Simple sacrifices
It’s tough to submit your thoughts for a “Health/Fitness Success Story” contribution when ‘success’ feels so bloody ephemeral. I think that’s what this quest is though, so I suppose it’s rather fitting.
Travel back in time with me for a moment:
August, oh, 15th or so, 2008. I take vacation with my family (immediate and extended) the same week every year, the last week in August. I had been dieting in fits and starts for months, never managing to lose more than 5 lbs or so, and always managing to put them back on somehow. (Somehow=cheesecake, chicken wings, pasta, key lime pie martinis, oh with the martinis…)
Actually, time travel back even further: When I met my (now fiancée) four years ago, I was a healthy size 6. Not my smallest (2), far from my largest (22). I joined Jeff on this vacation shortly after we met, and have some of the best memories possible of that time and place. Holding that in my head and heart…
I was determined to be a semblance of my former self for the family vacation this year. I’ve gone nuts with weight loss in the past though (50 lbs. in 3 months once, that’s insanity) and was equally determined not to drive myself with that sense of depravation or craving (again with the martinis). I didn’t want to “lose” the weight as much as find it and finish it off completely for good, amen. That meant accepting it could take some time (you would not believe how I grappled with that concept).
Since mid-August, I’ve modified my diet to cut out starches, breads, pasta, sugar, the usual carb-culprits (including, unfortunately, the easy fruit snacks). I aim for healthy sources of “the good” fat, keep up my protein (lean meats) and fiber intake (veggies), and drink the ubiquitous copious amounts of water. I happen to be friends with water, so that wasn’t hard.
What was hard? The sugar cravings, at times. But I’ve come to be fine with sugar-free gelatin with a squirt of full-fat cool whip for dessert. I eat it sitting on the couch at night, while Lola (almost 3) slurps on her (also sugar free) freezy pop. We watch Dora and I imagine stealing Boots’ banana and dousing it in chocolate syrup.
Exercise-wise…I used to be a happy slave to the gym. I (for real!) love working out, love lifting weights, and in fact bought a zippy bike and child trailer attachment this past summer. The time-suck machine, however, works all too well. So these days, instead of an “I’m going to go work out now bye” approach, I’ve surrendered to the time constraints and incorporate exercise into my transportation routine.
Instead of driving to the diner for our Saturday morning breakfasts, we walk or bike. Then we hit the deli and pet store on the way back and cross off those errands. I now have a nanny that comes to the house (cue choir of angels singing) but had actually gotten into the habit of biking Lola to the sitter in the mornings. We loved it.
I bus to work, and sometimes walk to the next stop up, or get off before I need to and get in a few minutes there. I’m lucky to work in a downtown environment where I’m able to walk and run errands at lunch as well.
In addition to a full-time job (which requires massive amounts of travel) I also own and run a karaoke business on the side. This has me out 1-2 nights a week, and forces me to actually execute on planning ahead for grocery shopping and meals. This means researching menus for nutritional info, doing the shopping, and putting the time in that meal prep requires. This (quite often, actually) can truly blow. But if I don’t do it (or gently nudge the fiancée to please help with all this JEBUS) meals are a stress-fest and everyone’s grumbly. (Grousing aside, my fiancée is fantastic and I do deploy my older girls as well. My twins are seniors in high school, and remarkably helpful in many ways. Just for the record: “Fiancée” is a dumb word.) Oh and PS I have a 20 year old in CA, and a 19 year old studying in London this term. So yah, 5 daughters, 3 of whom are home yet, and one of whom likes to talk talk talk all the time with the talking and practice her counter-climbing-mastery skills while you’re cooking. Oh, and my fiancée’s brother rents a downstairs bedroom from us. Meals are a big annoying deal at our house.
To date, I’ve lost 28 lbs. My fiancée, following similar dietary habits, has lost 20. I started chasing this version of myself at a size 18. I’m now comfortably in 8/10, ever after the elusive size 6 (another 10-15 lbs). I’m 36, 4’11″.
Every time I tell myself I’ve stalled I remind myself to shut it. What I’ve done is made simple sacrifices in order make progress in an area that’s very important to me. Am I there yet? No, because, blast it all, there is no “there”. My plan is to challenge myself further with exercise, and keep making smart food choices that work for me. Shaken, not stirred.
– article by Marivic , who writes at thatMarivic