Diet & Exercise-- A Fat Girl's Struggle

I was watching Oprah’s “Biggest Loser” show yesterday evening and one of the women who has been able to keep the weight off for I think three years said “I knew how to gain weight, I knew how to lose weight but I didn’t know how to maintain the weight lost.” Well this is me and most likely some you too. I most certainly know how to gain weight, I lost 45lbs (my claim to diet fame) five years ago, but I was not able to maintain that weight loss for more than six months. So I am right back to the lose weight stage.

I do know how to lose weight; I know what I should be eating, what I should not be eating and I know how to exercise. My problem is I love JUNK FOOD and I don’t enjoy working out. I decided to tackle one of these at a time; for me the exercise is easier for me to tackle than my food issues. The diet pill is working out my food issues, for now I think this can work but I am not naive. I know that this may be an issue for me going forward. Exercise is something that I do not enjoy but I know from my last time down this road that exercise is the real key for me. So in spite of what the doctor says I am focusing on exercise.

Believe me, exercise is not easy; my body hurts while I’m doing it and after. I sweat horribly, my rhythm is so off that I can barley keep up with the exercise videos, my breathing is strained and my stamina is low. Everyday I have to force myself to put the DVD in and press play. I prefer exercise because I know it will give me the greatest and fastest results. Plus when I was running years ago there was a time, (perhaps 10 to 12 weeks into my exercise program) when I actually began to really, really feel good. I was able to really run with no problem, my body used to amaze me weekly as my endurance and stamina increased and my body LOOKED GREAT. My exercise program of choice is Leslie Sansone’s “Walk Away the Pounds” and Chalene Johnson’s “Turbo Jam”—these are both great programs for beginners.

If you can walk, you can get with the “Walk Always the Pounds” program it is easy and begins with a low impact 18 minute one- mile walk. The idea is that once you master the one-mile you move on to the two-mile and ultimately the three mile. I began with the two mile walk on Monday, walked three days and while the walk is VERY CHALLENGING, I decided that I could tackle the three-mile. Yesterday was my first 3-mile day and it KICKED MY BEHIND—I was dripping sweat, my arms and legs felt like lead and I was cursing Leslie Sansone out. When the 47-minutes was over I was even a little dizzy; I took a 5-minute rest, dried myself off, drank some water and then I began my “Power Jam” for 25 minutes. Now note that this was very difficult for me to do but I thought about something I’d heard earlier in the day and it gave me instant motivation. Jillian from the “Biggest Loser” told Oprah that what the people do at the ranch—6 hours of exercise a day—is not realistic and not meant for the viewers to emulate—she said that the show gives an illustration of what CAN BE DONE—WHAT IS TRULY POSSIBLE. So I thought about that—if these severely obese people, many of them older than me, most of then larger than me, with health issues—hypertension, high blood pressure, gout, diabetes, busted knees and ankles can do 6 hours of exercise a day—then I can do one hour a day.

So yesterday was my first day doing at least an hour and I will increase my workout by 30-minutes by the end of June. The goal is 90-minutes of exercise a day and my long walk with Alfreda every day.