About Kersten November 7, 2008

Quest updates:

8/31/9:  About 10 months ago I started my quest.  Hard to believe!  I accomplished my goal of losing weight and getting back into shape, but now I’m struggling with wanting to work out, having a consistent workout schedule, and eating well.  I’m down to like 1-3 workouts per week, and am not doing the weight training that I should.  I’ve eaten a lot of crazy things, and am getting back into the bad habit of eating until I’m full and then some.  Not good!  While I was working my ass off to get fit I thought, “This is cool, I can see myself working out like 4-5x per week indefinitely, and not having trouble eating well.”  Well, it was a nice thought…but the reality is life ain’t easy, and there’s always gonna be a cupcake, donut, fried food, cheesy pizza, alcohol, or some other diet killer coming my way.   I need to consciously make a better choice before inserting whatever I shouldn’t into my mouth (TWSS!!), or before skipping my workout, and feeling guilty afterward. 

I have officially branded myself vegetarian, and as I’ve eaten any meat/seafood over the last four months the experience has been reinforcing:  didn’t taste as good as I remembered it or thought it would.  My family has been  very accepting of my choice, and Chris thinks I’m crazy but still supports me.  I toy with the notion of being vegan here and there, but ultimately I do want some dairy and egg products in my diet.   I like being vegetarian and I feel good knowing my impact on the earth has been reduced dramatically by my choice.  

6/4/9: Wow, I’m on my way to being a skinny bitch again, and it feels good.  I’m not as firm and fab as I was five years ago when Erin and I rocked the house, but I fit all my skinny clothes and feel great.  I told myself I’d work harder on the weights to sculpt more, but I’ve been slacking a bit there as of late.  I’m rather amazed (and disappointed) by how my body reacts each time I gain and lose weight–tougher to get rid of fat here, easier to get rid of fat there, etc.  My trouble zones are my abs (you’d think I was abducted by aliens and had a baby or something, sans stretch marks), triceps, and hips. 

Four weeks ago today I opted to give vegetarianism a try, and so far, so good  I did it because of the environmental and ethical impact of eating animals, and because it is so easy to eat healthfully without meat.  I don’t feel like I’m missing out since my diet still feels luxurious and healthy at the same time.  I’ve had meat once, at a BBQ where I felt a bit awkward saying anything.  I’m not sure if I’ll stay vegetarian, go flexitarian, or what; I’ll keep taking things day by day without putting a label on myself, and eventually I’ll know where the chips end up staying.  I’m really grateful to have had the blog world in my life; it is a wealth of knowledge, recipes, experiences, and feedback that has allowed me to make this change easily and with great support.  Thanks everyone!

3/11/09: Guess what…I’ve lost like 15+ lbs!!  I’m in the home stretch!  I know weight is not the end-all of fitness, but ultimately it shows that I’m making progress.  I still have areas of angst in my stomach, hips, thighs, and butt, but overall I’m getting back to be the fit bird I used to be   I credit my increase in cardio over the last four+ weeks with the kick-start in my weight loss, as I still have the same approximate caloric intake.  My goal is to do 45 minutes of cardio 5 times per week, and so far it hasn’t been that hard.  I’ve also started doing cardio before weights for the most part, which seems to spark my energy and strength a bit–totally not what I expected.

2/3/09:  Yay again!  I’ve lost about 10 lbs. now, and am fitting into more of my clothes   My abs are firming up, but I still feel like my middle is fat city fo’ sho’.  My arms and legs are more defined, and my stamina is greater.

12/22/08:  Feeling a little discouraged on the weight loss front.  Some improvement in tone, but hating how fat my stomach still seems.  Grr.

12/2/08:  Yay, I’m feeling a reduction in body size and like my middle is hollowing out a bit.  I’m still happier and motivated to keep working out, and my eating has still been going pretty well with the exception of our recent holiday weekend and overeating a few other times.

11/19/08:  Two weeks in, I’m already feeling a lot better and I am enjoying my workouts, even looking forward to them.  I’ve been happier each day and have motivated Chris to get moving more, too.  My cravings are drastically reduced, and I’m making more of an effort to watch how many calories I eat in addition to my mantra of not eating until full.  Not sure what my weight is doing, but I wouldn’t expect to see weight loss just yet.

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About me:

I’m a Portland, Oregon, resident and native who loves the area for its natural beauty and bounty.  I’m in a long-term relationship with my honey, Chris, and we have a little (dog) girl named Lily Bird–she’s a 3 year old black lab we adore  

Most of my life I have not been active and healthy, and I really want to prevent the long-term effects of not eating well or being active into later adulthood.  I spent most of my childhood being overweight, and have a total stigma because of it.  From the 4th grade to the 11th grade I carried around about 20 extra pounds, then somehow lost them during my junior year of high school (they just fell off in like one month…).  My first two years of college I had horribly inconsistent and unhealthy eating habits, but I did work out pretty regularly; my second two years of college were much better, as I worked at a gym, worked out a lot, and ate reasonably well most of the time.  I was also in a better mental state during that timeframe, as I had transferred schools (to Texas), gotten away from the unhealthy party lifestyle I had at the University of Washington, acquired some new great friends, and enjoyed my daily life a lot.

After college is another story… I got married at age 21 just after graduation, stopped working out much, didn’t work, and most of my life was centered around food and my husband for about a year.  I LOVE to cook, bake and create yummy things in the kitchen, so I ate too much and gained weight, was totally unhappy in my marriage, and ended up leaving my husband and returning to Portland.  That’s where I reconnected with Erin!

It was January 2004, and I had just moved back to P-Town and was hanging out with long-lost friends and acquaintances.  Erin and I had a conversation about me wanting to work out more and her wanting a work out buddy, and so it began!  I joined 24 Hour Fitness and we worked out like 4 times a week, for a few hours at a time, and totally whipped our asses into shape   At the same time, I had a medical issue come up that I was unaware of until just January 2008–I have a mild hyperthyroid which was causing me digestive issues, blood sugar issues, and weight loss.  While I LOVE that I lost a ton of weight and was a skinny bitch for once (“finally,” I said!), I did not like the incredible hunger that would come over me every few hours, the low blood sugar crazy feeling that would accompany it, the headaches, and the digestive nightmare that was my life.  I did not have health insurance at this time, and didn’t think my problems were enough to seek out advice.

That spring of 2004 is when I began working as a financial advisor, which required about 60-80 hours a week and left me without the desire or time to work out.  On weekends I would still work out with Erin, but eventually even that went by the wayside   At the same time my eating was going downhill, and eventually almost all of my meals were eaten at fast food, quick service, and sit down dining establishments.  At first I did not gain weight, in fact I lost it because I was working so much and not eating enough, but then it caught up with me.  During this time I also became severely depressed, and I just attributed it to the work environment.  I went to see a doc and he prescribed me anti-depressants without even asking me about other things (ahem, the digestive/blood sugar/headache/etc. issues weren’t looked into at all), which helped me for awhile.  Finally, in January 2008 I began working with a Naturopathic Physician, who tested my blood and found the root to many of my ills.  It is now November 2008, and my thyroid is under control thanks to a homeopathic supplement

But, as I sit here today I am overweight, overstressed, unhappy, and hating my expanding waistline and shape of my body.  Ick!  My brother’s wedding was in September, and after looking through the pictures I feel disgusting.  No, I’m not a big girl, but I am not a fit girl, and it shows in those pics…giant arms, big calves, soft all over…not a body I look forward to revealing much these days.  I’m sick of the baggy tops, too-tight pants, and lack of selection I have in my current wardrobe due to my weight gain.  (Of course the last time I bought a lot of clothes was when I was skinny!)

So, enough of this fatness!  My goal is to move on to fitness and improve my quality of life, energy, emotional fitness, and ability to fit into my clothes again and look good in them :)  I hope you will join me on this quest, and not be afraid to post comments for me as well.  Thanks for reading!