About two years ago, I launched Fit & Svelte with the intention of recording my fitness goals without going crazy over the process. What happened—apart from life getting in the way—was a slew of incidents: the beginning of menopause, injuries, diplopia caused by stress. Later, an overall feeling of ennui set in and I stopped writing and recording my progress.
When I started the blog, I was hovering at about 150 pounds and now I am 11 pounds heavier. Some of which has to do with waning hormone levels, but most of it has to do with not maintaining a consistent fitness routine or eating properly.
About two months ago, I learned my blood pressure was 157/95. High enough, according to the National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, that it could require medication to regulate. My family has a history of high blood pressure and heart disease, but for some reason the numbers didn’t register that I was in this danger zone. I realize now that I should have been worried about those blood pressure numbers, especially since I was having dizzy spells every time I would lie down. Instead, I followed a doctor’s advice from long ago to cut caffeine and sodium and to drink more water. The dizzy spells, thankfully, went away.
The truth is I had a delayed reaction in fully comprehending the dangers of hypertension. Looking back to that day, I see how foolish I was about being so lackadaisical about my health. Hypertension can lead to serious problems like heart attacks and strokes, but also aneurysms, heart failure, weakened and narrowed blood vessels in your kidneys. Thickened, narrowed or torn blood vessels in the eyes. As well as metabolic syndrome, which is, according to the Mayo Clinic: “a cluster of disorders of your body’s metabolism — including increased waist circumference, high triglycerides, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or ‘good,’ cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high insulin levels. If you have high blood pressure, you’re more likely to have other components of metabolic syndrome. The more components you have, the greater your risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or stroke.” Lastly, trouble with memory or understanding.
It’s taken me two months for this wake-up call and this time–without excuses–I need to take charge of my health. It’s not about fitting into a size six pair of jeans, it’s about having a good quality of life. Why is the tagline “A Year’s Journey of Turning Back the Clock?” The purpose is regain the fitness of the past when I was at a healthy weight, physically active, less stressed out, and ate nutritious food.
I admit when I start a new fitness regime, I’m gung-ho for a week and I get into this obsessive-compulsive mode of recording every calorie consumed and burned, weighing myself daily, and updating Facebook with all my progress and then the boredom sets in and silence.
For this next year, I want to take a relaxed approach. No obsessive daily weigh-ins, just once a week (and this will be a difficult habit to break). No Facebook announcements for accountability (that’s the purpose of this blog). However, I want to be strict with myself and get in a minimum of three workouts per week, but push for a maximum of five workouts, in addition to taking longer afternoon walks with the dogs before it gets dark. When it comes to food, the main goal is to be able to eat everything I want, but with certain limitations on snacking, high fat foods, sweets. I’ll go into further detail as I post more entries.
And now let’s start turning back that clock…
