FITNESS: A Health Starting Point

It’s no secret that everyone wants to be fit, to be fabulous and to be recognized for that. We all have an ego to feed, and I mean that in the best way possible. We post on social media, we consume social media and that can lead to troubling consequences. We feel the fear of missing out (FOMO) or that we will never reach the same heights as our favorite content creators. 

What people don’t really see is that social media is a heavily edited snapshot of what their creator’s lives are. They put only what they want their followers to see, and it can be detrimental to both sides. I’m prefacing this post, a proper starting point for my health journey, to make sure that what you get is that: a no-frills, honest starting point.

Credit to pexels.com for their lovely stock and royalty-free images

When I was diagnosed with hypoglycemic tendencies, I began eating snacks without rhyme or reason, I was just blindly trying to maintain a blood glucose level. Guess what? I went from 132 lbs to 156 lbs from November 2017 to September 2018. That...is not good and I can feel it all. My body feels heavier, and more easily winded while my resistance went down HARD. I felt my clothes get unflattering and I began to feel sorry and down about myself. Worse, people I love told me that I was “looking healthy” when everything about me felt wrong. I felt so off.

This month however, I felt something snap. It was my brain telling me “Stop feeling bad about yourself” and to get my butt in gear. I decided to get to work. I couldn’t do intermittent fasting, that was just a guaranteed trip to the hospital on the first day. I couldn’t do low-carb diets, those were also dangerous to have, especially with the thankfully few blood sugar crashes I’ve experienced. So what was I to do?

I started by looking at my caloric intake the way I looked at any other situation: what can I reduce that doesn’t clearly help and what can help more? Reducing my cola intake was the first start as I went from a can a day to a can every few days. Trying to reduce my refined sugar intake was another, leaving that for treats and post-work-out sugar boosts. Reducing my portion size to what I knew would satisfy me has helped a fair amount. Choosing more plant-based or lean-meat meals when I go out with family certainly helps. But there are still hurdles. 

I’m currently fluctuating between 154 to 156 lbs, and I believe the factors that may stand in my way are:

1. Lack of Consistent Exercise - I love being at the gym, I hate the driving to the gym. I seriously do. Even the closest gym in my network is a 20 minute drive (not counting traffic). As much as I want to admit that I enjoy the gym, getting there proves to be an admittedly easy to overcome (just get up early, me) but cumbersome obstacle. 

2. Lack of Consistent Sleep - plenty of studies show that less sleep is a factor in gaining weight and slowing the metabolism. I’m very guilty of this, paired with the occasional sleepless nights without rhyme or reason. What has helped is the SleepTown app which has made it very fun to attempt getting up earlier and getting much needed sleep. 

3. Lack of Consistency, period - I start off with amazing plans only to have them fall apart. It’s not great and to be quite honest, the only thing I was very reliable last year was studying at law school. And to be a bit of a humble brag, I managed to graduate  of sheer determination, even with Hurricanes Irma and Maria.  

4. Fear of the Unknown - not much to add there, I'm overly worried about the risks (what if I miss a meal? What if I'm driving and I have a sugar drop? What if?) and what I could even do to truly maintain a standard of living.

But I do have one thing going for me: this will be my third post to meet my two post per week habit. God willing, this will go up on Tuesday, and that means I’m more than capable of keeping my schedule going. It’s a scientific fact that energy will follow the path of least resistance, and our minds work in the same way. 

I plan on working out frequently, as I used to. I can do this and if I fail a day, it won’t be a big deal. I’ll be looking into a nutritionist to better figure out what I can do with the limitations I have. 

My current starting weight is 156 lbs. I have no time limit (because the last time i did that, it failed miserably) but the end goal is to be 135 lbs again. It’s a weight goal that is both attainable and sustainable. 

- Swattie