My journey
over the last year has been about getting myself healthy. Physically mostly, but mentally too I
suppose.
I was still
detoxing from Corporate America about a year ago when I stumbled across a “network
marketing opportunity” (sounds goofy, doesn’t it) in the health & wellness
field. I say stumbled across, but it was
really more like God laid it in my lap. Network
marketing … you know, as in multi-level marketing, the party plan … come to a
party, join my team, etc. This one was a
little different, though. Actually a lot
different.
A friend had
been telling me about it. I didn’t
listen until my sister attended an event and got me to a party a couple days
later. Wait, I can basically get paid to
lose weight? That’s cool.
I’ve made
lots of new friends through this business.
Positive, supportive people who go out of their way to help and
encourage others. We party together. We travel together. We attend events together. We spend way too much time on Facebook
together.
Last November
I was at a local training event with my fellow promoters. We were mingling, networking, and meeting new
people before the training got started.
I bumped into one of my new friends – we had met a couple months before …
at a big group party where we both were speaking. I asked about the race he had won the weekend
before while-suffering-from-bronchitis (!!!) …as an asthma girl, this is
particularly impressive to me. “What was
it, just a 5K?”
“Just a
10K. And why do you find this so hard to
believe?”
“Well, it’s
you, so I don’t. But …”
To make a
long story short, he talked me into starting a couch to 5K program.
Me.
A little
background here. My running experience
consists solely of seventh grade track. I
was slow. I wasn’t very good. A couple of dear friends, including a future
Olympian even, attempted to teach me hurdles.
That was hilarious! I ended up
throwing shot-put. And running for
conditioning? Yeah, so much fluid built
up on my knees that the doctor gave me two choices – take twelve aspirin a day
or quit track. So I took twelve aspirin
a day for the season, and then I quit track.
So the idea
of me running three-point-whatever miles is kind of a foreign concept.
And my
weight? It has been all over the map
during my adulthood. For those who think
I look great now … here are some pictures to show you where I’ve been. My highest ever … 1996. The cute baby (my niece) makes the picture
only slightly less horrifying.
I lost 67
pounds. Gained most of it back. Here in 2001, apparently I still didn’t “get
it”. Again the cute kid makes the pic
slightly less horrifying. In my defense,
I had sinus surgery a few weeks after this was taken, so I probably wasn’t
feeling well.
Fast forward
to 2011. I had lost a few pounds doing
my own low carb thing, but was struggling to get back into it post-holiday
season.
And to
today. I finally found something that
works. Praise God.
So I attack
my health and fitness goals 90-days at a time.
My last 90-day challenge was to maintain and survive a transition
through some health issues and into a new day job. Which I did, thank you very much. And the medical professionals have suggested
that maybe possibly perhaps I shouldn’t do “vigorous cardio”, but I’ve learned
that they really don’t actually know for sure.
I’ve had pretty much every vein in my body ultrasounded or MRI’d
recently, and I’m happy to report that my veins are fabulous! So blah-de-blah-blah-blah, I’m going to run.
My current
challenge … which I’m about a month into … is to … drum roll … lose 25 pounds
and get on the treadmill three times a week.
So far I’m down 4.3 pounds (math girl says better ramp it up …), 6-7/8
inches, and I’m wearing a size smaller jeans.
(Yes!) I’ve been on the treadmill
three times a week. I’m even back to my
couch to 5K program, ever so slowly.
Me,
running. Who would have thought?
