It may be easy to avoid but physical balance and health are a very important piece to the life puzzle. I have struggled with my weight for quite a while now. Not my whole life but it started in high school. I can't even blame this weight on my boys. I weigh less now than I did before they came along. It is a huge commitment, so much time and energy, struggles with food, addiction, emotions and hormones. But my doctor, the one who prescribed my high blood pressure medicine, really thinks I need to lose some weight. Don't you think that would motivate me? If only... I highly dislike being told what to do and how to do it. This makes weight loss a bigger challenge. My husband has lost about 45 pounds in the last two years or so and that makes him an expert. I love him so much but he needs to take a class in how to talk to his wife about weight loss. I keep hoping that one day I will wake up and magically want to go to the gym! Or even more importantly, that I'll want to eat nutritious, satisfying foods. I just read this article about having a hungry soul and it really hit home. I wish that I could turn it all over to God but the control freak in me has a tough time with letting go. I guess I need to figure out WHY I eat. Maybe I need therapy. That wouldn't surprise me. Maybe I need to go to the gym. Hmm.
How do you keep physically in balance? What are your challenges? I can't be all alone in this battle, can I? Oh, the picture is me in 1993.
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A couple of years ago, I made the decision to get serious about losing weight. A friend recommended an excellent theory (called Calorie Queens) to eat the number of calories that sustain the weight you want to be. The multiplier is 12 (so you take your target weight and times it by 12 to get your recommended daily caloric intake)
ReplyDeleteSadly, then, you have to track your caloric intake - I used Fitday but I know a lot of people who do SparkPeople. And, you have to work out. I wish, wish, wish, wish I could find the motivation to do that reguarly, but I am not great at it, and therefore, I find that I struggle to keep my weight down. Ugh.
Hugs. It isn't easy.
Most of my family is overweight (ok, I know that no one believes this, but it's true). I have to start battling this now or youth will no longer be on my side and I'll have big problems later. I've found that I eat because I am bored mostly and I am completely unmotivated to do ANY physical activity.
ReplyDeleteI'll share some things that have helped us (Elijah has this history in his family too, his dad is almost 400 pounds) and I hope they can help you too. What helps me a lot is drinking a lot of tea. It may sound silly but every time I get the munchies I drink a cup of herbal tea. It's very filling (no matter the kind). I also surround myself with rice cakes, fat free saltines, and 100 calorie fruit for my night time snack attack. Elijah and I have cut red meat almost entirely out of our diet, although we do eat organic ground beef once a week or so. We only eat boneless skinless chicken breast. We always make veggies our largest portions, sometimes doing only veggie meals. We haven't eaten pork in 3 years and we eat a lot of fish. We eat hardly any processed foods, everything is as natural and organic as possible. You would be surprised at how much healthier just this change feels.
I don't think fad 'diets' work, (it's hard to add, subtract, write down, etc.) everything you eat). It's really about changing your whole lifestyle and watching what you eat. My most difficult part is getting to the gym but I've been better at this within the last year. Yes, everything is always harder then it sounds, but I try to think of my kids and what kind of example I am being to them and that I want to be around for them. I have to remind myself that my body is a temple and I need to fill it with good things.
Last tip: Surround yourself with encouraging uplifting friends and pray, pray, pray! (I'll pray for you too!)
Your sister in Christ, Karrie