Thursday, February 12, 2009

Lifestyle Changes

Submitted for post by SamanthaNC

Well everyone February is upon us. . . . the time when resolutions to get healthy have often been thrown by the wayside. During my pregnancy with our daughter I gained 68 pounds. After she was born I lost 35 of those dreadful pounds…… and over the course of the last five years I've slowly but surely put on 20 more. Sadly, you can only convince yourself the dryer shrunk your pants for so long.

My husband and I have both committed ourselves to a healthier lifestyle. We've cut the junk out of our diets- except for the occasional "splurge" and we are making healthier choices and moving more. Needless to say he has lost 25 pounds and I've lost 11. (My life is a Slimquick commercial) I want to slap him a little. Don't get me wrong- I'm glad it is coming easy for him, I just want it to come easy for me too. Imagine if you will an angel perched on one of my shoulders encouraging him onto his goals…… and my inner devil on the other whipping up a batch of his favorite goodies. Sigh.


No matter what you struggle with old habits die hard and permanent life changes are rarely as easy as we would like them to be. What are your health goals? Maybe you've pledged to quit smoking, cut back on a certain weakness, or simply move more in 2009. Share your secrets to success OR commiserate with us here.

18 comments:

scarfoot79 said...

I decided last summer (2007) to avoid foods with High Fructose Corn Syrup and hydrogenated oils as much as possible. I'm eating more organic food than ever, but I am realistic about all three things - I know that I'm never going to avoid them completely, and frankly, I don't know if it's making much of a difference. If it's not that that is going to kill me, it'll be something like the hairspray I use, or drinking tap water or something. HA!

Anyway, so far I've been pretty successful in this. At first it was difficult. HFCS and hydrogenated oils are in everything! I've had to cook more than I like, and be more creative with the ingredients I use. However, I feel good about it and hope I can continue to do so.

I learned long ago that I am a miserable failure at goals, and that I make that even worse by beating myself up about it. I guess you could say that a lifestyle change I have made is to not make goals! I'm simply trying to take it a step at a time, and make it all manageable. Life is too short to dwell on silly things.

(If you're interested in why I chose those food guidelines, I recommend the book In Defense of Food or The Omnivore's Dilemma, both by Michael Pollan. They are really interesting books, and caused me to rethink how I shop.)

themrs said...

samantha- i feel your pain girl! i gained 50-70 lbs with all four kids! it was not good! i had to work soooo hard to lose all that weight. good job, i know how hard it is.

Ann said...

Congratulations Samantha on the weight loss. Eleven pounds is nothing to sneeze at!

I developed a chronic disease that requires medication. I don't like taking Tyenol for a headache. So I looked for an answer in food. I ended up eating the Superfoods Rx foods. It was easy to switch because we were halfway there already. My family loves the whole grains, veggies, nuts, salmon, etc.

I used to take injections 1 time/week. Since eating nutrients in better proportion to each other, I have reduced that to 1 injection every 6 weeks. It has been an answer to a prayer. I also lost 15 lbs., and I am happy with my weight (well, 5-10 more pounds may be even better...)

lulubae said...

I'm doing the diet and exercise thing cause my husband and I have decided to try for a baby. I've always been larger but I figure I don't want to take any chances.

I find it difficult because I was fortunate enough to be brought up in a non-judgmental environment, I never felt out-casted by my friends or even lacked in the love department. But its definitely a sacrifice. You have to relearn a whole way of living. It's a daily struggle but I'm working on it!

Darlene Williams said...

Well I've been dealing with low blood pressure for 6 months which is a struggle so diet has changed abit to get my numbers up. I've always eat good being a diabetic. I would love to get more excerise but haven't been able to do alot with my fainting spells but the hubby and I bought a Wii fit and love it. It's a good alternative for someone who can't get to a gym but wants a little more movement other than house work.

Anonymous said...

Hooo boy.

Last year I was diagnosed with a condition called Meralgia Paresthetica (after a year & 3 doctors). There is no cure, but one thing my dr. said may help is weight loss. The problem is, the more I'm on my feet, the more pain I'm in. I love walking, but now if I go for more than a few blocks I'm in severe pain all day. So, I've been trying to lose weight via diet. So far, I'm down 35 lbs, yet the pain is worse. Ain't that a kick in the head.

To make things even better (ha!), a few weeks ago I developed chest pain, high blood pressure (150/100) & a rapid heart rate (130 at rest. I ended up in the hospital with pericarditis, which considering they initially thought I had a pulmonary embolism, isn't too bad. I've been trying to quit smoking since, and failing miserably.

So...yeah.

Anonymous said...

I used to only be able to run for 30 seconds at a time, now I am up to 20 minutes as of today! I used the Couch to 5k plan I found online and this great site called SparkPeople. I highly recommend both!

Nina Bell said...

At my age, I still don't have a handle on any of this. I have made many life style changes over the years and then slowly just let them change right back on me again.

I will have to read the books you recommended, Scarfoot. Thanks. I looked at Sparks, Dr. H and I think I might give it a try. I was able to loose about 20 lbs last year on a similar site. The problem is sustaining interest and going back every day.

Bella Donna, that sounds quite painful. About 10 years ago, I was walking about 4 miles a day, lost a lot of weight and was feeling good. Then I developed Plantar fasciitis which was quite painful at the time and I had to stop walking for awhile.

Nothing ever is easy, is it?

Anonymous said...

It isn't a lifestyle change in the diet/exercise sense but one of my NY resolutions was to try to incorporate some organized religious worship with our family.

We missed a couple of weeks, but so far we've attended 4 different churches. My hope is that one of the churches will feel like "home" to us and that we will plant ourselves there.

==============

After some brutally cold weather (like below zero) for weeks, we had an odd warm spell with temps reaching the high 50s. It was so awesome to be able to go outside and jog. But I paid for it the next day.

I need some of that "ACTIVE ON."

Daisy said...

I need to get going on some changes. I used to walk my dog on a trail 4 days a week. In the last year my 10 hour a week job turned into 20 and I'm in the office most mornings. The weight I'd lost crept back up again.

For my family, I've been cooking healthier. I try to buy organic whenever possible and use only olive oil and butter spray. They haven't noticed the difference.

I've cut way back on coffee and drink whole leaf tea.

Great topic! Thanks for the motivation to change.

Anya@IW said...

Scarfoot, both of the Michael Pollan are of interest to me. Once I make it through the stack of books I have already bought, I would like to read them.

I very much admire the ladies here who are taking positive steps with their health and I like the approach of doing it without a huge goal in mind - just small steps.

As Nina says, nothing is ever easy. I have gone through periods of really an effort with diet and excercise and periods where I fall off the wagon a bit. I guess you can say I am still off the wagon this year! LOL.

Well spring is around the corner and that means longer days and more chance for fresh air and excercise - more opportunities to get back on track.

EveryoneLovesErin said...

I've resolved to take care of myself emotionally and physically. It wasn't really a new years resolution but I just woke up one day and said "my job is crazy, my life is crazy, I can't keep going on like this"

Things like "how can you ask your clients to live a healthy and balanced lifestyle when you aren't living one yourself" came to mind.

So, I am eating healthy, exercising and just doing things for myself more. Last week I went to see RENT with 2 of the original cast members (it was awesome).

The thing is, I was able to shift my thinking and, because of that, the changes don't seem to take an exorbitant amount of effort (at least at the moment). It's just become natural for me. So, I'll keep going with it because it makes a difference (and others notice that difference).

I

Portia said...

Aw the weight! I have been trying to lose 20 pounds for the past year. Nothing is working. I cut the junk,and walked 5 miles a day.Last week I bought Wii Fit and I have lost 2 pounds but I'm exhausted. Yes I'm over 40 and never had a weight problem before. Any answers?

themrs said...

i thought i'd share some of the ways i've lost weight. as i stated upthread, i've lost 50 lbs since last january. i don't really diet, just rearrange my portions. for example, lean meats, small serving of carb, larger serving of veggies. protein for breakfast, usually a grilled chicken salad for lunch. i buy low cal snacks for when i feel hungry. the biggest dietary "rule" i follow is no food after 7pm. it's really hard to break the late night snackin habit but i notice results immediately.

as far as exercise, i have to be careful because i have some chronic back problems. i do some form of cardio for thirty mins three times a week (treadmill, walking, eliptical). on the off days i do pilates with a video in my living room. (if you have cable you can find some yoga shows on Fit network that are good) i have to skip some of the exercises due to my back but try to do most. every day i work with free weights, alternating between upper body and lower. i do these while i watch tv at naptime :) i don't do any work outs on the weekends and on sundays i allow myself a total cheat meal:) i try not to deprive myself anything completely because then i'll crave it! if i go to a party and there's cake, i'll take a few bites of my kids instead of eating a whole piece. hope this helps!

Anya@IW said...

NoMoreDrama...So, I am eating healthy, exercising and just doing things for myself more. Last week I went to see RENT with 2 of the original cast members (it was awesome).

Good for you! Keep up the good work. I like the idea of making time to do other things that don't revolve around food. A play is a perfect idea.

Anonymous said...

I'm having a baby in the fall. I just care about the baby being healthy and I'm doing all I can to make that happen.

I'm a chronic worrier, so this is putting me over the edge. Oh, well what else do mommies do? :)

Ann said...

Congratulations, Bridget! Enjoy eating for two! Best wishes on a healthy pregnancy and easy childbirth.

Paula,
I LOVE your pot roast crock pot recipe. I'll just add more veggies and skip the potatoes to make it healthier, in keeping with our thread theme. I am not giving up that cut of red meat though. Yum.

I gained weight when I started walking. My sister-in-law convinced me it was because the "deep muscle" I was building weighs more than the fat it supposedly replaced. Ok. I'll take that explanation. I eventually lost weight though. Keep it up.

Portia said...

Thank you Saint. I like that recipe also and you can really mess around with it. I've also made it with beef broth and it was good. Thanks for the words of encouragement I lost 2 more pounds this week, so it is working, slow but sure, just like a turtle!