Finishing What I Started

Six months before I was turning 50, I had the realization that I did not want to be 50 and unhealthy.     I was weighing in around 245 pounds and spent far too much time on the couch eating things that were not good for me. Needing some catchy motivation, I developed a plan and a logo - Fit by 50!

I hired a trainer and begin the process to finally reach my goal of being under 200 pounds. For the next six months, I ran, lifted weights and ate better. Looking back on the time, I realize that I still was not eating well but better. The end result was I lost 30 pounds by my birthday, enjoyed the many compliments about how much better I looked, had more energy, and overall was finally really happy about where I was in life. There was one major problem that I did not realize at the time - I had no plan for what came after 50.

Instead, I returned to my sedentary ways and ate all of the wrong foods. A few months after my 51st birthday, I began to notice that I was waking up in the middle of the night with a really dry mouth. Chalking it up to allergies, I expected it would be a short term problem which would go away. It did not and only worsened. One quick Google of my symptoms and I was fairly certain that it was diabetes which a trip to my doctor confirmed. In just a little over a year, I had gone from Fit by 50 to diabetic at 51. My weight was close to 250, my A1C at almost 9.0 (normal is between 4 and 5.6) and I was going in the wrong direction. It was the wake up call I needed to change my life.

I researched what I needed to eat and changed my diet immediately. I invested in a good pair of running shoes, a heart rate monitor, some good music on my smart phone and began running three miles every morning. For six months, I was a perfect student and I began to see results almost right away. My blood sugar began dropping very quickly back into the pre-diabetes level and the weight started coming off. In my mind, each time I passed a zero on the scales was a significant moment. First, I passed under 240 and within another month, was under 230. Six months after starting, I reached my Fit by 50 weight of 220. By then, my blood sugar was in the normal range as was my A1C level. This time I knew I had to keep going and could not stop even as again the compliments were coming about my changed appearance.

As is often the case, the more you lose, the more difficult it is to get over those plateaus we always face on the journey. This time I kept pushing and finally in the summer of 2013, I found myself crossing under the 210 mark. I could see my long time goal of under 200 within my reach. It's almost 2015 and I can still see that goal right before my eyes. I even temporarily reached it one day only to tip back over. The good news is that I have not returned above the 210 but found myself stuck in that 200-210 place.

I have learned so much in this journey that translate beyond just weight loss and battling diabetes. I know now that I don't learn well from past mistakes. When I reach success, I too often get comfortable and fall back into old patterns. I have learned that I tend to sabotage myself just when I am about to reach my goal. Having done much reflection, I think it has something to do with fear of getting there and then not knowing what to do next just as I did at Fit by 50!  I think often of the old story of the dog chasing the hubcap and the question of what he will do if he finally catches it.  What if this weight loss/diabetes journey is about a lot more than just the medical part?  What if I get to my goal and nothing feels different?  Then, what do I do next? 

I write a blog each week about work life balance and I have learned through this that it is hard to find balance without being healthy. However, I have also learned that it is not a quick fix solution to be healthy. It truly takes a commitment to transform how we live in regard to diet, exercise, reflection, and so much more. I have also realized that at best, I am doing just enough to get by. I am most days making healthy choices at about 75 to 80% rate. And I have learned that is not good enough.

So, it is time to Finish What I Started on at least two occasions - before my 50th birthday and after my diabetes diagnosis. It is time to truly invest in living My Best Life. It is time to stop returning to the mistakes of my past. It is time to hurdle those last plateaus and stop the self sabotaging. It is time to see where those patterns are occurring in other areas of my life.

I hope you will come along on the journey and I want to challenge you to commit now to living your best life. Don't wait until your 50 or 60 or until you have a medical diagnosis which forces you to make major changes or rely on medicine to have a less than optimal life. 

While I have not reached my goal yet, I have learned so much and have done many things the right way.  I want to share with you the victories along the way.  I hope that what I have learned can help you in your journey.  I will share with you the lessons learned in exercise, diet, motivation, and much more. 

Having you come along for the remainder of this journey will also bring a new level of accountability for me.  If I am going to write about my successes and failures, I know that I much prefer to be writing about the good things which should translate into making healthier choices and reaching that goal I set at the start of this process.

So I hope you will follow along as I strive to Live My Best Life and hope that by doing so, you might be inspired to do the same.