Easier Said Than Done

A favourite walk near Flagstaff, Arizona

Today I would like to make an update on the plan I started (see here) to help me lose weight and thus reduce my high risk of having a cardiac-related event.

Things have not been simple.  It was much easier to decide on a course than to actually follow it.

The pressure I have been feeling has ended up very stressful and depressing, especially when my weight continues to go up and down like a yo-yo with seeming little connection to what I do.

I feel like I am battling more than food intake and exercise.  Other factors I’ve been facing is my lack of continuing motivation, my habit of overeating when I feel stressed, and a slow metabolism from the two times I dramatically lost a lot of weight because of severe illness. 

I think I am also a little scared.  What benefit do I currently gain from being overweight?  Would I be happy if my appearance changed?  Then I tell myself that absolutely my whole life and lifestyle has changed completely in the last two years so why not add a new appearance?  But this idea is quickly followed by a return of that deadly feeling of pressure to conform, to be slim and trim like I used to be in my twenties.

Some prolonged deep thinking on this subject has brought me to the conclusion that what I really want to focus on is becoming healthier, more than losing weight per se. 

I personally know both healthy and unhealthy obese people and healthy and unhealthy skinny people, so good health is not dependent on body size.  However, I do feel that if my health was good then my weight would automatically adjust to what my body feels is healthiest for it – which may not be the same size as that of a model!

So what can I do to promote good health in my life?  Whatever I do needs to be simple, sustainable, and enjoyable.  I just need a few guidelines to push me in the right direction.

I have joined WW (Weightwatchers) to help me make better food choices, especially in regards to quantity eaten.  I began on the Green Plan but that involved so much tracking (especially as most of what I eat is prepared from scratch) that I have switched to their Purple Plan.  This allows me to eat healthy food and only track the things that really are not good for me (such as sugary stuff and wrong fats).

Our local swimming pool runs classes for aquacise and aqua-zumba, and I have begun attending those twice a week.  Yesterday was the first day I have done both (the two classes are 15 minutes apart) and came home feeling energised and on top of the world even if I was a bit sore.  Today I can barely walk!  But I know it is mostly muscle pain and should pass as I get more used to the exercises.

Walking is something I would like to do more of.  Not so much as exercise, but more as a way of maintaining the ability to move and as a means of promoting better mental health.  Strolling through a pleasant natural environment, with the opportunity for an occasional stop to contemplate my surrounds, is what I would call an ideal activity for me as I grow older.

Another movement issue I need to look into is balance, especially with osteoarthritis making itself more and more felt.  I have suffered the odd stumbling episode and a few months ago succeeded in giving myself concussion when I slipped over outside.

A few years ago I participated in a pilot course that taught, among other things, how to maintain good balance and suppleness to hopefully avoid having hip or knee replacement surgery.  I need to find my instruction book and get started on these stretches again.

It feels a bit funny making public my personal thoughts and decisions, but it is Life that I am writing about.  Who knows, someone somewhere might be encouraged by what I write and not feel like they are alone in their struggles to live a better life. 

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope you enjoy your day.

Margaret.