I had a wake-up call the other day.
Michael and I like watching the show Biggest Loser. We watch it together each week. Watching a show about health and fitness week after week after week puts ideas in my head. One week they were talking about how they got the size they did. They said they didn't realize they were the size they were until they got huge. It got me wondering just how big I've gotten in the last several years. I stepped on the scale for the first time in quite some time and was shocked at the number I saw. When did that happen? It was 20 lbs heavier than I was when I became engaged in February 2007.
Wow.
Then I decided to open one of those generic BMI calculators. I put in my height. I plugged in the awful number that popped up on the scale. I clicked 'calculate.' I had a small stroke. Obese? Are you kidding me? It was barely in the obese category, but it was still obese.
It was then and there that I decided that something had to be done. If I want to think about having children in a few years, they deserve to start their lives in a healthy environment, not the chunky body I have right now.
So I made a chart.
I'm big on charts. When I tried to lose weight for the wedding, I had success with my charts. One one chart I had dates. Weigh-in dates. I would weigh myself the same morning each week as soon as I woke up and would record it on my chart. I also had a second chart. Last time it had stars on it. If I had lost weight from the previous weigh-in, I would color in that many stars on my chart. It was so awesome to see the stars fill up and I quickly lost 12 lbs.
I've employed the same system for this. I have chose Friday as my weigh-in day. I've also decided that, in the hopes of being more successful, I'm going to be going posting about this. If I am open and honest about everything, I can't pretend that everything is fine and that I'm not... obese.
Last Friday was my first weigh-in. I'll be posting the results of tomorrow's weigh-in after I get home from work. It is really hard for me to talk about all of this and to post it out there for the world to see, but I realize that while the strength to overcome my bad eating habits and lack of exercise comes from within myself, I cannot do this alone. I will need help. I will need support.
So in an effort to be open and honest and put myself out there for the world and to be vulnerable, I've decided to post my starting weight. I thought about this for a long time. I thought about waiting until I'd lost 15 or 20 lbs and then posting what I had started at, but I wouldn't really be open about my weight from the start, would I? So I decided that the honesty had to start at the beginning. It helps that I told someone how much I weigh and they didn't believe me.
On February 20, 2009, my weight was 206.6 lbs.
EEK! I know. It's a scary number. I cannot believe that my weight starts with the number two. I always lied to myself and said that as long as I was under 200, everything was fine. Well, it's not fine! It's bad. Very bad. My BMI is 30.4. Ugh. So I'm working on it. I'm working on being a new me. Well, I'll still be me, but in a healthier, leaner body.
I do not expect great results tomorrow. I did not make it into the gym at all this week. I did, however, spend the last two days cleaning, but I'm not so sure that it counts as cardio. I did eat better and I ate less than normal.
So we'll see.
Michael and I like watching the show Biggest Loser. We watch it together each week. Watching a show about health and fitness week after week after week puts ideas in my head. One week they were talking about how they got the size they did. They said they didn't realize they were the size they were until they got huge. It got me wondering just how big I've gotten in the last several years. I stepped on the scale for the first time in quite some time and was shocked at the number I saw. When did that happen? It was 20 lbs heavier than I was when I became engaged in February 2007.
Wow.
Then I decided to open one of those generic BMI calculators. I put in my height. I plugged in the awful number that popped up on the scale. I clicked 'calculate.' I had a small stroke. Obese? Are you kidding me? It was barely in the obese category, but it was still obese.
It was then and there that I decided that something had to be done. If I want to think about having children in a few years, they deserve to start their lives in a healthy environment, not the chunky body I have right now.
So I made a chart.
I'm big on charts. When I tried to lose weight for the wedding, I had success with my charts. One one chart I had dates. Weigh-in dates. I would weigh myself the same morning each week as soon as I woke up and would record it on my chart. I also had a second chart. Last time it had stars on it. If I had lost weight from the previous weigh-in, I would color in that many stars on my chart. It was so awesome to see the stars fill up and I quickly lost 12 lbs.
I've employed the same system for this. I have chose Friday as my weigh-in day. I've also decided that, in the hopes of being more successful, I'm going to be going posting about this. If I am open and honest about everything, I can't pretend that everything is fine and that I'm not... obese.
Last Friday was my first weigh-in. I'll be posting the results of tomorrow's weigh-in after I get home from work. It is really hard for me to talk about all of this and to post it out there for the world to see, but I realize that while the strength to overcome my bad eating habits and lack of exercise comes from within myself, I cannot do this alone. I will need help. I will need support.
So in an effort to be open and honest and put myself out there for the world and to be vulnerable, I've decided to post my starting weight. I thought about this for a long time. I thought about waiting until I'd lost 15 or 20 lbs and then posting what I had started at, but I wouldn't really be open about my weight from the start, would I? So I decided that the honesty had to start at the beginning. It helps that I told someone how much I weigh and they didn't believe me.
On February 20, 2009, my weight was 206.6 lbs.
EEK! I know. It's a scary number. I cannot believe that my weight starts with the number two. I always lied to myself and said that as long as I was under 200, everything was fine. Well, it's not fine! It's bad. Very bad. My BMI is 30.4. Ugh. So I'm working on it. I'm working on being a new me. Well, I'll still be me, but in a healthier, leaner body.
I do not expect great results tomorrow. I did not make it into the gym at all this week. I did, however, spend the last two days cleaning, but I'm not so sure that it counts as cardio. I did eat better and I ate less than normal.
So we'll see.
Oh the shock of standing on the scale after a weighing hiatus. Bless your heart, I've SO been there! In fact, I'd gained 35 pounds since we've been married. It's really hard to face up to...I'm very proud of you for taking that first step!
ReplyDeleteYou know I'll definitely support you! We'll be in the same boat, paddling together. :) I hope you find blogging about it helps. I think it's been a big part of my success so far...y'know, feeling like someone actually CARES about whether or not you worked out or lost weight. I mean, my hubby is very supportive and always ready with a compliment, but that's kinda in his job description right? *haha*
Good luck! And good riddance (to the extra weight *hehe*).
I think you'll find that the blogging community is super supportive, no matter your size, your successes and your failures! Of course, I say that, but do not post my own weight on my website, because of family. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, the chart sounds like a great way to get started! What else do you plan to do to get healthy? :)
I am in the same boat... above the 200 category. I feel so badly about it, but everytime I try to lose a few pounds they creep back. Maybe I need to do charts too and see how that works. you've got a great idea!!
ReplyDeleteI've been in the over 200 crowd myself. But unlike you, I stepped on the scale every single day and just watched it go up. I just couldn 't seem to stop it. I stopped weighing around 222lbs, but I know I gained more. I'm probably being kind thinking I only got up to 230, but that's the way I'm playing it.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't turn around in one weekend, one month. It's a lifestyle shift, and it comes through in everything you do. If you want this, you will get it. Period. At least you can sit safe and confident knowing that. It's hard work, but it's worth it!
Good luck. I am wellllll into the 200-crowd so I know what you're feeling. As you're on your journey just remember that your fat days are someone else's skinny days.
ReplyDeleteAs bad as that starting number is for you.....that would be a heaven-sent dream for me if I woke up and the scale said that one morning. Doesn't mean it's a healthy weight for either of us, but I think it helps put things in perspective. There are people heavier than me just tryin' to get where I am.
I know how you feel. Though it never felt like I was there, I just moved out of the obese class and into just plain ole "overweight."
ReplyDeleteNow I'm sitting at my computer growling at my dogs to leave me alone and let me eat my low fat, low calorie, taste-like-cardboard brand waffles.
Added you as a friend on 20sb. :)
Good luck girl...I'm trying to lose weight too...moving in with Big Man packed the pounds on me..but I'm gonna get off my tush and get back in shape...*fingers crossed*
ReplyDelete