Ok, so I've been asked on several hundred occasions in my life, "how do you stay so skinny?". Normally my answer is just a laugh and a smile. But I think it's about time to blog about it.
During my almost 36 years on this earth, I can honestly say that I've never really had any issues w/ my weight with the exception of my pregnancy/post pregnancy. I gained about 35 to 40 pounds and it took almost a year after giving birth to lose the pregnancy weight. I mean, I could have lost the weight quicker if I had really tried, but I was a new mom and my daughter was my biggest concern...still is.
Anyhoo, for me...I guess my "skinniness" is in the genes. I believe I took after my grandfather and my biological father. My grandfather was 6'4" and skinny as a rail. My biological father was probably about 6' and just as skinny. But at this point in my life, I don't consider myself "skinny". Yes, you read that correctly. I'm 5'6-1/2", weigh 122 pounds and I don't consider myself skinny. Wait!!!! Before you start cursing at the screen, let me explain myself.
I consider myself "healthy". I've passed that age where I can eat whatever I want and not gain anything. I passed that point about the time I hit the age of 30. I learned that by what I was eating and what I wasn't able to just shed. Point is....at 30, I just wasn't as active as I once was. Don't get me wrong...I had a 2 month old baby at that time, so I was active, but not like I was before she came along. I pretty much stayed that way for a couple years. I was skinny as I've been called, but I wasn't healthy.
After my divorce, I decided I needed something to do with my time when my child was with her father. So, I took up something that once was so foreign to me....RUNNING. In fact, I'm training for my 2nd marathon (that's 26.2 miles). For me, running was a stress reliever! And at that time...that's exactly what I needed. When I run, it's like I just focus on my steps and my breathing, listen to my music and forget the world exists....for just a little while anyways.
When I started running, I also committed myself to another change in my life...eating healthy! Not only for myself, but also for my daughter. I wanted her to be able to try different foods and to grow to love them. Of course, it wasn't easy. Who doesn't go by the bakery section in the grocery store and NOT buy those freshly baked cookies or loaves of bread baked that day, or the delicious smelling pies? It's a complete trap!! Why else would they put the bakery in the very front of the stupid store?? Because they know that people very rarely walk thru that section w/out buying anything. I mean, really!! Who would rather have a plain, tasteless bag of carrots over something oh so freaking sweet and much more appetizing to the tastebuds??
I learned pretty quickly to just ignore that area of the store...ya know, pretend it's not even there! Now, I've heard people say many a time that eating healthy doesn't taste good. Well, if it did taste good, there would be no need for McDonald's, Krispy Kreme, junk food, cokes, etc. Actually, eating healthy can taste good. You just have to know how to make it work in your favor! I've learned how thru trial and error. So, I'm going to kind of go thru my do's and don't's that work for me.
- Drink LOTS of water
- Eat LOTS of FRESH fruits and veggies, or frozen. Stay away from the canned veggies...they have too much sodium and weird preservatives in them.
- Eat "lean" meats. I cut red meat out of my everyday diet a couple years ago (not saying I haven't tried any every once in a while), but I mostly eat fish, shrimp, turkey, chicken.
- Limit your consumption of "toddies" - trust me, I know how hard that is...especially after a rough week at work. But beer is made from yeast - same thing bread is made from - and what does bread do to ya??
- Limit your bread / pasta intake. When you do eat it, eat WHOLE grain - not multigrain. Whole grain is better for you.
- Stay away from white bread / pasta. Unbelievable, but they are full of sugar.
- Stay away from the caffeine as much as you possibly can.
- Wing yourself off the Vitamin D milk and go for the Fat Free. You really don't need the Vitamin D unless you have a toddler in the house. By now, your brain and bones should be developed enough that you don't need the milk that's full of fat.
- Limit how much you eat out. That goes for all your meals. Take your lunch to work - that way you know what is in your food because you prepared it.
- Don't be afraid to try different things. Look for recipes online and change them up to fit you and your family. I do that all the time. I usually never follow the original recipe.
- Leave your money and debit/credit card at home. That way you're not tempted to make a sudden, guilty purchase while at work.
With all this....I also work out a LOT!! I'm in the gym anywhere from 4 to 6 days a week (depending on my kiddo's schedule). My gym routine varies. I know I should probably write down what I do at the gym, but I find that I work out better when I'm not focused on trying to keep up with each step I make at the gym. I've seen others at the gym writing their routines down, but it just doesn't work for me. I do, however, keep up with it on a website called www.dailymile.com. I'm able to log my runs, cycling, fitness routines, etc on there and share w/ others that are on that site as well. It's actually kind of a motivation for me.
Some days at the gym, I go in and just focus on running. Other days, I break it down and include a fitness/core workout as well. On weekends (when my daughter is at her dad's house), I usually hit the gym for about 2 hours a day and about an hour and a half during the week. Some may say that's a little much, but it works for me. No, I'm not the spring chicken I used to be, but I want to live a long, happy and healthy life.
Now, I'm not a fan of the word "diet". When people ask what I do, I try to steer them away from a "diet". Why? Because I've not known one single person that said they were going on a diet and actually stuck to it. The word "diet" should be removed from the human language in my opinion. Don't depend on those diet or quick fix pills. When you finish taking those pills, what are you going to do then? In my own personal opinion, the pills are like a dependency. You don't need to depend on a pill to make you lose weight. Make a change!! Even if it's a slow change, just make one. For instance, make a commitment each week to remove 1 or 2 "bad" things from your current eating habits and replace them w/ good things. Replace that ice cream w/ sugar free ice cream. Replace regular fatty bacon w/ healthy turkey bacon. Limit yourself to one meal out a month...makes it much more of a treat then...but still chose healthy items. So on and so on!
Most of all...find your will power!! And stick to it. People lose weight everyday the healthy way. So can you.
Now, I'm by no means perfect...I do have my failures. But I try to limit those to as few food failures as possible....because I like a good cold toddy every now and then just as much as the next person.
Just keep it strong! You can do this!! I have faith in ya!!
