A Bit About Me and My Story...

So, clearly I have revamped my "dissertation destination" blog into something new--don't be alarmed if you came here looking for my wisdom on dissertating and instead find yourself surrounded by cooking chatter.  I wasn't so great at keeping the other one up...and frankly, I finished the dissertation and have since moved on to the 'business of life' as it were. But I do have some fantastic suggestions for getting your Ph.D. in five years or less...so I may start something online regarding that angle as well in the near future.

You may wonder, what I'm doing here, now...cooking? recipes? That's been done, right?  Well, this is more about my personal ventures into the realm of getting healthy--in hopes of inspiring and helping those interested, who maybe don't know where to start.

For me, this blog is coming about at just about the one year mark from where I started--so I feel I can give some good beginner advice now.  A year ago, I was in graduate school.  I was overweight (and had been for a few years), stressed out, and in general just didn't feel very well--but I was used to it.  I knew how much I used to weigh, but I gained weight gradually, attributed it to getting older, and in general, put it out of my mind.  

My mom had suffered a heart attack the previous January, which came completely out of the blue.  In retrospect, it probably shouldn't have--but it was something no one in my family expected to happen.  Mom made it, thanks to a quick ambulance ride, an angioplasty, and a bunch of stents, but it made me wonder about my future health a bit as well.  My brothers and I all got our cholesterol, etc. checked out due to the increasing evidence that heart disease has hereditary links.  My numbers were great--but before I found this out, I had to listen to the doctor tell me during my exam that I "really should lose at least 20 pounds..."  As if I didn't already know this somewhere in the back of my mind.

Now, numbers on the scale don't lie, but nothing quite gets the point across like a visual.  So, at the beginning of June--I finally got that visual.  I had been in Kentucky for a week grading AP exams, and my roommate and I took a number of photos around Louisville.  Maybe it was the heat, maybe it was the bourbon, maybe it was just everything finally coming together in my life, but after looking at those photos, I decided it was about time to not only lose a few pounds, but more importantly, get healthy.  

The first step was figuring out exactly how I was going to do this.  I had done diets in the past...mostly South Beach/Atkins-type plans that worked in the short run and proffered a "low carb lifestyle."  The thing was--who wants to live their life without bread?  I knew from past experience these diets did, in fact, "work" but the weight (plus some) always came back, and they were impossible to stick to for the long haul.

I'm a smart person.  I knew it was all about calories in versus calories out--but how many did I need on a daily basis? How many calories were in things?  How does one "count calories" in a recipe, for instance?  First thing I did was join "LoseIt.com."  Why not use technology to my advantage, right?  I had a computer.  I had a smart phone.  What Lose It and other similar programs allow you to do, is set up a weight loss program, based on calorie counting and exercise, based off your personal weight-loss goals.  You type in your current weight, your age, your "goal weight," and how long you have to "lose it."  Seems simple enough...and it was very user friendly...gives you lists and lists (constantly updating) of foods (restaurant/processed too!) to make counting calories "easy."  However, I'm not going to lie, it was hard.

I'm all for a challenge, but I can see why nearly 90% of people fail in maintaining their weight-loss resolutions--what a hassle to keep track of every single thing you put in your mouth.  That being said, however, I'm also an ambitious person...and this was meant to be a "lifestyle change," not just weight-loss, so I stuck to it.  After the first couple of weeks, it got easier.  It even got "fun."  It was kind of a game to see how many calories were in something, what the better choice might be, or how many calories doing an activity burned off.  Most importantly, what this little program taught me, was to THINK about what I was putting in my mouth.

Adding up calories made it easier to see what foods were good for me and which were not.  Especially for those times when I was at a restaurant--come to find out, a salad is not always a lower calorie option!  After keeping track religiously for one week, two, a month, two months, etc.  I learned to make good choices.  Additionally, I learned that portion size matters.  Yes, I could eat potato chips with my lunch, but I needed to watch just how many I ate--and I found out that I really didn't need a whole handful of chips or 'seconds' for dinner.

Next, I had to figure out how to get some exercise into my daily routine.  Those who know me now, might scoff at this--but I HATE exercise...or at least, I used to.  I was never an athlete in school.  I never played any sports and felt entirely awkward if I tried (re: Cold Warriors softball team in grad school).  But I had chosen a profession that required me to sit for many hours, to read a lot, and occasionally stand in front of a classroom--not highly active, in other words.  What to do?

I knew that recommendations for a healthy lifestyle required 30 minutes of moderate exercise five times a week...or 150 minutes total for the week.  Gah!  I had attempted going to the gym in the past (I mean, I was a student forever and always got the requisite membership to the student rec. center on campus), but could never stick to it.  Too busy, couldn't find time, didn't like the environment (who wants to change, sweat, and "giggle" in front of your 18-year old students?), the list of excuses goes on...

I could walk, however.  In fact, I even enjoyed walking.  I thought that if I could just get outside and walk 30 minutes a day, this was a start.  So, I did it.  Eventually, I sped up my pace and began "power-walking."  I was averaging a distance of about 2-2.5 miles per 30 minute walk after several months of doing this.  My calorie counting program helped me factor in just how many calories I was burning off during all these walks too...so I was inspired to walk faster and burn more calories so I could have that "treat" every once in a while.

Then came the cold, hard, dreary winter.  I do live in Michigan, after all, and it was bound to rear its head at some point.  If the weather was tolerable, I kept up my walking outside (it was only 30 minutes)...but once the snow and winds came, I started riding a stationary bike inside, courtesy of my mother's wicked garage sale-ing skills.  I figured that I could burn a whole lot more calories on the bike than the 30 minute walk, so this became my daily activity.  

Exercise was hard--is hard.  It was perhaps the hardest part of making a change, but I learned how to use that time for my benefit too and stop thinking that it was "wasted time" or that I was "too busy" to get some exercise in for the day. It gave me a chance to listen to some great music on my iPod, which I missed being so busy with school.  It allowed me time simply to think about my dissertation and what changes needed to be made--which I think made for an overall better project in the end.  It made me feel good.  For the first time, in much longer than I realized, I felt legitimately good every day.  My mood improved, my spirits improved, and I wasn't so tired all the time. 

After six months of dedicated healthier eating and daily exercise, I finally reached my goal weight...and while it was much less than for some, it was a lot of weight for me.  Initially, my goal was (and I did) lose forty-six pounds.  This put me at the very top of the "healthy weight range" for my age/height.  It was still more than I used to weigh, but I felt like it was a safe number to be at.

As winter lingered on, I got really bored inside on the exercise bike.  If you know me, you know I get bored easily...and this was no different.  I was feeling pretty good about myself by then and thought--maybe I should try running?  My sisters-in-law and father-in-law had done a 5k for the first time back in November, so I figured, I should be able to do this too.  However, the biggest challenge for me that came with starting to run, was getting past the mental hurdles.  The first one was a biggie...though I kind of wanted to do it, I had tried in the past and it was so hard.  I don't think I even ran the "mile" back in high school for gym class.

However, Michigan in late December/early January was COLD...so I started by running a lap and power walking a lap--still for only 30 minutes at a time--around my high school track.  Eventually, I ran that mile.  Then I wasn't quite so tired after 1 mile...and I thought, maybe I should try for two?  And so it goes.  I ran my first 5k race (3.1 miles) in February and was a little ashamed to admit, I really liked it!  I ran a few more and am planning on running in my first 10k race this upcoming weekend.

Along the way, I picked up some great new motivational friends--the Freeland Saginaw Area Runners Club.  Initially, I didn't run with them very much because I couldn't run the same distance that these folks could, but I learned a bit about their stories and where they had started from through our online conversations and it kept me going, adding distance, speeding up--and now, I can honestly say, I feel like "a runner" and really enjoy running. I get it now.  I hope to run with them a bit more often when our schedules align--but I also maintain that running time is "me time" too and sometimes it's nice to just use that part of the day to think about things...

And I promise, future posts won't be this long. ;)