Mixed Bag Of Rant

I took Thursday and Friday off from work last week (which was attached to an automatic Memorial Day holiday day off on Monday). I would recommend to everyone to take time off- especially when you have nothing going on. On Thursday, I went to see my chiropractor (ahhhhh massage and back cracking) and then got a pedicure in the afternoon. The rest of the rainy/stormy day was spent curled up in my recliner catching up on DVR and finishing the ridiculous, poorly written trilogy that is Fifty Shades of Grey.

My Friday was busy. I decided to check out a rare daytime Group Fitness class at Life Time Fitness. I usually take The Mixx class (mix of hi/lo, kickboxing and funk) every other Wednesday night so I figured it was a sure bet that I would enjoy it and get a good workout. It was AWFUL. I am all for instructors motivating their class, but this bitch was a drill sergeant. She was in people’s faces yelling at them to work harder. The music was the loudest I have ever heard at a Group Fitness class and my ears were ringing worse than they did following the Nickelback concert just 36 hours prior. Considering it was a holiday weekend, there were a lot of women like me who showed up on a rare day off and the class was packed. No biggie. If you are an instructor teaching folks you don’t normally teach and not sure of fitness levels, they MUST provide low impact alternatives. She did not do this. I am in fairly good shape now and I could not do half of the drills she was teaching. I left early. I NEVER leave early. I was NOT happy. The rest of the day was better thank god! I got an oil change for my car (which really just meant sitting at Starbucks enjoying a light Mocha Frapp and reading my dirty porn book). I stopped at Target and then the hubs and I went to Cal’s Garden Center to get some new plants for our landscaping project. I was fairly unattached to my technology all weekend and I can’t say I missed it much.

Despite going out to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner TWO nights in a row and admittedly not making the best choices, I was happy to see a 2 pound loss at my weigh in on Tuesday. Granted it was only 2 of the 2.5 that I had gained the week prior… *sigh*. Here’s the deal though. Now that I am within 4.5 pounds of my goal, I am really feeling like it is just a number. I am starting to feel like, what is the big diff? 4.5 pounds won’t lose me another size. It won’t increase my 5K speed. A part of me feels as though I have already succeeded. Talking with my dad the other day about my success, he asked, “So, you must be around 120 lbs then?” Which of course I LOL’d. He was stunned that I was 154.5 lbs and agreed with Medifast that I do not need to go lower than 150. Hey, if my 150 looks like 120 then I’m not complaining!

One of THE BEST parts of my success is inspiring others to choose a healthy lifestyle. No matter which program, from SparkPeople to WeightWatchers, it equates to healthy CHANGE. I have had several people approach me about Medifast and ask me if I like it and if it works. Look at me! It works! Do I think it is for everyone? Nope. I had a colleague say he just wanted to “do it for a month to drop a few pounds before Cancun”. Whereas I shook my head in agony. Medifast is NOT, I repeat, NOT NOT NOT a lose pounds quick plan. It has taken me 5 MONTHS to lose 34 pounds. Granted everyone is different, but sheesh, if you are going to commit to losing weight, do it all the way. I told him not to bother going to a Medfast Center because they will make you commit to the whole journey (which takes 1+ years to complete), not to mention flushing tons of $$$$$ down the drain if you only want to do “a month”. It just doesn’t work that way.

Look, I have been there. I get it. Over the last decade, but more importantly over the last 3 years, I “re-committed” to weight loss a thousand times over. I look at it similarly to smoking- you’ll never be able to quit until you’re truly committed. Thankfully, an ultimatum from my husband (just a mere boyfriend at the time) told me it was cigarettes or him. Well… we can all guess what happened (pssst… I chose him). It was a good incentive. Just like my endo and my son are my main incentives for my weight loss. But is it enough? What is YOUR incentive? There is no wrong answer here, but the bottom line is: you really have to be committed and ready to change your life. Yes, people, that means forever. That means passing up french fries and chips and opting for fruits and veggies instead. It means putting the Totinos pizza aside and spending the time to make a healthy dinner at night. After 5 months on Medifast, this strange thing happened: I am happy to make the smarter choices when I am out because despite what my head is telling me (have the french fries, they are delicious), my tummy is saying something different (WoW! Those grilled vegetables were awesome). Plus, I get to walk away from dinner with zero regrets. 

My weight loss wasn’t magic. I had to work hard for it and make many sacrifices to my lifestyle. I had to get regular exercise AND change my eating habits. I had to recognize that I do not have the ability to eat whatever I want. I had to make real and lasting changes. I wish I could tell you that it was easy. It’s not. You’re going to struggle. You’ll cheat at some point. If you are committed, you’ll get yourself back up. You’ll make food tracking/journaling a daily habit. You’ll workout a minimum of 3 days a week. I hate to tell you that you will hate a lot of this. I still do. There is a light at the end of the tunnel of hard work. You’ll be able to shop wherever you want. Feel confident. Have more energy. Not worry about fitting into the seats at Target Field. Your significant other will take more notice. Random strangers will take notice (so weird…) and a million other things that make the hard work worth it.  

I freaking love the new me and I am NEVER giving her up. I am committed for a lifetime.