I got a wake up call right after the first of the year. <\/p>\n
I went to the doctor for a sinus infection and my blood pressure was high. So high in fact, that my nurse practitioner was afraid I would have a stroke. She ripped open a sample box of BP meds and stood and watched while I took the first one. That doctor visit was the first day of my current life.<\/p>\n
I had been toying with giving something up for Lent. I had never done a Lenten practice before, so I decided to combine that with something my body needed very badly. I gave up dessert sugar, sugared drinks and fast food.<\/p>\n
The first week was bad. Withdrawal craving kind of bad. Several times I would wake up and crave sugar so badly I thought I’d cave and get something. But I didn’t. I made it through that first week and moved on to the second. Each week was easier until at this point, I don’t even think about sugar much. I do have it now but it’s a once or twice a week thing, instead of everyday, twice a day.<\/p>\n
I started exercising. Every day. Not when I wanted to or felt like it. I did it everyday. <\/p>\n
I lost 20 pounds so quickly if felt like magic. <\/p>\n
I bought some new clothes to take on our trip to England. <\/p>\n
Shortly before we left on our trip, I hurt my knee. I don’t know what I did to it but it was so very painful. I took a bit of rest the few days before we left and missed my trip goal weight by 1 pound. I was a bit sad but I consoled myself with the fact that I would still be getting plenty of exercise on the trip.<\/p>\n
My knee was the singular down note on our whole trip. I had to baby it pretty much every day and the day we were in Edinburgh I didn’t climb Holyrood to see Authur’s Seat because I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to walk at all the next day.<\/p>\n
When we got home I had my chiropractor adjust it and since then it has steadily gotten better but I haven’t been exercising everyday. After the trip, I took the whole week off from working out. I’ve slowly been adding the daily workouts back to my schedule but I’ve been really careful about it. <\/p>\n
Yesterday I went to the store nab a pair of shorts because I gave away all the ones that were too big. I picked up a pair that were the size I bought just before our trip. They were too big. I thought maybe it was a mis-size, so I got another pair. They were too big as well. I tried on the smaller size and they fit! Sometime in the past month, even though I haven’t lost any more weight, I lost a pants size.<\/p>\n
I am not too proud to admit that I did a little dance of glee in the dressing room while wearing smaller pants.<\/p>\n
In a lifetime of always, ALWAYS, buying the next size up, I bought the size smaller yesterday. <\/p>\n
I wanted to come home and start my marathon training. Seriously, it crossed my mind to take up running.<\/p>\n
So how’s my blood pressure? It’s better. I’m still taking meds but it is lower than when I started at the first of the year. The second half is that even though I’ve massively overhauled my diet and I’ve taken up exercise, I still had to start taking cholesterol meds. I’m not sure that this is a function of my weight at this point. I think I might be fighting age and genetics. And I’m getting to the point of being ok with that. <\/p>\n
It’s hard to be mad at taking my medicine while I’m wearing smaller pants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I got a wake up call right after the first of the year. I went to the doctor for a sinus infection and my blood pressure was high. So high in fact, that my nurse practitioner was afraid I would have a stroke. She ripped open a sample box of BP meds and stood and … Continue reading Smaller Pants<\/span>