Let's Get Serious

Well hello Internet.

Let's get serious for a minute, shall we? And a note before we begin. I am hesitant sharing this information with you. It is highly personal. I know I'm overweight and I know that I'm unhealthy. Honestly, I find it kind of embarrassing, how unhealthy I am. So, I haven't told people (and by people I mean my friends and most of my family). But if I don't let people know, I won't change anything. So please, be respectful. This is something that takes a lot of courage on my part. There's a reason people say that it's rude to ask a woman's weight - it's really personal information. Keeping this in mind, I'm going to go for it.

I am a 20 year old girl. I am 5'1". I weigh 184 pounds.

I am really very unhealthy. I don't eat well, I am not as active as I should be, and I carry my weight in an unhealthy way (around my middle). This is all compounded by my height and my family history.

So what am I going to do about it?

Previously, I tried changing my eating habits. It didn't work. It was way to easy for me to justify a cheat or to convince myself that whatever I was eating wasn't that unhealthy.

I also tried working out. By myself, it didn't really work. Again, I could justify not working out (I'm busy, I don't feel well, etc.). It was too easy for me to convince myself that not working out was ok. I tried going to a trainer as well. That worked while I went, but I couldn't sustain it. I didn't know how to modify the exercises for home and didn't really know what to do for a good workout at home.

Moral of the story? I have difficulties changing something by myself and I have difficulties sustaining programs.

I'll ask again - what am I going to do about it?

Three things. First, I went to a nutritionist. She set me up on two programs. The first is a basic diet that I will follow until the middle of June. Then I am starting the SHAPE program. This is a very strict diet for between four and eight weeks. After that point there is a three week reintroduction of grains and such, and then a lifestyle plan that will teach me how to eat in the real world (and in the cafeteria at school :) ).

Second, I found an app. Well, my mom found an app. This app is called Zombies, Run! and it is a huge blast. The basic premise of the app is that you are a runner collecting supplies for your base while avoiding zombies. If you are interested and want to learn more, check out their website here. I'm using it to motivate my exercise - it's easy to use and I find the story compelling enough that I did two of the 5k training runs in one go. Which for me, a person who hates running, is a huge deal. I'm also using some kettle bell videos for some weight training on days I don't run. Once I get back to school, I'll be working out with some of my ROTC friends. They are willing to workout with my friend and I, so I'm using my desire to not totally humiliate myself next semester to motivate my workouts this summer.

Third, I am writing this blog. I'll be posting pictures, my weight, and stories of my journey. For me, accountability is key. At school I would tell people that I was going out on a run and then I would have to go because I told them, even if I didn't want to go. This blog will help with that.

Now let's take a moment and talk about my goals.

• I want to be healthy.

And... well, that's it really. Most of my other goals are based off that that one goal. For the sake of thoroughness, I'll list my other goals.

• Lose weight
• I don't have a number in mind. I just want to be healthy. But, for the sake of quantifying things, I'll say around 140 pounds.
• Increase my endurance
• My family has been running 5ks lately and I've been running them as well. I use the term "running" lightly. I am really slow and I have difficulties running for a long time. I've been working on my endurance for a while and can fully run (at my slow pace) a 5k, but I'd like to increase my pace and be able to run for longer.
• Get stronger
• I'm working out with my ROTC friends next semester, so I want to be able to lift around 50 pounds, and be able to do a reasonable number of sit ups, push ups, and pull ups.
• Clear up my acne
• This is my one purely cosmetic goal. I've had some pretty bad acne for the last two or three years and I've used medication to clear it up. The medication worked for me, but there were two problems. One, I don't want to have to use medication to prevent my acne for the rest of my life. Two, after about a year I get really bad at taking my medicine. For me, the medication worked but didn't really suit the way I live.

So those are my goals.

Let's do this thing.