I found that when I tried to lose weight before, it was always the motivation that seemed to lack. I was good for a few days or even weeks and then it just slipped away. I had been on the diet yo yo, losing 30 pounds and then putting it all back on and more, for years!
It seemed so easy, cut back on calories and exercise and you will lose weight, sometimes I felt like an idiot! The weight loss would not start or I would hit a plateau and nothing I did made me lose any weight at all. I have read so many articles and tips on finding an exercise that you really like, so that you will stick with it. Easier said than done.
So I ended up packing on the pounds and even though I wanted to lose and kept telling everyone next week I am starting on my new healthy lifestyle. The weeks came and went to no avail. So what finally got me motivated enough to actually do something and stick with it? Well I started to feel stiff and sore and when I went out to garden it was so hard just to bend over it made me feel terrible. Then I started to feel so out of breathe and I began to get really worried about the possibility of having a heart attack. I am in my 40’s but I know that I wasn’t supposed to feel like this. It was time to take care of myself. My boys were grown and off doing their thing, so I had no excuses.
I started off slowly by walking to work. Instead of dropping my husband off at work and taking the car, I decided I would walk from there. It was a 4.5 km walk and took me 50 minutes. I did this 4 times a week. Boy was it hard, my shins were sore and you don’t realize just how many hills there are when you drive! The first two weeks were tough, but slowly it got better and I felt good once I had recovered from my walks. I did find that drinking small amounts of water as I walked made a big difference in my recovery at the end.
On the eating side I just cut back but nothing drastic. Just started using a smaller plate for my evening meal having smaller portions and keeping to 4oz of protein. I actually began to eat more for lunch, this helped immensely as I wasn’t so hungry when I got home. If I felt hungry I would make a cup of herbal tea while I prepared dinner to take away the hunger pangs, or just drank more water.
By the end of six weeks the kick I got out of exercise is amazing and I began to get compliments from people on my weight loss. I actually now miss not going for a walk and make an effort to make up for it in other exercise forms.
