Change

So here I am, sitting in front of my laptop pondering and feeling contemplative about turning 50 on Saturday.  Let me set the stage.  Four years ago I turned a new leaf in my life.  My children grew up; one got married and had a baby.  I didn’t realize the impact this life transition would have on me.  I began my new life with triathlon and had an absolute blast.  I ran my first half-marathon and first ocean water triathlon at 48 years of age.  I never imagined myself accomplishing these goals.  But most importantly I never imagined that facing fear and coming to the end of myself would be the most significant accomplishment through these experiences.

In the past 18 months a lot has changed - again.  I was asked to provide oversight to a new health & wellness department at my church, which incidentally is where I work - as a pastor.  Our lead pastor, my boss, struggles with weight.  He met a trainer, Todd Chambers, who helped him get his life back on track.  Since then we have started a health & wellness ministry at our church under the direction of Mr. Chambers.

Of course this was exciting to me since I have always been passionate about fitness.  Over the past 18 months, we have held numerous nutrition and fitness classes.   It has been an absolute joy to watch people get excited about exercise and meet their own personal weight loss goals.  Since meeting Todd, I have reached my own personal weight loss goal of losing 40 pounds and gaining strength and muscle I never thought possible at my age. 

Here is a picture of me right before running my first half-marathon in January 2011.  I weighed in at 155 pounds at 5ft 4” (body fat 24%).

After my race I decided to sit down with Todd myself and see what his “miracle plan” as Pastor Dan had boasted from the pulpit in January - had to offer me.   As Todd’s boss, I had better figure out what he was all about.  And, as a goal oriented person, I chose a date of October 7^th 2011 to get the fat off – that was the due date of Ravi, my precious grandson.

In February 2011, I sat down with Todd in Paradise Bakery, of all places, to review my eating patterns and evaluate the best place for me to start.  With pride I laid out the fact that I had little to no appetite and am rarely hungry.  Wrong answer.  Not feeling hunger until 2 or 3PM is not good.  I learned that my body entered starvation mode and that any food that entered my body it would hold onto for dear life – as if I were on a desert island.  He sternly instructed me to take the next few weeks eating anything and everything. Wha?  Of course I was immediately frustrated because I NEED TO BE IN CONTROL.  He refused to let me know what would happen next.

Finally I texted him very frustrated and said, “I am starving all of the time, how am I going to lose weight fighting this ravenous hunger.”  He replied, “Perfect that was what I was waiting to hear!” UGH – what the…?! I learned that my metabolism had slowed and my body was in starvation mode due to all of the years of calorie counting and calorie restricting to compensate from binge eating.

From that point on he put me on a low carb, lean protein and healthy fat eating plan.  During that time I was strength training 3 times per week and training for another half-marathon in late 2011.  The pounds came off, week by week.  Some weeks were slow but some were fast.  There was no way to predict what my body was going to decide to do.  But there was one thing that I knew – that I held on to.  I really wanted to make a healthy and sustainable change in my eating.  I was not wrapped up in outward appearance, getting rid of cellulite or any other fleshly goal.  I just wanted to live the rest of my life feeling good and full of energy and life.  It was a commitment that needed to supersede all of the distractions that this food saturated culture lures me into.

Here is a pic of me in October 2011.  I met my goal, met my grandson on October 7^th, 2011 (my 29^th anniversary!) and turned a new chapter in my life - 115lbs 19% body fat.  But most importantly, I feel great.  I sleep better, need less sleep, energy is through the roof!

What was next?  I met my weight loss goal and decided that I wanted to see what my body could do at my age! I wanted to try get as strong and add as much muscle as I could.  That meant another level of eating and training.  Here is a picture of my back in December of 2011, after the weight loss.  Notice how "soft" I look.  I was "depleted" - my body used my fat stores and my muscles were crying for glycogen.  I learned that sometimes you need to get the fat of first, then to stay lean, add muscle! 

Todd put me on a high protein (lean meats, egg whites and fish) carb cycling eating plan.  I consumed approximately 140 – 200 grams of protein and between 50 and 200 grams of healthy and clean carbs daily depending on how heavy I trained in the gym.  Here is a pic from June 2012, 6 months after.

Lessons learned:

1) Make healthy change a priority in your life

2) Stay focused on your own personal goals - don't be distracted by other people's goals, successes, physiques and genetics.

3) Make friends with people that VALUE healthy living and eating

What’s next.  Stay tuned… I'm not done, just getting started.  Remember 50 is the "go-ahead" signal, honey!!  I hope you will follow me as I unravel my story woven through my blog.