Taking those first steps

Well, now what to do???  I said yes to walking a fundraiser 5k, but could I even walk that far?

The first step was to start walking.  I began by using my breaks at work to head outdoors and walk. When I began, I walked on alternate days.  After a couple of weeks I began walking every day.  During that time I also made small changes to what I was eating.  I knew from experience that this would work better for me than one huge change.  You know...as of (insert day here) I'm changing everything about the way I eat.

I had to educate myself about healthy eating.  It was something I'd not done in the past and I knew how well that had served me.  Not well at all.  I used websites I trusted, to learn as much as I could about eating well.  Not just what to eat, but the reasons why I should eat them.
Here are just a few sites I used.
Mayo Clinic
NHLBI
Fitness.Gov



There is a LOT of information out there, just do your research and use websites you trust.  We all know you cannot believe everything you read on the internet, right?!
I eventually decided that I needed to increase the amount of protein I was eating and limit my carb intake.  You can read all about simple carbs vs. complex carbs and how your body uses them.
It was also important for me to limit my sugar intake.  VERY important, since diabetes runs in my family.  Again, I learned how my body processes sugar.  Once I learned, I realized just how dangerous it was for me to consume a lot of sugary foods and simple carbs.

I found one book that explained to me, exactly how the body uses all of the different food groups. Explained in plain, everyday terms that really made sense to me.  All the information I read to that point finally "clicked" and made sense to me.  The book is titled The Doctor's Diet, written by Dr. Travis Stork.  Here's a link to the book on Barnes & Noble, if you're interested.  I'm sure you can find it at most any book store, though.

SO...from all the reading I did, I finally learned HOW I was potentially setting myself up for developing diabetes and/or heart disease....both simple carbs and sugars were not my body's friends.  Nor were all those extra pounds.

Many years ago I got rid of my bathroom scale.  I didn't like what it told me.  Yes, I knew how overweight I was.  But that scale just confirmed what I knew.

Well, nearly a month into this healthier life style, I could tell that I had lost some weight.  I still wasn't ready to buy a scale.  About this time, I had an appointment with my doctor for something routine and, as they always do, they weighed me.  I was pleasantly surprised to learn the number of pounds I had lost.  This encouraged me to make even bigger changes in my eating and activity level.

I CAN do this.  I AM doing this.

The day of that 5k walk was getting very close.  Yikes!