Exercise Update

 So in a lot of ways, keeping this blog has been really good for me. I know my journey has been long- a lot longer than I wanted it to be. That being said, kudos to me for getting close to my goal weight in 2010, and then maintaining it for six years. I never quite got all the way down, but close enough for a game of horseshoes.

And you never really finish a weight loss journey, because at the end of the day, we all still have to eat, and that means making conscious choices forever. While I never want to end up back where I started this year or even where I am now, I give myself grace and remember that the most important step is not the first one or the last one, but the NEXT one.

While writing here is good for me simply to articulate what's going on in my head, not to mention how it helps me to know that people are reading (which helps keep me accountable), it also helps me to look back at my journey and see what has tripped me up before so that I can learn from my mistakes. 

I note that I have tried several times over the years to get started and maintain an exercise program, and I've never quite been able to. There is always something that comes up to trip my eagerly laid plans and somehow I don't pick it back up again. I don't want that to happen again this time.

Exercise is not only important for weight loss, but it's really good for blood sugar levels. It's been proven to lower blood sugar levels and have a continuing effect. And since I would really rather deal with my diabetes before it progresses to requiring insulin, that means I've got to exercise whether I like it or not. Honestly, I don't. I know lots of people do, but it's not something that has ever made me happy or felt like I had more energy. I will just try to look at it as regular maintenance like I'm a complex machine, which after all isn't that far from the truth, is it?

So I'm not making a New Year's resolution about exercise; I'm making a plan. When I read back in my blog, I can see that I attempted the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Slimdown several times, but never got past week one. I have been managing to walk every day since I got my new fitness tracker in November (with the exception of 3 days over Christmas), and I'm starting to do workouts with a friend (which will hopefully also keep me accountable there). Once I get my stamina up a little bit, I want to finally finish that program. Because I can do it if it matters to me, and it does.

Here is how I plan to do it (always have measurable ways to achieve your plan!):

1) Work out with a friend. It's so much harder to make excuses if you have to make them to someone else! 

2) Figure out where I went wrong in the past. I can see in the past that my fatigue issues made me give up way too easily, where I can make changes now instead. If I'm tired, choose a less strenuous workout- not no workout at all. Also, I got discouraged easily because I tend to gain weight when I start working out, and that made me give up. The scale isn't the only indicator of how your body changes! While I didn't take measurements, I recognize that getting stronger and fitter is at least as important as changes on the scale. And if I keep going forward, I will eventually see that drop on the scale.

3) Plan in advance for the days where exercise makes you hungry. While it's not a great idea to eat all of the calories you burn (and with Ozempic you likely wouldn't be able to anyway!) there will be days where you're hungrier than usual. I have lots of great recipes in my blog that are high protein and high satiety. I definitely recommend my Egg Drop Soup, for example!

4) Follow the Readiness cues on my workout app to make sure that my body can handle the type of workout I'm looking at. There's no sense in pushing so hard that I hurt myself; which will lead to fewer workouts anyway!

One day at a time... I wonder how long to make this feel like a habit?