my kids as they grow, and I want to be able to participate in their lives.

So today I took that first step of many. It may seem like a baby step to some, but it's a huge step to me. And I can't wait to take all of the many steps to come!








4 comments:

  1. squeeeeeeeee ! I'm the first to follow ur blog ! How excited I am !!! wooo hoooo ! yeppers, I'm following ! :) I love ya chica !

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  2. Stupid effing Google won't let me follow you. This is 2011, I shouldn't hafta remember my passwords!

    Sofa king frustrated.

    You shall reside on my toolbar. Take that, Google.

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  3. This. is. AWESOME!! I shall read this and hope to find my willpower...you seem to have a bunch. I can haz some of yours?

    I'm really proud of you, Jen. I have every confidence you will find your way to a healthier self. :) Take me along for the ride, please?

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  4. Lori, there's plenty of room in the car on this road trip. Hop in whenever you're ready--I'll be here!

    I only wish it hadn't taken this long and a major health scare to get me motivated. The good thing is that it's not too late to make changes!

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