Whenever my hubby and I are cooking meat, our go-to seasoning is Paleo Powder – Pink. This stuff is to die for! Every time we use it, we are in heaven. Our guests rave about this seasoning and immediately ask what it is and where they can get it. I’m not being paid to share this; this is my personal opinion. But I love it so much and want everyone to get the chance to enjoy it too! If you want to try this, go to my link below:
This is day 1 of my focused effort on improving my health and fitness…emphasis on “focused effort”. I’ve lost a few pounds here and there over the years, but not with any significant focus or effort. At my highest weight, I was 236 pounds. When we planned a trip to Hawaii, it inspired me for a short period of time, and I lost 12 lbs. 12 lbs was a good start, but in hindsight I also know I didn’t really make consistently good choices and likely could have done better. I don’t say that to beat myself up. Progress is progress! But I also know that it was a half-hearted effort, and I want to challenge myself now to be more intentional and more consistent.
That Hawaii trip was 11 years ago (August 2010). A few months later (October 2010) I was diagnosed with PCOS (which I likely had for years before the official diagnosis) . A few years ago, I was also diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, like my father and his mother before me. COVID-19 has caused me to take a deeper look at my health as we see that people with health challenges don’t always fair well if they get COVID. As a 48-year old mom to a 7-year-old, I want to be around for a long time, and I can feel the toll that my age and my health are taking on my body. I don’t sleep well (shoulder pain, trouble falling asleep, have to get up to pee multiple times a night). I have bad knees and ankles, partly due to past injuries, but I imagine my weight hasn’t helped with that either. I’m always tired, yawning even in the afternoon. I feel stressed regularly. I struggle with depression on occasion. All of this takes its toll on me, but I’ve also started to (finally) see the impact it all has on my relationship with my husband and with my daughter.
I’m working on taking off my blinders to really look at myself and the choices I make. What kind of example am I to my daughter? What kind of relationship do I want to have with my husband? Do the choices I make align with what I want? Relationships require effort to maintain and grow, but I struggle with having energy to do that.
I want to be more intentional with my choices. I want to have energy after my work day to spend meaningful time with my hubby and daughter, and also have energy to explore my own interests too! Next steps:
Step 1: I started meeting with an integrative medicine doctor earlier this year. The doctor has put me on www.ozempic.com to help my blood sugar. (Note: this is not an ad; I’m not being compensated for mentioning this product.) I see the doctor in a few weeks to see the results of my most recent blood draw. Since starting Ozempic, I’ve lost 7 lbs. This is about 3.5 months without any significant changes to the type of food eat. What has changed is how much I eat, and that’s because of Ozempic (not because of any will power on my part). If I eat too much in general or too much fat or sugar, my body starts to feel nauseated. It’s training me to recognize how much I can eat. I’m still getting plenty of food, but then I definitely ate too much prior to starting Ozempic.
Step 2: Set goals. My immediate goals are these:
Eat healthier – be more intentional and be more consistent.
Increase my fitness. Start by doing these activities more frequently:
Swimming
Walking the dog
Riding our exercise bike
In the long-term, I hope to improve my health and my fitness using the following as measurements:
Regular blood work
In particular, I’m focused on my A1C, my fasting glucose, my cholesterol, my vitamin D levels (which have been low), and my C-reactive protein (which has shown high inflammation).
Weight loss
As I create a consistent exercise routine, I will measure my progress there as well.
How many laps am I swimming in the pool
How long can I tread water
How far do I walk the dog before tiring
How far am I cycling
I invite you to join me and follow me on this journey! I would love to hear what your journey looks like and what goals you set for yourself – both short-term and long-term!
