Fitness Journey Update

MyFitnessPal - Free Calorie Counter

As an up date on my fitness journey I wanted to post that I lost 7 pounds in 4 weeks. I think that MyFitnessPal has been a huge help. If you are trying to take off a few pounds it's a great site and they even have a mobile app. It might take a week or so to get used to writing it down, but having friends that encourage and support you makes it all worth while. Well, that and stepping on the scales and seeing a loss.
To those who think I'm taking the easier and softer way, I just want you to know that this whole weight issue has been a struggle for me for the past 15 years. I have tried dieting and have had some success, but I've never lost all the weight I need to and I have yo-yo to the point that I now have more weight to lose. About nine years ago I looked into the gastric bypass and knew that it was very unsafe. Then four years ago I considered the lap-band option and knew it wasn't the safest way to go either. I have explored the options and I believe that the gastric sleeve is the safest, most effective way for me to lose the weight and keep it off.
Thank you for the kind words of encouragement and join me at MyFitnessPal. My screen name is Runn53.

My Fitness Journey

This is the post I said I'd never write. This is the one I don't want anyone to read. So, why am I posting in now, when I know that it will be read by a hundred other bloggers is beyond me. 


I don't know why I am so full of false pride, but I am, and I have a huge amount of anxiety, so writing this is extremely difficult for me. Admitting what I am about to say is causing my heart to race to the point I feel like closing my laptop and forgetting the whole thing. I've gone over this post in my head again and again, and now that I've waited until the last hour to post this entry I have no idea what I am going to say.


I've posted in the past that I wanted to run a 5K, but I never told you why I have yet to run. It's because I can't. I tried. I was walking 4-5 days a week, 3 miles each time, and at a good pace, but I couldn't run. I can't run. I can't because I'm too fat. I'm not 20 or 30 pounds over weight; I am obese. I haven't always been over weight. In fact, I was a size 6 in my mid-twenties which is, honestly, too thin for my body type. I don't know why I've gained so much weight. It may be because I was a two pack a day smoker and quit several years ago. It might be because I'm genetically predestined to be obese (my paternal grandmother, who I take after, was obese). It could even be because I gained too much weight with my first pregnancy and never lost that weight. The why no longer matters. What does matter is that I am still fat.


Almost two years ago I drastically changed my eating habits and started exercising. However, over the past 3 months I've made some really bad choices and started eating high fat foods. I'd like to say it's because I busted my ass and only lost 20 pounds, but honestly, I just gave up. I'm not walking as much as I was and I know I need to; I still plan on running that 5K.


The one really positive thing I have done is fall in love with yoga. I have been practicing for just over a year now. I started out going once a week, then twice, and now I try and attend three classes a week. I'm able to hold side plank (not with my foot extended) whereas a year ago I couldn't even get into that position. So, I love yoga. Being the weight that I am makes some of the positions difficult, and I know that I could do more if I was thinner and yes, healthier. It's one of those catch 22 situations. I'd walk more if I wasn't so fat, but if I walked more I wouldn't be so fat.


So, if you're still reading I'm sure you are asking yourself, what are you going to do about it Marye? I've decided to have gastric surgery. No, not the by-pass; it’s too dangerous. I don't want the band either; there are too many complications like slippage, and the port flipping. So, after researching every possibility, I've decide I want the gastric sleeve. The surgeon would go in, staple my stomach and remove a section of it. Below is a brief video describing the procedure:







 

My insurance requires that I participate in a 6 month managed weight loss program before I have the surgery. I am just in my first month, but I am committed to following through with this since I feel like it is the only option I have left.

I would love for you to stay tuned as I report on my progress, surgery and recovery. In the mean time, if you are interested in weight loss or at least eating consciously, I’d like to invite you to join MyFitnessPal.com. Its a diet and fitness community that you can join and participate in completely free of charge. You can enter your daily food diary from your computer or an app on your phone. If you want to friend me, my screen name is Runn53. I look forward to having you join me on my journey.

give more; spend less

Today is Advent Sunday. This is a season that we, as Christians, prepare for the coming of Jesus. I want this season to be about more than running around to parties, fighting the traffic and getting the right gift. In preperation our family went and served Thanksgiving lunch downtown at Brownstone's Free Thanksgiving Dinner. It felt good to be take a small amount of our time and help out those who are under resourced.

Last year our church introduced us to The Advent Conspiracy.
The AC encourages congregations to, "think of meaningful acts of kindness as meaningful gift options to replace traditional gifts." This grassroots movement also supports Living Water International. LWI is addressing the world's water crisis in Ethiopia, Brazil, Haiti, and Mexico just to name a few places.

Another organization that has recently entered the scene in the Ian Somerhalder Foundation. They want to, "empower, educate and collaborate with people and projects to positively impact the planet and its creatures." Vampire Support has teamed up with the IS Foundation and is selling t-shirts where, "All profits made will go directly to the IS Foundation. [The foundation] will set aside the money from the shirts for projects with The National Wildlife Federation and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill clean up efforts."

If you are interested in supporting an organization that's goal is to end poverty and hunger, you may want to give to Heifer International. We had the opportunity to tour Heifer International's green office in Little Rock, AR several years ago. HI believes that they can't end world hunger without also saving the earth. Their philosophy is offer a long term solutions by empowering those in poverty and encouraging them to pass along their knowledge and the off spring of their animal to others is their community.

Rice and Bean Ministry is trying to feed 500 families for a month. It takes approximately 100 to feed each family. I know Fred and his team would appreciate your support. They are, of course, trying to feed families all year around in Costa Rica. It only cost $10 dollars to buy a bag a food to feed a family for a week.

If you are ready to give more and spend less (two of the AC founding principles) I encourage you to consider giving some of what you would normal spend on Christmas gift to one of these worthwhile causes.

be the change

When I decided to start blogging I wasn’t really sure what I was getting into. I had read several friends’ blogs, but I really didn’t know what it was that I wanted to say. Now, just three years later, I think I know what I want this blog to be about. I have gone back and deleted over 120 post.

Instead of writing about events in my day, I want to express what impassions me in my life. I don’t know if anyone else will care about the things that are important to me, but that’s okay. If something moves me, I know I will have a place to come and shout at the top of my lungs, even if no one else hears what I have to say.

Ultimately I'd hope that others would be inspired to follow Mahatma Gandhi doctrine and “Be the change you want to see in the world.”