Body translator

Previous to Monday, I have most certainly been off track. Fortunately, one of my current jobs is as a dance teacher, so I can't afford not to exercise. However, my eating habits were horrendous!

It all started with a box of softees... You know, the Entemann's donuts? Someone gave me a box of those suckers last Wednesday... Now, even though I live with other people, who I know snacked on the donuts, there is still no excuse for the amount I ate.

One morning, in a rush, my entire breakfast consisted of a doughnut and a chug of soy milk.
Poor body.

I know she's mad at me. In fact, I have often wondered, if my body could speak, what would it say?

in regards to last week, I imagine it would go like this:

"What the hell is this? Another doughnut!!! What am I supposed to do with that Leslie? I am still trying to work out the last one you forced down my throat. Are you trying to kill us? I'm not particularly in the mood to die today. And where's the water? I am so thirsty that I should just shut down on your behind. Ungrateful heifer. Here I am, doing the best that I can to carry your heavy self around, AND keep you doing what you do. What thanks do I get? A doughnut. Some H2O would have been nice. Maybe some spinach... but no... you want to start the day off with a doughnut! Oh sure, maybe you and the Brain are happy. What about me? Why must you make my job so difficult? You know what? Lights out for you!"

And that's exactly what happens. When I don't eat right, my energy dies. I mean, really, it just flat-lines.

And if I was listening, I probably would have heard my body's plea. But instead.. I snacked yet another doughnut. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think that a single doughnut is the end of me, although my body would probably beg to differ. However, many donuts, in a short span of time, coupled with the overall lack of other nutritional sources (I wasn't eating much of anything), just did my poor body no good.

I am probably not the only person not to listen to my body. I think many people ignore the body's basic cry for help. Even those we would call "fit." We ignore our body's cry for nutrition, for rest, for movement, for healing... So many basic needs that we deny ourselves.

Why?

Why do humans think it's ok to ignore the single most important responsibility to a successful life? Name me one thing you can do without your body....


Don't worry... I'll wait...


I didn't think so... So WHY do we mistreat them so? Not exercising. Not resting. Not letting ourselves heal from injury. Eating crappy foods. Yes, people say its ok to have sweets in moderation, but please.. tell me ONE physiological benefit from eating... say... a doughnut. Just one...


Again... think on it... I'll wait...


More importantly, when we don't do these things, we wonder why we suffer from exhaustion, chronic dis-ease, fatigue, memory loss, sluggish brains, headaches, rapid aging, frequent injury, etc.  There's no one to blame for this but us. And even with all the medical help in the world, there's no one that can fix us, but us.

Quit trying to out-logic your body. Chances are, you are the one being illogical. Not the body. It's only telling you what you need. You can't win by trying to reason that you don't really need it.

In my case, my body was fed up with the nutritional malarkey I was feeding it for the week. And what did my body do? "Showed out," as the old folks say. I was overly tired in my dance classes. I was in a grumpy mood, I slept too much, I didnt get as much work done as I wanted, which created anxiety, which added to my stress, which beat my body up even more, because my poorly fed body wasn't functioning at optimal levels, so it didnt have the energy to battle the stress. This resulted in headaches, which led to me taking painkillers.

Now, all of that might have possibly been avoided, if I had just laid off the doughnuts, and ate some nutrient-dense foods.

"That's what I'VE been saying. You take care of me, I'll take care of you."

Ok body... I hear you.

A major plea.

22LBS.

I have defied my own evil habits and truly made a dent in this healthy weight journey. I have lost 22lbs. In my mind, I still have a ways to go, but I take this weightloss as the accomplishment it is.

It always feels good to reach goals, and mine have felt better and better with every pound gone. However, the days of magical Zumba fitness are passing me, as income changes are forcing me to be more frugal with my budget.

Its a tough economy for nearly everyone right now (with the exception of the minority wealthy). And we all have to make some tough decisions about how we spend our finances. I, for one, am no stranger to these decisions, and unfortunately $40 extra bucks a month for Zumba seemed counterproductive when I could barely afford to buy healthy groceries.

As it is, I desperately want to add some weight resistance to my workouts. Most of what I do now is cardio/aerobic, and its just not enough. As many people know (and many more dont), muscle burns calories long after any workout. The more muscle a person has, the more calories they will burn regularly.

Here's the thing though.

Im not exactly in a place financially to invest in hand weights, or weighted vests, or any of that.

Usually, I am simply reporting my success and failures with this blog. But now I am making a plea to the entire community.

If you, or anyone you know, has any weights no longer in use (perhaps a lighter weight you've plateau'd with) or weighted vests that they'd be willing to donate to one young lady's weightloss journey, please do.

It is so important for me to get my health status to a good place. And I am learning more, and more, that it is important for me to ask for help when something seems out of my reach.

So, won't you help me?
As a beginner, I'm not looking for anything expensive or extremely heavy. Anything up to 20lbs in hand weights, or 60lbs in a vest, would be wonderful. I do mean anything. That includes cannon ball weights.

I appreciate whatever you, my loyal reader, may be able to offer.

Where the heck have i been?

I have somehow neglected my poor blog, my darling chubbchubbs! My apologies.

Many things have happened over these several months....
Including weight-gain unfortunately. I had a really fun summer job with the Freedom Schools, I moved out of my grandmother's apartment, and now live on my own, I got a car, a beau, and a premature quarter-life crisis, all in one summer. Meanwhile, i comforted my stress, and celebrated my successes with food. The result? ....drumroll...



249.1 lbs.

My last weigh in as of Sember 15th, of this year.
A weigh-in and one of those life-changing announcements....

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

What the heck does this mean for me? Well, it certainly explains alot. Including an interesting tidbit from my doctor. "People with PCOS dont metabolize well." "Meaning?" "Meaning you have to work alot harder than other people to stay on top of your weight."
Joy...
Although believe it or not, I am actually glad to finally have this understanding of how my body works. It doesnt give me any excuse to not work hard, or to take it easy on myself, but it is some comfort in understanding why certain attempts at weightloss have left me without any significant results.

So, how does the PCOS affect my weightloss journey? Here are a few ways.
-Like the doctor said, my body doesn't metabolize well.
-Im more prone to insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes if im not careful (no worries so far, lovelies! she said my blood sugar was good!)
-Im more prone to high blood pressure and high cholesterol (neither of which is the case right now)
-Weight gain is more likely to be in the midsection. (wtf? a little hip/butt action would be much nicer)
-Certain hormones that my body makes too much of most likely have increased my muscle mass, and can trigger the depression (makes sense, if we review most of my life since puberty)

This is all pretty annoying stuff. But like I said, it was mildly liberating to discover, as it allows me to make different decisions. The "lead to diabetes" thing freaks me out. I have good blood sugar levels now, but if I have to work harder to keep it that way, I might have to all but say goodbye to my friend Sugar. Diabetes is extremely high on my list of "major no-no's." I am absolutely determined not to end up that way.

The good news is that it re-sparked a fire under my butt! Since I got the news, I have gone to the track every morning with my dear Granny. Dont let the "dear" mislead you. She is an Amazonian Warrior woman. Besides being six feet tall, she is able bodied to boot! And we go to the track every morning. Right now, it's just walking. Slackers cant just pick up and run. And I have been one monstrous slacker! All summer, besides my energetic job, I did not make one move toward working out... I also had a major illness (which led to the discovery of the PCOS), and I'm almost certain some of the weight gain came from there. So, for now, I walk. In a week or two, I will pick up the pace and try jogging.

Baby steps, after all...

So, thank you, my darlings, for enduring my absence. I pray that you all are still with me in this journey.

Til, next time...
Smooches Divas! (And all my wonderful Princes)
Food is good. But Life is delish.

Solid as a Rock.... or not...

So....
My last post was way less than happy. I had a little breakdown. But... I'm back at it again. I started March off with workouts and decent eating. (Yes, I found a doable workout!!! Woohoo!) In about a week, I'm heading back to my alma mater to handle some business. So, for these two weeks, I've been regrouping- centering my mind, and my body. I'd given myself a little two week challenge. It started Saturday evening. I am on a mainly liquid diet. Smoothies. Soups. Juices. And two weeks.

Another new development? I've got a little support system going on. None too close, mostly long distance. But it's a couple of people who are willing to give a bit of encouragement...

So, how's this liquid thing going? Well, pretty good. I've had a bite or two of solid food, but I've been pretty good at sticking to it. I've changed from 6meals to 7, since they're liquid, and I'm getting up earlier these days.

And I miss chicken.

You have no idea. I was googling "meat smoothies" to see if there was some recipe for liquid meat substance that wouldn't be gross.....


Why? Well.... honestly.... I like challenges. I do better when I have a controllable goal. Lose twenty pounds? Not exactly in my control. Drink liquid for two weeks? I can do that. Its a good goal to reset, and rededicate my brain for the challenges I am facing in this weightloss journey. It's also a chance to give my digestive system a break, reduce caloric intake, and infuse my body with all sorts of nutrients.

So... we'll see how it goes, my loves.
Today, I have a mild ache that is trying to turn into a headache. I don't know if that's from a lack of solid food or not... I hope it goes away in a few days...


We will see...

Love you all my fellow Chubbchubbs! Remember... good food is delish, but good living is sweeter.

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