In my case, I began my resolutions at the end of September when upon hearing that not only was I prediabetic, but also had high cholesterol and high blood pressure, I was determined to make some changes in lifestyle. The next evening when my husband brought home the "Colin Firth Diet Club" incentive (that he developed all on his own I might add!) began my rebirth. That being said, I feel the need to step up my game plan. In order to do that I'd like to review the changes I've made thus far and see where I need to go from there.
*Diet - I've made much healthier choices where diet is concerned. Most notably, preparing and cooking my own meals as opposed to taking the quicker, easier route - fast food and restaurants. I've been reading books related to nutrition - particularly "Wheat Belly". I've gone a few days at a time wheat-free. I've expanded my grocery shopping repertoire to include new and colourful foods and tried many new recipes that are low sodium and low fat options.
*Exercise - Although I've been a member at Curves since February, I wasn't going the three times per week that I should have been - that is, until I started the Colin Firth Diet Club. I have been at least 3 times a week ever since! I even made the list of the top losers last month! In addition to Curves, I've been playing soccer every Sunday which I absolutely love! Before the weather got too cold, the whole family was going to the track at a local highschool to run laps. Now I'm looking forward to when the snow melts and the weather warms up to resume that.
*Spiritual - We've gone back to church on a regular basis since September and I find this keeps me grounded. I've also read Margaret Terry's book "Dear Deb" which was both inspirational and devotional. Another thing is that I am becoming more conscious of my surroundings and have a renewed appreciation for nature.
*Family - I have passed on my Scrap Cancer fundraiser that I founded and ran for the past 6 years to someone else so that I could spend more time with my family and focus on making us all healthier. We are all in this journey together
*Knowledge - I believe Oprah said that "Knowledge is Power". I read a lot of books. Reading is a passion of mine and I'm trying to read a wider variety that includes healthy diets and new recipes.
Now, although I do hope that these posts have a somewhat upbeat attitude, I must confess, that like most everyone else, I have some down days and feel defeated. Will these changes I'm making be enough? What if after all this, I end up having to take the medications anyways - will it all be for nought? I know that the answer to that is no - but that's how a mind works when feelings start spiralling downwards. Today was one of those days for me. I was going to work out at Curves, but first I wanted to get my BP checked so I decided to opt for decaf coffee with breakfast instead of regular - hoping that this would aid in achieving a lower result. I arrived at Shopper's Drug Mart and felt deflated with the results which were 138/88. Then when I parked outside Curves I had to pick myself up before the tears escaped. Once inside I noticed that the leaves on the 'tree' were being removed. When I first joined in February I was given a paper maple key with my name on it to place underneath the tree painted on the wall. Each time you reach 100 workouts you graduate to a leaf, then a larger leaf of another colour. I was looking forward to receiving my first leaf by Valentine's day - the one year anniversary of the day I joined. When I saw that the seeds and leaves were not there, it became another shot on my soul. The good news though is that I weighed myself and I am down to an even 144 lbs!!! Today was also my first workout using the Curves Smart system which will help me step up my game. Curves Smart monitors your range of motion and your intensity so I'm hoping that this will take me to a new level. I picked up some groceries after my workout. This week I'll be making a wheat-free lasagna dish for the first time and I bought an avocado to make a mango avocado smoothie! I tested my blood pressure again while I was there and the results were 142/82, 138/85, 141/81, 136/86 and 139/83. Reading the information correctly of the sheet where you record your results made me feel better. All this time I've been hard on myself because I haven't been able to reach the optimal reading of 120/80. Well, for the most part I'm in the normal range - just the high end of normal. High readings would be 140 and above for systolic and 90 and above for diastolic. Hopefully, my results will be improvement enough to avoid taking meds - but when the alternative might be heart attacks or death, I'll succumb to the meds.
Tonight, in lieu of spending New Year's Eve at a party with friends, we opted to have a quiet night at home just the five of us. I spent the afternoon making turkey soup - the best thing about Christmas leftovers! I boiled the bones on Christmas day after everyone left so the stock was ready to go!
We watched a couple of family movies - my request for Nanny MacPhie starring Colin Firth was vetoed unfortunately and Diary of a Wimpy Kid won out. Perhaps I'll start the New Year off with a Colin Flick in the morning with my coffee!
The ball just dropped in New York, so this is it - 2013. My goal is to lose the whole 20 lbs by mid May before I leave on our Mediterranean Cruise. I think my resolution will be to get to bed before midnight - one of my 'changes' that I find harder to combat than others - and maybe to get on top of the laundry situation instead of leaving it for John to do on the weekends! Or...I could borrow Bridget Jones' resolution, "Resolution number one: obviously, will lose twenty pounds. Number two: will find nice sensible boyfriend and not continue to form romantic attachments to alcoholics, workaholics, peeping-toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits or perverts". OK, so I'm good with resolution number one - and we'll just omit the second as it does not apply!
Happy New Year and all the best in 2013 Colin and friends!
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Comments and encouragment most welcome!!