Shaping Up. Sizing Down.

I have always been able to eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I have been told it is because I have a high metabolism. Never thought much about it, I didn't need to. I didn't see any adverse effects for being careless with what I ate. 

But after moving to Utah in 2007, I did start to notice the numbers on the scale start to climb and my clothes start to fit tighter and tighter until I couldn't get them on at all. Stress, age, altitude, emotional issues (that's a whole 'nother blog entry). Whatever it was, I didn't like it. So I decided that I would try running (EVERYONE in Utah ran, best to join the crowd). I planned out a route and pushed myself to get 3 miles in almost every day. After 3 months of mostly brisk walking, I got to jogging without too much trouble. My lungs would expand and I didn't feel like I was wheezing anymore. I felt good. Plus I lost 10 lbs! 

And then the inevitable happened...I started feeling lethargic, tired. Didn't eat much. Slept whenever I could. My skin and eyes took on a shade of yellow, which indicated exactly what I thought was going to happen as a result of not keeping my heart rate down, I was jaundice. Thank you stupid Spherocytosis blood disorder. My reaction? I gave up. Threw caution to the wind and ate whatever, whenever, never exercised (why should I? I just got sick from doing it anyway). Well, those 10 lbs. quickly found their way back, and they brought friends. 

Up until March this year, I just dealt with having my clothes too tight, having only 1 pair of jeans that fit, looking like I was 5 months pregnant. My parents had been on a weight loss program called Take Shape for Life, also known as MediFast, since October. They have had great results and my sister's all joined with them and they too have shed the pounds and inches. It seemed too hard for me. I was lazy after all and full of excuses. I wasn't ready to give up my Cheetoes and sour cream and cheese and pizza and sushi and potatoes....

That being said, in mid March, I had a thought come to me to really think about the food I ate in the past month. What grossed me out the most was remembering the weekend binges of ranch dip and Wavy Lay's. 1 pound of sour cream mixed with 1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch mix can be eaten with 2 bags of Lay's chips. Times that by 3 weekends. That would be 3 pounds of dip and 6 bags of chips I put in my body in February. Gross.

So I talked to my mom about the difficulty of the Take Shape for Life program. Was I really strong enough to follow through with it? I had a hundred excuses fly through my mind while listening to her. And of course the strongest voice was telling me I couldn't do it. I was weak. I can't. I can't. I can't. 

One deep breath and out came the words "Let's do it". I verbally committed myself and before I could change my mind, my mom had the order of food in (via her iPhone)...tricky, huh? 

During the week I waited for my food to arrive, I was in survival mode...I wasn't going to be able to eat normal food! Ah! Hurry! Eat everything! Pizza, hamburgers, fries (lots of fries), sushi, chips, chips and more chips....well, that was dumb. Tasty, but dumb. 3 more lbs. found me that week.

Finally, Monday morning came. April 9, 2012 is the day I started to remove the excuses and the 15-20 lbs. that I would prefer not be on my body. I could do this. I was going to do this. 

Today is only the third day...but I have already lost 4 pounds! (I know, I really shouldn't be getting on the scale everyday, but I am so happy to see that number going down! What a great motivator to stick with it!) My goal for the rest of the week is to NOT get on the scale until Monday morning. Ah! That will be hard. I think I will have to have Jim hide it ;)

Not only is the 4 lb. loss amazing to me, but the fact that I really am not wanting to put other food in my mouth. Last night I was at a meeting that had strawberry shortcake...didn't even think about wanting it. For me, that is huge! 

Let's hope this new found dedication continues and that I will be able to reach my goal: 

15 lbs by May 9th. 

4 down....11 to go.



My sister Kourtney, put her story on her blog as well with more information and links about Take Shape for Life. It was definitely inspiring to me. Check it out here :)