Friday, October 5, 2012

Take Charge

Sometimes my life just feels out of control. It’s like I’m just sort of here, going through the motions, hanging on dearly, just along for the ride.

Sometimes I don’t even go through the motions. I’m just sort of existing.

I’m trying to get better at this. Really, I am.

One of the things I’ve found that has significantly impacted how I, well, just AM in my life is my weight. Not only my weight, but my general health and well-being that has gone along with my obesity problems.

If I could grab hold of the reigns and take charge of just one thing in my life it would be my health. Unfortunately, my weight plays a HUGE part in that. No pun intended.

This is a work in progress. I mostly grabbed those reigns, back in April of this year. I wrote a few posts on my running, but then quit. After one of my favorite readers said something like, “What’s with all this running stuff?” I just didn’t know what else to say about it. I did start a new blog that deals with just the running stuff.

This is me a few years ago. I remember spending most of my days snoozing on the couch. I didn’t give a shit if the kids were home or if a friend was over. I was tired and I just didn’t feel good. At all. It showed. Please, be kind. I know I didn’t look very good. I sure didn’t feel good. My blood sugar was high, my fibromyalgia was horrendous.

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Last year I started losing some weight, just for no good reason. To this day I’m not sure why the pounds started dropping. I went from my all time high, around 280 something to down to around 225. I didn’t look that much better, lord knows. However, I felt a wee bit better. I was able to get up and out of the house a little more. My blood sugars went back to almost normal. My pain level didn’t drop at all. I think that was probably because I still wasn’t active.

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Like I said, in April of this year I started taking charge. I started running 3 times a week. I started doing Zumba 3 times a week. The last time I had labs drawn, my blood sugar was down to normal. My cholesterol is much better. My bad cholesterol is good, the good cholesterol is good. My triglycerides still need some work, but they are down to 184. Doc says they need to be under 150, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. They started out over 500!!

All these things are good, but what’s great is that my mind is quieter, my depression better. My pain is almost nonexistent. It does creep back if I don’t take a pain pill before I go to sleep at night and if I don’t run for a few days. Best of all, I actually feel like getting up and doing things. Going on outing with the family, shopping, taking photos of pretty things, walking the dogs.

me in vegas 2012

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I strive to keep taking charge. Keep running, keep eating well. I want my life back.

This is day 4 of BlogFEST 2012 hosted by Stuart Fish at StuartFish.com

BlogFEST 2012 Badge

3 comments:

stufish7 said...

Thanks for your post an I must say, you have really hit a nerve with me. I blog a lot about taking charge of one's weight and lifestyle on my other blog 4abettalife.com and my next post in this Blogfest is titled creeping obesity later in October. You are certainly not alone and I will soon launch a FB fanpage dedicated to this area. I hope you will join me there.

Keep on keeping on. Maybe my book, Eat Drink Move will offer you some tips?

Thanks for your contribution
Stuart

Daphne said...

Wow, Melissa. You're speaking my language. I used to be obese--over 200 pounds. But after being fired from a job, I radically transformed myself losing 65 pounds (through Weight Watchers) while job hunting. The same week that I became a lifetime member of WW I was offered a job. Everything just fell into place.
Earlier this year some family tumult caused me to lose focus and I gained back several pounds. I felt AWFUL! So this summer I committed to getting healthy again. Since getting back on track (again with WW) I've taken off 12 pounds, gone down about three clothing sizes and have more energy and just feel great. Take it from me, YOU CAN DO IT! Keep on keeping on even when it feels impossible. I am living proof that you'll thank yourself in the end. Cheers!

Lin said...

Amen, sister. Isn't it weird how your weight affects such a huge part of how we feel--mentally and physically. I do the SAME thing.

First, I want to apologize if I was in any way the cause of you not running. I didn't mean to question you per se, but wondered why running became such a big part of your life. I admire you for running--it is something I can't do. Keep doing it--you look GREAT!!

I find that I have a certain weight where I feel great. I work at staying at that weight my entire life. I believe in Weight Watchers program and exercising a few times a week.

I am joining you in your quest for feeling good as I just joined a new health club and am much more excited about working out again.

Glad you are feeling better, my friend!! Let's do it together!

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