3 and 4 years...and going strong

This month marks a few anniversaries for me in my health and fitness challenge. This lifestyle change came with many adjustments in my life. Once I gave up prescription medications, meat, and adopted a regular fitness routine with progressive loading, much changed. Did my colitis and C.O.P.D. magically go away? No. As auto-immune disorders go, they have a resting/dormant or remission. Just when you think "I've got it" the bell is rung and you're symptomatic all over again.

I am grateful however, that although I still have flair-ups, acceptance was the biggest obstacle. Once I declared this battle I would fight for life, the moment came when any think non-traditional was open for inspection. A large part of this change was adopting a physical exercise program that help maintain healthy fat/muscle percentages. I am stronger, more flexible, and run with greater endurance than ever. Considering that we age in time, I think that is a good place to be.

Regular exercise is only about 30% of the battle. The other 70% of maintaining a healthy body composition is eating a nutritious diet. I started with a transition to Pescatarianism then to a full vegetarian. I increased my vegetable, fruits, and legumes. Whole grain breads, rices, and pastas ensure an optimum fiber content.

Many skeptics believed that I would fall. There was no way I could survive on this plan, because after all one needs meat to live. Really? Ask the gorilla. In short, it's 3 years as a non-meat eater and 4 years of physical exercise planning. Life could not be better. It certainly is better now than ever before.

I still see re-starters. I still get asked the same questions by the same people who have watched my physical transformation. I hate to say it but I hide from now...literally. It is not rocket science. I am living proof that change works. My diet is not so strict that it does not allow for cookies, cakes, and pies.

I follow the 80/20 rule. At least 80% of the time I am flying at regulation altitude. My diet and exercise is on point. The other 20% of the time, I am coasting, maintaining, and simply enjoying the foods that I have grown to love over this lifetime. Once I gave up dieting, everything else fell into place.

I encounter many arrogant first-timers who read a few magazine articles, leap on the bandwagon of the latest diet craze, and puff their chests out like they are pros. Until you have practiced it for a few years, then you cannot know what a veteran knows. There is nothing wrong with embracing a lifestyle change, but you cannot live your life on a diet, punishing and berating your entire plan because you ate four cookies, polished off a pizza, or ate cheesecake for lunch.

A lifestyle change means that you have found a way to make allowances for the comforts and rewards in the work and grind. For anyone who has trekked through a year and has come out on the other side, I salute you!

Here's to you as well...

my running secret weapon

You may think it is my MP3 player bouncing my favorite tunes. Some may say it is the K-Swiss Tubes I have been raving about since my sister bought me my first pair for Christmas. It very well could be my Brita Bottle (just one of many...building a collection of colors). All of those things are very special to my exercise regimen. However the secret weapon in my arsenal is none other than...drum roll,

Of course you should stay hydrated on a run...but I just could not connect with the idea of toting a water bottle. And the thought of pausing my run to get a sip is sabotage. I would have to rev up again...losing speed, losing time...ugh! I remembered during a sore throat a year ago, that I popped peppermint to get through a cardio session and I did not get thirsty or that parched feeling you get when your throat feels like sandpaper.

Try it!

...have you ditched the scale yet?

How many ways can I say it?

If you are praying to a scale, I bet you really don't enjoy the new body you have or the one you are hoping to have some day. You deserve to be miserable. No. Really. If you are committed to the scale controlling your life, then you deserve what it gives...and that's usually nothing, even if the number excites you. If you have more slips than stills, more falls than gains...something is wrong and you need to evaluate. There is nothing wrong with a built in cheat daily, not to big if the craving hits you. But still you need to add into your daily caloric values.

Fall is approaching.  Like spring, it comes with a reason to fit up for the marathons. Work it Lovelies...kick it up, clean up the diet, drink plenty of water, and get proper rest. Just Do It!!!

get moving: set goal, make it happen

It's here and it's official.  The calendar doesn't say summer yet, but let's get real.  Memorial day made it official.  And like the moon, diets swearing to drop 100 pounds in a week are in full salute.  And people wonder why I don't have patience to train clients anymore.  Everyone wants the magic pill.  People: there isn't one.  Anything you do to take the weight off ceases the moment your body adapts.  And the weight comes back.  I'm just not getting the need to wait until bikini season to get it together in a week.  If you're going to start something, make the commitment to change your life.  Now it'll be a struggle all the way through, with some days worse than others.  But the reality is like committing to go to school, or learning how to drive, or loving someone past their faults...you have to set yourself up to succeed and then get in, buckle up, and set it on cruise.  Yes.  It's hard work. And more times you fall off, the easier it becomes to stay off.  Why am I saying this?

I've battled weight just like everyone else in the diet community.  My victories came from the hard work.  But the biggest sabotages are the people around you.  We all know that.  So find a support group even if it's a diet community on FACEBOOK or YOUTUBE, or go at it alone.  And make it happen.

It's a year now since I've been on the road to recovery.  Food is my comfort.  I love to eat.  But I also love being healthy, feeling my body do amazing things, watching it transform before my eyes, and realizing gravity is  trying to take me down...literally.  Look good feel great, do it for life.