Here We Go

 Good morning, everyone!

So, last week, I announced that I was going to start sharing my weight loss journey since my surgery, one week a month. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I really need to start from the beginning.

I have had a weight problem most of my life. Actually, when I was very young, I don't think I was overweight. I didn't look like it anyway, I seemed to start putting on weight between first and second grades. Ironically, this was after spending a year eating soft foods (read literally baby food) because the doctor "thought" I had ulcers. I am so glad children's illnesses are diagnosed differently now. When we first decided there was a problem, the first thing the doctor assumed was diabetes. They did tests for that and it came back negative, so, they "decided" I had ulcers. I had lots of stomach aches and was throwing up a lot. So, I ate all pureed and soft foods for a year until they decided I was over it. I went through much of my high school years with what would now be called irritable bowel syndrome, where I went back and forth between constipation and diarrhea (when you will see what I ate, you won't be surprised). In 2010, at the age of 43, I was diagnosed with Ulcertaive Colitis, which seemed to make all the rest of it make sense but wow what a long time coming in the right diagnosis. Through all of this though, I started gaining weight. By the time I was in 6th grade, I weighed 135 and by the time I got to high school, I was at 150 when most of the other girls were between 100-110. I was in marching band and so I think the exercise I got from that at least help me level off. 

So, now is the time to admit the bad habits I had in high school that contributed to my overweight life. First off, I never once ate lunch in the high school cafeteria or brought my lunch. We had a rec room in the basement of our high school where we could go buy food out of vending machines. I normally got either a bag of chips, Fritos, or Cheetos, a bag of cookies, or a sweet roll and a diet pop. Yeah, the diet pop made it all better. On nice days, we would walk to Huck's (which used to be right across the street from my house now) and get fried burritos or tater logs and that diet pop. Some days we would walk to IGA and get donuts and when we got old enough to drive, we would go to Hartrich's, across town, and get donuts, or we would go to the Freeze for pizzaburgers, or to the pizza hut for personal pan pizzas. I am a little amazed that I stayed at 150. On top of everything else, I was a very reluctant PE participant. I knew I was fat, and so I self-labeled myself as clumsy. Of course, kids are mean, and I was reminded daily that I was fat. So, I didn't put my heart into getting exercise. 

The irony is not lost on me that I had a free gym class 5 days a week when I was in high school and now I pay $20+ a month and drive 40 miles out of my way every weekday because I want to go the gym. Lessons learned and decisions regretted.

When I look back at things, I could have done so many things differently. If the junk food would have been once a week, instead of everyday, balanced with healthier choices, I wonder what my life would have been like? If I would have participated in PE instead of spending all my time trying to figure out how to get out of it and if I would have realized then that God gave me a temple and I should be trying harder to take care of it, would I have ever ended up having surgery? I don't know, but it wouldn't have hurt.

Some of my young adult friends were sharing with us the other night that one of the big things social media is pushing right now is being the "It girl", the one who has just the right make-up, skin care, clothes, and so on. I don't want people to focus so much on taking care of themselves that it is just a competition to see who can spend the most money but let me tell you, 56-year-old me wishes 16-year-old me would have tried a little harder to be healthy. I would have been so much better off to try to lose 40 lbs at 16 than trying to lose 208 lbs at 56. 

It would have been easier for that 150 lb teenager to force herself to learn to run than it was for the 343 lb 55-year-old. I actually could not physically run at 343. My knees, hips, and bottoms of my feet hurt so bad; tears would run down my face. I had told myself when I hit 240, I would start Couch to 5K. I did but realized at week 3 I was still too overweight to go with their timeline. So, I adjusted. I started out doing one minute at a time in a 20-minute cycle, so I started with walking 5 minutes, then alternating running and walking in one-minute intervals until I got to 14 then I would walk the last 6 minutes. I am currently up to 9 minutes each 20-minute cycle, walking 3, then running 1, walking 1, then running 2, walking 1, then running 3, walking 1, then running 2, walking 1, then running 1 and then walking the last 4 minutes. My goal is by the end of March to be able to walk 14 minutes of the 20. I am currently at 209, so I am really close to my next big goal of being in "Onederland". My doctor estimated that having the surgery alone, I should be able to get to 200 in a year, my surgery was 8 months ago last Wednesday, so I feel I have done well. The surgery didn't make it happen, it is a tool, and it has made it easier, I will explain more as I go.

Of course, I want to bring this back around to this blog glorifying God, which is what I am trying to do, in this, by taking better care of my body. We must remember 1 Corinthians 6:19-20:

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies.

 At 16, it didn't seem like such a big deal to take care of myself. At 56, I am thankful that I don't have any more problems than I do but know I am heading into the years that can determine whether my golden years are golden or miserable. So, for those younger ones out there, just a reminder, 40 lbs. is easier than 200+, and it doesn't get any easier as you get older. Take care of that temple now.

I am leaving you with a song that I found that just reminds us that our bodies are the temple of the Lord. :-)

See you all next week!