Insanity

Back in September...September 9th to be exact, I started a weight loss challenge with 6 other women from my church. Well they started it and I crashed it. We call ourselves The Phatties! The conditions were to eat 3 sensible meals, exercise and no crash dieting to see who could lose the most weight.

I had a wonderful idea of doing the Beachbody workout Insanity with Shaun T. My first workout was the fit test...I thought I was going to have heart attack from how fast my heart was beating...no joke!!! And the sweat...oh girl was I sweating! The program is for 60 days, you workout 6 days a week and get 1 rest day. I loved the rest days!! My only regret is I didn't finish the workout, my life didn't allow me to finish the last week of the program. Not that it would have made a huge difference in my weight loss experience anyway, because I didn't lose any weight! It would have been nice to say I finished Insanity. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm glad I hung on as long as I did,however it would have made it a little more worthwhile if I saw better results. Maybe I should have done all the protein shakes and not eaten the 2nd piece of cake at any chance I got, or maybe I shouldn't have had the mentality that I worked out today so I can eat whatever I want! Yup...I see the error of my ways! Doing the Insanity workout wasn't all in vain. Even though I haven't seen a change on the scale, I have seen a change in the way my body looks and feels, i have more endurance! My clothes are a lot less tight fitting, I look skinny in my "skinny jeans" and I don't feel like I have to hide my belly as much! I definitely don't look like the girls on the DVDs with there 6 pack abs and super toned thighs but I'm getting there. I may never reach that kind of body but somehow it doesn't bother me!

I'm still taking my medication for hypertension, even though I'm exercising my doctor doesn't want me to stop taking it until I show a significant loss in weight or inches! I know I've set goals in the past to get down to a certain weight but my thinking was not right! My goal now, is to get healthy enough to be able to get off the medication!

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phillipians 4:13

4 months...

I'm just about 4 months into this thing called hypertension and I feel great!
I feel as if January was so long ago and I've been dealing with this for a while now. My attitude has changed my diet has changed and in the process my weight has changed. I'm not depressed about food anymore. I feel as if I have new taste buds. I don't want processed foods anymore. I've been reading labels, I've always been a label reader but now I'm a maniac! Making sure most of the ingredients are real food and not chemicals. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that I don't eat any processed or chemically packed foods, I'm just saying I'm eating them ALOT less. My eating habits are changing and I'm happy about it!

Another thing that changed is I am now taking a medication for the hypertension. I'm hoping with my continued weight loss, my doctor will help me to get off the medication. My next appointment is June 19th...we'll see!! Apparently, the medication I'm taking has protective properties for my heart...okay! I'm okay with that, for now!

I haven't been exercising as much as I should! I started exercising with a beach body DVD...I got bored! I walk...sometimes and I dance with the Kinect! Hopefully I will find my groove with this exercising thing!!

I've been reading weight loss blogs that are inspiring and seeing pictures of their journey amazes me! I know I can do this, I know I can become healthy again. God says I am his masterpiece, beautifully and wonderfully made...I need to start acting like it! I need to clean out the temple!!!
Lord Jesus thank you thank you thank you for giving me endurance! I know I can do this with you. Thank you for loving me so much that you died for me. Father help me to continue to make wise choices and please be there when I fail. Help me to help others, give me a special blessing of your grace Lord thank you for your grace and mercy. Amen

Food

Eating has been a big challenge for me this week. I'm so used to eating whatever I want. I've never been the type of person to restrict myself from eating anything.

This week I've had a few days of feeling depressed, mostly because I was eating the same chicken and broccoli for 3 days. The morning that I made steel cut oatmeal with almond milk, brown sugar and fresh blueberries helped to pick me up ALOT! I finally had something different to eat! And it was good. I didn't think about food, I almost skipped lunch but didn't cause I knew I needed to eat!

Last night I had dinner at a friends house, I was nervous, everything looked good but salty!! I made myself a small plate spaghetti and because it was there I added a scoop of beef enchilada casserole. I know this sounds like a bunch of bologna but the enchiladas were super salty and it took everything in me to finish the first bite. Now the spaghetti was perfect! My friend later told me that she didn't use any salt in the spaghetti just for me! Thank you Tetchie!!!

I haven't started exercising at all! I know I should be! I know I will start soon...I'm lazy and I know it!!

I took photos of some of my food this week. Oatmeal, dried cherries and nuts, salad with manicotti and raw key lime pie! Yummy!!!!

Hypertension

Last week I had an appointment with a physical therapist for a pinched nerve in my neck. As he was taking my vitals he made me aware that my blood pressure was pretty high...130 over 100. I had no idea what that meant but could tell he was concerned about it! So I went about my day with the physical therapist's face in the back of my mind. Being the investigator that I am I turned to google to find out what my blood pressure score meant. To my surprise...I need to be concerned about it!!!
What do I do? Where do I start?
All the articles I've read about hypertension always start with if you are over weight you must lose weight! Great! I gotta lose weight! I was just saying that I like being fat...but you know what they say about sarcastic people, they are just hiding their true feelings!

Yes I want to lose weight, yes I want to feel healthier and yes I would like to fit into my cute clothes again. So here I am ready to embark on probably one of the hardest things I will have to do in my life. It's easy for me to get fat...now I'm gonna struggle to get skinny!

Here's my plan.
Pray that God will give me strength to get my blood pressure lowered, by making better choices in what I eat and exercising. Right now the only exercise I do is walking to and from my car at work!

I'm unsure of the type of exercise I will do. I love yoga so maybe that's what I'll do! I may even learn all the dance moves on Just Dance 3 for the Xbox 360 Kinect!! Hahaha

So here it is January 17,2012
Blood pressure: 130/100
Weight: 167
BMI: 30.5

My goal is by July 7,2012
Blood pressure: 110/70
Weight: 150
BMI: 27.4

Lord Jesus thank you for being a God of second chances. I invite you to come with me on this journey, I ask for strength in avoiding foods that will do my body harm and I pray that you will give me patience while on this journey. Thank you for hearing my prayers!