Diet & Exercise

More years ago than I wish to remember, I crossed the last frontier in weight gain.  Then I stayed at that point for a long, long time.  I was not really gaining any more weight, but neither was I losing any.  Sometimes I would attempt a diet and lose a few pounds, but they always came back on within weeks.

About two years ago I got a bit more serious about it and lost twenty pounds.  Those twenty stayed off, but it was a constant battle to keep it that way. I had reached a plateau. But I had backed away from the last frontier and was going to stay away.

Last summer when I had to find my own health insurance, my weight caused a problem.  I was turned down by two insurance companies.  And that was after I had lost twenty pounds!  The third company accepted me but told me they were charging me 80% more for my premium because of my weight.  That put my health insurance premium skyhigh. Speak of providing motivation.

Last August I was determined to get off that plateau.  I decided that when school starts I will cut back on what I eat. Isn't that how a person loses weight?  Well, that landed me in the hospital for two days because I passed out in the morning when I was getting ready for school.   I told them right away that I hadn't eaten enough the day before. They determined there was nothing wrong with me. I thought my blood sugar had probably dropped, but they didn't think that was happening either.

Still determined to get off the plateau, I decided that there are two ways to lose weight.  The other is to increase the exercise.  I doubled what I was doing on the treadmill.  I started getting the same light-headed feeling that I had when I hadn't eaten enough.  I was stuck on the plateau. 

It seemed hopeless to lose weight until one lady at church suggested that I may be low in iron. Now, that made sense.  There have been times in my life before when I was low in iron.  I clearly remember  playing softball in phys. ed. class in tenth grade.  I hated to play because by the time I swung the bat to hit the ball, I was too dizzy to see first base let alone RUN to it.  The teacher thought I was making up excuses for not playing until the day I swung the bat, hit the ball, and promptly passed out at home plate.  There were days when I was a teen that I would sleep for 12-14 hours a night and still be tired all the time.  So a bit of anemia made sense.

 I took a few iron tablets for a few weeks and went back to the full exercise program. That got me off the plateau. The middle of March I started counting calories and tracking my exercise using Livestrong.com. Since then, my weight kept bobbing up and down because there are always events coming up that make it hard to count the calories (writers conference, senior girls weekend, Grenada, the end of school treats on the faculty table, etc); but I have managed to have more losses than gains. I lost another 20 pounds.  I have lost weight that I have been carrying around for probably twenty years.

I am not at my goal.  In fact, I have a long way to reach my goal. Walking works.  I hiked Old Rag Mountain. I have walked the seven miles home from school.  I have walked an 8-mile circle from here to Adamstown and back. I frequently walk 3-4 miles a day. I learned to enjoy walking outside in the beautiful weather we have had this spring. If the weather isn't ideal for walking outside, I have the treadmill and can do 3-4 miles on there.  The other day I was planning to use the treadmill because there was a threatening thunderstorm overhead.  I was hunting for my ipod because I said that when I walk outside God provides the entertainment, but when I use the treadmill I have to provide my own. 

From my observation, I will just have to continue eating my thousand calories and burning my thousand calories to continue the downward trend I started.  I am not ready for another plateau.