Hello Friendly Readers,
If you've read recent entries, you've already learned about Phase 1 of my lifelong journey - that's all about healthy food choices. Today, I'm going to share Phase 2 which involves physical fitness. This is about building muscle from the protein that I eat and working out to keep my muscles fit and strong.
One thing I have learned recently is that I never was taught the importance of lifelong fitness. If any teacher taught us this in the '60s or '70s, I must not have been listening. My understanding now, at age 66, is that the body loses strength over time if work is not done to keep muscles strong. At least, I'm learning now... which is better than not learning at all!
In the summer of 2022, I started working with a Fitness Trainer named Andy. He is the husband of the nutrition specialist that I mentioned in my Phase 1 entry. Our first meeting took place at the Rec Center here in Westerville. We talked a lot about my physical strengths and weaknesses. I explained that I had a lot of pain in my lower back. I also told him about my knee replacements. He had me lift weights, and watched me walk on the track. We went around what I call the "weight machine room" and tried various machines. He showed me how to set them and kept track of what he was having me do.
We also set up a schedule for me to meet with him weekly at his gym where he would work with me individually. I have kept those weekly meetings regularly for the last 3 years, and that is a huge part of my success. Andy has spent a lot of our fitness training working on strengthening my lower back. He has also worked with me to tighten my core. Core strength was a new concept to me! (Maybe I slept through that lecture in high school?) Andy gave me a list of exercises to do daily at home. He also made a list of recommended weight machines to use at the Rec Center. Routinely, I now meet him at the gym once a week and visit the Rec Center twice a week. As I have become stronger and more experienced, I am doing more of a variety of workouts at the Rec Center - moving away from the weight machines and doing more lifting with dumb bells and kettle bells. I also use stretch straps and ropes, as well.
All of this working out was helpful, but for the first couple of years, I was still eating unhealthy food, so I was still gaining. As I mentioned in my previous entry, once I hit 250# again, alarm bells went off in my head, and I made changes to my eating habits. Being able to combine that change with working out has made a huge difference!
As of now, my goal is to get below 200# for the first time in my adult life. Once, I get below 200, if I can keep going down, that's great, but even if I just stay in the 190s, I can live with that. In October 2024, I started following my healthy eating plan, and I lost weight very quickly. The first 25 pounds went off rapidly - in about 3 or 4 months I was down below 230. Then I stalled out. I am now fluctuating in the 225-229 range. It has been challenging to come up with useful methods to get out of this phase. Here are some options we are discussing:
- Establish a walking routine of clocking at least 6000 steps a day (Laura and Andy's top recommendcation)
- Don't let the "chocoholic" phase suck me back in! (My own attempt at self-control)
- Consider giving Ozempic a try (recommended by my doctor)
