My Health Journey

While it’s a little scary to share the details of my health journey over the past six months, my hope is that my experience will encourage even one person to just start. So here it goes…

Sometime in January, Rob and I decided that it was time to start taking our health more seriously. I don’t think we realized how badly we needed to make a change, we just thought it would be a good idea. While I’ve always cooked relatively healthy and been fairly active, we knew that it wasn’t enough anymore. We needed some sort of accountability to really be successful, but we didn’t want to do anything drastic, like fasting or juicing. Fortunately, we had some friends who were having success with Weight Watchers, so we decided to give it a try.

WW, as they’re now known, has made some changes to their program in recent years. You don’t have to go to meetings if you don’t want to, and you can track food, activity, and weight loss on their app. If you don’t want to focus on weight loss, you can choose the “Healthy Habits” option, which gives you more flexibility to figure out a way of eating that is the right balance for you. As I’ve mentioned before, weight loss wasn’t our primary goal, but I think we knew that we were not at healthy weights. I’m incredibly proud to share that we’ve lost a combined ~70 pounds since January! We look and feel so much better (you can see in the progress photos above!), and we’re at a place now where we’re applying what we’ve learned to maintain healthy habits for the long haul.

So, has it been hard? Yes, and no. You have to be committed, and it really helps to have a partner supporting you and keeping you accountable. Weight Watchers assigns every food a point value and gives you a daily total as a guideline, as well as some flexible points to use throughout the week. As you start to enter things in, you learn to be much more conscious of what you’re putting in your body. We haven’t completely changed what we eat, but we have changed how we eat. The biggest change for us has been with dinners. Instead of serving a protein with a starch and a vegetable, we just have the protein with more vegetables. Portion control is important too, and being willing to eat leftovers for lunch helps tremendously. We’re only rarely drinking juice, and drinking less alcohol, especially during the week. We’ve set up our tracking plan so we have a good idea of where we stand with points by the end of the work week, and are still able to enjoy ourselves on the weekend. There’s nothing you absolutely can’t eat, but if you indulge one day, you have to balance it out with healthy eating. Every weekend, we meal plan for the upcoming week before we go grocery shopping. Having our meals planned out definitely helps us stay on track. We use this pad so everything is in writing and we can refer back.

It’s a learning process, and the longer you do it, the more it becomes second nature. I’ve discovered that there are certain things I don’t have to be as vigilant about, like measuring out the milk in my coffee or cereal. I’ve stayed consistent whether I do that or not, so I can just trust my gut on those things. The most difficult thing for me has been the nights when I’m exhausted after a long day and I really don’t want to make dinner. Before, we would make mac and cheese or order in from the diner, but doing those things will throw off our whole week and leave us little room for weekend plans. Fortunately, I’ve been able to alter a lot of my easier weeknight recipes to be WW-friendly. The WW app and website also have a library of recipes, and a quick Pinterest search will give you a lot more options.

While the food part of this is major, I should also mention that it’s important to make time for exercise too. For years, I was going to the gym a few times a week, working out on the elliptical and lifting weights. But, I was in such a comfortable rhythm that I was never really pushing myself. I had a lot of anxiety around group fitness classes, but around the same time we started WW, I decided to finally try a class I’d been curious about for a long time. Ever since, I’ve gone to trampoLEAN once a week, pretty much every week. It’s a high-intensity workout on your own mini trampoline, and it’s fun, but incredibly difficult. While some of it has become easier over time, I’m still challenged every single week. I honestly never thought I could do a class like this. There are definitely times that it totally kicks my butt, and sometimes I have to modify the movements to cater to a bad knee, but I push through. I can do it, and instead of doubting my abilities, I’m really proud of myself and my body.

Overall, this process has been incredibly rewarding. I don’t feel like we’ve had to totally change the way we live our lives, or like we’re missing out on anything (Note that we did not count points when we went to Italy, but felt comfortable enough with where we were that we could just enjoy ourselves while we were there). That said, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that it’s also been a little strange for me to see my body change so much in such a short period of time. When I look at pictures of myself from just six months ago, it gives me a lot of feelings. At the time, I thought I felt pretty good about my body. Over the years, I had learned how to dress to accentuate my favorite features and camouflage my least favorite. And while I’m so glad that I was comfortable in my body, I know now that I was too comfortable and I kept doing a lot of the same things without stopping to think if they were the best habits. I also realize that while I was telling myself (and you) that I was confident and loved myself how I was…that wasn’t entirely the truth. There were a lot of times when I would cringe looking in the mirror, or feel sad when I tried something on and it didn’t fit like I wanted it to. I didn’t feel overweight, but I think I was hiding behind my curves. Now, I feel good, not just about the way I look on the outside, but how I feel on the inside. I’ve learned that my body is capable of much more than I thought it was. I still have curves, and I always will, but feeling healthier and knowing that I’m taking better care of my body is just incredible.

So, here’s what I want you to take away from this post: Living a healthier lifestyle doesn’t have to be hard. It sounds cliche, but small changes really do make a big difference. What works for someone else might not work for you, and that’s okay. Find something that keeps you motivated and fits into your life. No one (except maybe a doctor) should tell you that you “have to” or “need to” lose weight. But, remember that it’s easy to become complacent and make excuses. While it’s difficult to commit to something and hold yourself accountable, it’s also difficult to look yourself in the mirror and not really like what you see. To know that you are not taking care of your body like you should be. To know that you deserve more. I want you to know that this is not impossible, and yes, it’s hard, but it’s so, so worth it.

Feel free to message me if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting me on this journey and always!