I believe if you want to succeed at anything you have to make a serious commitment, sometimes "Excess is necessary." This quote came from my mother's blog which I won't provide a link for since she doesn't want it "out there" yet.
I think this quote is very, very true. I have been blessed with the ability to, once I set my mind to something, to complete it. I'm not a "do it half way and quit" kind of person. If I set a goal. you'd better believe that I'll die trying to complete it. Extreme much? Yes.
So when I moved back home after living with friends for about a year, and eating a steady diet of fast food for breakfast, lunch and dinner (not kidding) and packed on an extra 30 pounds I decided I would start exercising.
I had never, ever been one to exercise. I have been blessed with good genes and even though I had an extra 30 pounds on me, I was still probably considered on the "heavier end of normal" for my height and age. But I felt terrible. My body was not happy or healthy. So I had a pair of old rollerblades and decided that I would rollerblade up to Bridal Veil Falls after work every day. Starting at the mouth of the canyon (The centaur building). Like I said before, once I set my mind to something, there's no turning back. I don't think I missed a day for about 8 months. Rain or shine, I did it all. But it got boring! Doing the same thing every day. So my sister and I started running. We were pathetic at first, we couldn't even go a half mile without stopping. So we made a goal to be able to run 1 mile without stopping and slowly worked up to it. During this time I also started buying workout videos. Of every kind and I subscribed to a Fitness Magazine. I read everything I could get my hands on about exercising and being fit.
I read once where it said that if you want to be healthy you have to make eating healthy and exercising a habit. Habit:
a : a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performanceb : an acquired mode of behavior that has become nearly or completely involuntary <got up early from force of habit>
c : addiction <a drug habit>
It can't just be a "do it every once in a while" and hope it sticks kind of thing. It has to be HABIT. So any eating plan that you couldn't continue for the rest of your life is not good. So cutting out entire food groups is not good.
My mother set a great example for me growing up by never going on a diet or talking about being fat or telling me not to eat something because it would make me that way. My father also was always hiking and doing active things to stay fit. So dieting was never a temptation. I knew from all I'd seen and read that dieting was not the answer. Eating healthy and dieting are two different things. I still ate out, just not as much. I slowly cut out drinking Kool-Aid which was a childhood staple for me and very, very hard to do. But saved me about 6 to 7 hundred calories a day. Yes I drank upwards of 4 or 5 BIG cups a day. I replaced it with water or milk. Which is all I ever drink now and I don't even like flavored drinks any more. People for some reason don't seem to believe me when I say that but I truly don't care for flavored drinks. A small cup every once in a while is fine, but not to drink with a meal. I prefer water. So shoot me.
After the work out videos started getting old, I got a membership to our local REC center and started going to classes. Soon enough I started getting curious about the weight room and started going there 3 times a week. I knew how to do reps and sets from a Weight lifting class that I took in high school. I also knew how and when to do weight lifting from all the fitness stuff I had read. If I wasn't sure how to work a machine in the weight room I watched how other people used it and then copied, until I had other people asking ME how to use the stuff. I wanted to look ripped. So I worked out hard and could often times use heavier weights and out rep the guys. I LOVED that feeling of having some poor guy finish with the machinery and watch me out of breath, move the pin lower.
My father was very sick at the time and I used exercise as a way to cope with it. I was borderline obsessed. There is an actual disorder where you can become addicted to exercise. I had ALL the signs and symptoms of it. I knew it was a problem but I couldn't stop. The ONLY thing that stopped the cycle was when I became pregnant and was SO sick that I could no longer exercise. That was a blessing in disguise.
After I had my daughter I had Postpartum depression. Exercise is what snapped me out of it. I'd go walking with her in the stroller every day and slowly started doing videos and running.
After my son was born it was hard to juggle exercising with 2 kids and my postpartum depression lasted longer. But once I got those exercise induced endorphins going I was good a s new.
So yes I am thin. But gosh dang it I deserve it. I have worked the better part of 15 years making all these healthy things habits in my life. I watch what I eat and exercise EVERY day for an hour or more. (with the exception of Saturday and Sunday)
It makes me so angry when people say things like "oh you're just born skinny" or " here you need to eat these (insert baked good or candy) because you can." "Umm no thanks. I have learned how to control myself and I eat plenty of baked goods and candy. I already did before I came here, which is why I am declining them now. Just because someone is thin doesn't mean they were just born that way. Maybe, just maybe they have worked hard to get there.
No comments:
Post a Comment