An Introduction

My name is Katie.  This is my first time blogging about anything and I'm interested to see how this works.  For those of you who don't already know, I have decided to start a new, healthy, active lifestyle that I plan on living for the rest of my life.  The purpose of this blog is to help myself be able to express how I'm feeling, what I'm doing, and to keep track of my progress, but I'm also interested in trying to motivate others to live healthy and stay active.  There are so many reasons to eat well and be active, and I'm not going to really go into listing them for various reasons.  1.) Everyone's reasons will be different.  2.) We have all heard of the "health concerns" with being overweight and inactive.  3.)  I am not a fan of redundancy and therefore will not list all the things you can Google for answers.  I'm planning on sharing recipes, workout routines, and fun ideas that will help me and others commit to a healthy lifestyle.  In order for you to understand why I'm doing this, I will give you a little background. 

I am 24 years old, and I've never been a skinny minnie.  I've always been athletic, playing softball, basketball, and volleyball all through high school.  I played softball in college, and I play co-ed tournament softball all through the spring, summer, and fall.  In high school I was at a fairly healthy weight because I relied on my mom for meals and grocery shopping, as most kids that age do.  I probably maxed out at about 155 pounds in high school. 

During college I still lived at home because our house was virtually on campus, so there was no point in spending $11,000 a year on room and board.  Anyway, that meant I could still rely heavily on my mom for the meals I ate as she did all the grocery shopping.  One of the greatest parts of college is the freedom and independence that is gained at a pivotal point in your life.  That independence, for me, meant going out to eat, fast food, eating at the dining hall with my friends (which was obviously buffet-style) and just doing (and eating) whatever I wanted.  Although I was fairly active, I was eating much worse, and I didn't care.  Even when I noticed in pictures of that I was the largest among my group of friends, I just tried to play it off and say, "I've always been a big girl."  My thought was, I'm Italian, and we love food, so it's ok.  I didn't want to face the fat.  And the truth is, I'm NOT a big girl.  I don't have a large frame.  It's not ok for me to have been around 175 pounds when I graduated college. 

After college I got worse with my eating habits and worse with my exercise habits.  I thought, "I don't want to work out because I don't want muscles because eventually muscle turns to fat and I don't want to be that fat."  My irrationality now astounds me.  Where I got that idea from, I will never know.  Anyway.  I moved out on my own when I had just turned 22, only a few months after graduation.  Of course I was excited to start my adult life, but that also meant even MORE freedom.  Grocery shopping completely on my own, fending for myself for every meal, no one nagging (motivating) me to work out.  So I stopped all forms of exercise, with the exception of softball (which I now realize is not a real workout, as my mom has told me for years).  I didn't FEEL like working out.  And when I hit 180 pounds due to my lack of exercise, horrible eating habits, and horrible food choices, I thought, "I'll start running and that will fix things."  Well I pulled that stunt about once every 3 months, I would work out for about a week, not see any results, get totally discouraged, and give up.  I did this for what turned into 2 years and an extra 17 pounds.  All this time my body image slowly deteriorated, causing my self-esteem to tank and my physical self-loathing to take effect.  I maxed out at 197 pounds with virtually no desire to look in a mirror because I thought I looked horrible, no self-esteem (which was a big problem for my boyfriend, who calls himself "best in the world," to understand), no motivation to change because I didn't see a point, and irrational thoughts about how I like food too much to go on a diet.  I believe that is what some would call my rock bottom. 

I don't know exactly what caused the change in my mind, but whatever it is, I'm glad it happened.  I went to the doctor, whom I hadn't seen since my days in the 160s and weighed-in at 197 pounds with high blood pressure.  I thought...I'm huge, and unhealthy.  Something just clicked in my brain.  I decided that I have got to get moving.  I have got to make a change.  I've got to stop the excuses.  I hate when other people make excuses, so why am I doing it??  I decided to start fresh.  To be healthy, to be happy, to be at my ideal weight.  I used to make excuses about how they say the weight for someone my height should be between 132-155 and that is grossly skinny.  It's not.  My goal weight now is 150, and even with all my fluctuations is never to go into the 160s again (other than if I ever get pregnant).  I want to be strong; I want to be healthy; I want to be happy; I want to be proud of myself (for something other than my intellect). 

Lucky for me, a week after I decided to make a change, my company decided to start a weightloss incentive program.  There is a health kiosk where I can weigh in once a week, and I took a short class on the important aspects of healthy eating and exercise.  I learned that I should be eating 5 times a day.  Breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, mid-afternoon snack, and dinner.  Each MEAL should consist of 4 parts: a protein the size of my palm, a QUALITY carb the size of my fist, and fill the rest of my plate with veggies.  Each SNACK should have a protein and a carb.  Now I must say, I don't follow this to the T because I had to make it fit my lifestyle, but the biggest thing I have learned is PORTION CONTROL. 

I learned a few things about myself in the first week of my new lifestyle.  I learned that much of the time I ate when I was not hungry.  I ate when I was bored, when I was sad, when I was happy, when I wasn't even thinking!  I just ate all the time.  And what was worse, every time I ate, I stuffed myself.  Not sure why, but I did.  I ate until I almost felt sick, every time.  Like someone was going to take the food away from me and I was never going to be able to have it again. 

Here is the important part, and where I start sharing my knowledge...I have since learned how important it is to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY!!  Your body tells you all kinds of things if you will just pay attention to it.  It not only tells you when you're hungry or thirsty, it tells you what nutrients it needs and even more importantly, when it's satisfied.  Note: not full...SATISFIED.  I have also learned that it is OK to indulge a little bit here and there.  Someone has a birthday?  Have a piece of cake...just don't have 6.  Someone selling donuts for a fundraiser?  Have a donut...just don't have a dozen.  Don't limit yourself so much that when you finally give in to tempation you OVERindulge and then feel horrible about yourself.   Once again, listen to your body.  I really can't stress that enough. 

My boyfriend and I have started going to the gym.  I get excited about going.  I have also found a new addiction: Pinterest.  I have found a lot of motivation from their fitness portion, not to mention some fabulous at-home workouts and recipes.  The rest of my entries won't be so long...but I wanted you all to know how I got to where I am.  Since I started my new lifestyle I have lost 13.4 pounds.  I have 33.6 more to go and I'm sure it is going to be hard.  But I am motivated.  If you have any advice or thoughts, please feel free to share.  I hope this blog can help someone other than me.  Then it will REALLY be worth it.  Thanks!!

Katie