Enough is enough!

lara · 08-27-2006, 12:14 AM #1 (**permalink**)

I've decided that I've seriously had enough with being overweight. I work seriously irregular hours and have fallen into a habit of not having breakfast, eating on the run and not exercising. Between my crappy lifestyle and going off BC pills a year ago, I've gained a pile of weight.
I'm 67 kilos now (147.4 pounds), this time last year I weighed 57 kilos (125.4 pounds). I'm only 5'6", so the weight is really showing on my thighs and tummy. I've never carried weight on my gut before, so pulling on an old favourite pair of jeans and seeing everything puffing over like a cheese souffle was a real wake-up call.
I went to the doctors last week to discuss my action plan and she gave me a once over check-up. My blood pressure is still super-low, my heart is fine, cholestrerol is 3 and my blood-sugar normal. In that respect I'm doing grand, but I need to lose at least 5 kilos to be considered healthy and 10 kilos to be at my personal best.
Mostly I want to drop the weight to feel healthier (right now I feel sluggish and uncomfortable) and to stop any fat settling and becoming difficult to move. Being chubby is also affecting my work because I'm finding it harder to actively get involved in shoots, especially becaue I do a lot of OL work that requires climbing, walking and generally being active. I've also found that I'm not getting as much respect from clients as I was when I was slimmer, plus I feel like a big ungainly fatso when I'm standing next to size 4 models who are bitching about how much weight they've gained :roll:. Being able to walk into a shop and buy something off the rack without hunting for the last pair of size 14's in the store would also be a fantastic bonus.

My task list:
01. Go to the doctor and discuss why I've gained so much weight after going off Yasmin BC (oestrogen+progesterone) and switching over to a progesterone-only IUD. After some discussion with my doc, she's decided to trial me for 6 months on Yasmin in addition to my Mirena IUD. I lost a lot of weight when I first took Yasmin, so we're working on the assumption that the oestrogen helped to regulate some hormone imbalances that were contributing to my weight. If it helps in any way that would be fantastic, but I'm not pinning my hopes on it being a cure-all.
02. Get moving again. My building has a lap pool and I live right next to a beautiful large inner-city park, so I have no excuse not to at least walk once 'round it every day and/or do some laps with my little kickboard. I'm limited a little in exercise by a bad knee, so at my next physio appointment I'm going to ask what other fitness routines he recommends.
03. Fix up my diet. My diet used to be lots of steamed veggies with lashings of lemon juice and uncooked sesame seeds, steamed white fish, lean meat once or twice a week and I didn't keep much in the way of chips, biscuits and lollies in the house. I've since moved in with DH and fell into the trap of eating his blokey diet (lots of meat, one or two token veggies cooked into oblivion and laden with butter, etc) and there are always an abundance of sweet biscuits and chips available. No more excuses! I used to really love my fresh veggies and whatnot, so god knows why I started eating like him. Less squabbling, I suppose. I also find myself at work eating from terrible places of temptation like the craft catering tables, which are a sugar-loaded paradise. Time to start bringing a little lunch box of yummy and healthy snacks with me on jobs and resist all the cinnamon rolls and other treats they keep waving at me.
04. Encourage DH to support me in this. This is the big one, I suppose. We could both do to lose a bit of weight and improve our eating habits. He finishes work before I do and usually does the shopping and makes dinner, so I need/want him to actually buy what I've written on the shopping list, not whatever looks good at the time. Stuff like that, you know? He's a grown man and can't be bullied into eating better, but I'd eat least like a bit of pro-active support. He likes me just the way I am, but I don't like me how I am.

Anyway! This was very long winded, but the short version is: I don't like what I've let myself become, ergo it's time for me to kick myself in the pants and start doing something about it.

girlstar · 08-27-2006, 10:49 AM #2 (**permalink**)

Good luck!!

You sound like me, we really don't have a lot of weight to lose, but if we lost it, it would make a world of difference to us!

giz2000 · 08-27-2006, 12:27 PM #3 (**permalink**)

Good for you! I am also getting off my butt again after being a slacker and starting to run again. I need to eat better too...we should all support each other!!!

pumpkincat210 · 08-27-2006, 01:07 PM #4 (**permalink**)

Good luck! Once you start excersizing you'll almost immediately be able to tell you feel better. I think just the psychological part of knowing you just excercised helps alot!

Wattage · 08-27-2006, 01:09 PM #5 (**permalink**)

Wow - Lara, sounds like you have put a lot of time and thought into this! Which is great, because having a plan makes it much less likely that you will go back to your old ways.

I am super happy for you... and look forward to many updates

VeganChick · 08-27-2006, 08:06 PM #6 (**permalink**)

It's great that you're getting back track. Sounds like a good plan. I've put on all the weight I've lost and I just realized that about a week ago...but there will be healthier food and more exercise at college in a week or two, so that should help a bunch.
If your DH can't live without his meat at dinner, you have two options when you cook your meal (which sounds really good, btw). If you really love him and have enough energy, you can cook him some meat to go with your stirfry or veggie dish. Or if you're too tired or whatever, just make him cook his own. I've found that there are plenty of healthy vegan/vegetarian meals that you can add some easy meat to for the carnivores. My dad's a carnie, my mom's a vegetarian and I'm a vegan, so my dad normally cooks a basic vegan meal for me and adds cheese for my mom and meat for himself.
Good luck and keep us posted!

sewpunk · 09-12-2006, 10:27 AM #7 (**permalink**)

Quote:

Originally Posted by VeganChick

I've found that there are plenty of healthy vegan/vegetarian meals that you can add some easy meat to for the carnivores. My dad's a carnie, my mom's a vegetarian and I'm a vegan, so my dad normally cooks a basic vegan meal for me and adds cheese for my mom and meat for himself.

I do the same thing for my DH. I get vegan food and fish, if he wants cheese and meat, he can add it himself.

Way to go Lara! keep us posted.

lara · 10-02-2006, 08:50 PM #8 (**permalink**)

Just touching back with an update: after I posted this I gained another kilo, making me 68kg (149 pounds). I went back onto Yasmin two months ago and as of this morning, I'm 65 kilos exactly (143 pounds). Yay!
Thats mostly through fixing up my eating to a great degree; I still haven't made the commitment to excercising more than once in a blue moon.

lara · 10-27-2006, 04:54 AM #9 (**permalink**)

63.5kg (139 pounds)

I've started jogging up and down the internal stairwell in my building, from my floor to the roof. I don't run into anyone, I don't have to go far to do it and I can do it for as long as i like.

Pinklady77 · 10-29-2006, 06:46 PM #10 (**permalink**)

Congrats

Kisbee · 10-30-2006, 06:57 AM #11 (**permalink**)

I used to hide in the fire stairs and do stretches and things hoping that no one would come past and ask me what was wrong..

Well done taking advantage of unused stair space!

lovalotz · 11-12-2006, 10:20 PM #12 (**permalink**)

Mostly I want to say congradulations on your change of mind to want to become healthier!
Keep us posted and we'll be here for you!