OMG, damn adverts.
Honestly, this year I lost about 5kg during our "lockdown/shelter in place" time here in NZ because I simply didn't feel the need to eat like I do when I have to interact with people every day. I'm beginning to suspect I'm much more introverted that I ever have been before. I was happy eating a couple of mandarins and a muesli bar during the day, then a light dinner. And no alcohol (because let's face it, that's where most of my calories are).
When lockdown lifted, I went back to the gym. Well, actually I went back to the gym because the bathroom here was being renovated and I had nowhere else to shower in the morning except the gym. But I'm glad I went. I still go most mornings. But I'm eating much more now I'm back at work, and drinking far too much alcohol for weight loss (November has been bad for this). But I lost another 5 kg give or take in the last 4 months - just not since November...
I've actually put a kilogram on in the last month, but I'm not berating myself too much. I'm a lot stronger than I was and my heart health probably hasn't been this good since I was 20. I'm also working on the other aspects of fitness, specifically balance and flexibility. I'm not sure I'll ever really be particularly flexible in my legs as I didn't get any physical treatment (other than essential hospital care - I was in for about 4 hours, enough for an xray and urine test to check for internal bleeding - nope, none) after a motorcycle accident because I didn't understand how our public accident insurance worked and thought I'd have to pay for it (and no, we don't sue in my country.) Now I know it would have been completely free. But currently I'm working on my hips because I have a different injury that I'm trying to resolve.
Last year, I hurt my back and then sprained my ankle really badly so my Word of the Year (alternative to a New Year's Resolution) became "Heal" - this, I have done, finally, because the pain in my back that often left me screaming when I stood up, has gone thanks to a wonderful chiropractor I saw a couple of times in late Sept/early Oct. He prodded some very tense muscles each time, and then told me to sit cross legged "legg-ed" (criss-cross applesauce I believe some of you know it as). I hadn't done that since I was a kid and my god did it quickly heal the issue. I will never go to physio-therapy again (physical-therapy).
But back to the point of this. I've lost about 9kg this year (20 pounds). I've technically got another 9 to go to keep my insurance company happy with a bmi thing, but I'm good. I'm wearing clothes I like again. I'm 5'9" and 83kg. Yes, we use a combination of measurements here lol. I hope next year I can report that I'm back under the 80kg mark. I'd like that.
83 kg = 183 pounds (as we do it in the US). 80 kg is 176.3. A weight chart I'm looking at says a 5'9" woman should weigh 131-160 lbs. That is 72.5 kg, max. But life isn't perfect!
I have a bad relationship with food, and I have all my life. My mom was a yo-yo dieter and I emotionally inherited a complicated relationship with food.
I basically used to starve myself in my teens and twenties to be 5'6.5" and 132 lbs, from age 12-30. Then I got pregnant for the first time and all hell broke loose. I never saw the 130s again. I did manage to get down to 145 after my first birth, but each time my weight post partum was higher. It was so hard to get enough sleep, to eat mindfully, and to exercise. I just had so little time to myself. Also, my mother never served desserts, but my ex h loved sweets and I got into the habit of eating dessert almost every night.
I had a couple of periods where I managed to get in a good routine of diet and exercise, once the kids got older. And of course, my youngest has been out of the nest now for about 8 years. But my weight increased for various reasons, various stressors. I know I am an emotional eater.
Oddly, my higher than healthy weight wasn't a deterrent when I was dating. Many men who asked me out either didn't care what size a woman was, or actually preferred a curvier-shaped woman. Pixi loves me no matter what, and tells me I'm beautiful all the time. But it's gotten to be too much for me. I have had some health issues that are linked to my weight.
I was swimming, doing water exercise classes as my favorite form of exercise, on and off, for years. Unfortunately, the stress of swimming has caused me shoulder pain in the last couple of years, and I recently had X-rays to tell me that I have bone spurs in my left shoulder, and beginning stages of osteoarthritis! Yay.
For most of this year, my gym with the pool has been closed anyway. I like to walk, but it was stressful on my old knees. I've been doing it anyway since August. At first I could only do 15-30 minutes, 3x a week. Now I do 30 minutes 6 days a week and 15 minutes on my "active rest day." And I am able to be more active around the house in general now.
More difficult has been my diet, but I am working hard at it. I have cut out all added sugar, and all white flour and most pasta. No more cakes, cookies, ice cream. I understand nutrition and I am applying my knowledge.
I'm not really into drinking alcohol or smoking weed much these days, so I don't get many calories from the booze, and I don't get the munchies from either.
I've been watching lots of weight loss experts on YouTube for inspiration. I learned about intermittent fasting and started doing that. I only eat between 12 noon and 8 pm. That works well for me, because my downfall was eating dessert after 8 pm, while watching TV.
My new practices are becoming new habits, and I am down 22 lbs since August. I have a long way to go, but I feel a lot better already, and I have gone down a size in clothing.
