Saturday, January 17, 2015

A New Phase

Well, I haven't blogged (ANYWHERE) in ages.  There's been plenty going on, but I just haven't brought myself to sit and write about it.

I know this blog is to catalogue our Autism Journey, but there is much more in my life than autism.  And, right now I'm trying to make my health a bigger focus.  So, this post is about my personal journey.  Feel free to ignore it.....I promise not to be offended.

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This is me.  Today.  This morning, in fact.  I came down the stairs in the morning and stopped at the mirror to take this picture.  I'm calling this my "Pre" picture.  I may try to get one of me with at least one of the kids, but who knows.  I needed an image to show where my fitness journey has started.

Saying that I'm starting today is a little bit of a misnomer.  You see, a few months ago, I joined a group of people who are documenting what they are doing on their fitness journey on Facebook.  We are divided into teams and post pictures of a healthy meal and exercise that we do every day.  We get 3 points for doing this (1 for the meal, 2 for the exercise).  Every once in a while, there's some extra points handed out for doing certain things (talking about influences in our lives, "Flex Friday", etc).  But the points turns it into a game.  And it lasts for 3 weeks each push.  The we reorganize and begin again the next month.

I started with this group in November following an invitation from a friend of mine.  And I've been doing most of what I've been asked to do.  I have definitely increased the exercise, but not to the degree that most people who post there seem to be doing.  I have been making sure to have a healthy meal daily and posting these pictures.  But most of what I've been doing has been the "thinking" phase of this.  I was thinking about what foods I was putting in my body.  I was thinking about what exercises work for me and what I am capable of doing.  I would do what was asked, but my heart wasn't into the idea of success.  But I know that "thinking" isn't enough.

This past Monday was the twins' birthday.  We had a party for them last weekend and then brought home the leftover cake.  Once the cake was gone, Dad and I decided the time had come.  We need to do something, and we need to do it now.  We agreed that with the start of the long weekend, we would be back "on plan".  We would return to low-carbing.  And I decided that I would give up drinking soda in favor of water.

So, it's been about 8 hours.  Not long, I know.  I have drank 72 ounces of water with at least 48 more planned.  I had a healthy breakfast and lunch.  And I'm going to try making myself a smoothie for snack with spinach and some fruit (a little wary of making this work, but I'm going to give it a try).  This is the one place that I had already decided that I wasn't going to worry about the carb count as long as I was putting in healthy and low-glycemic index fruits.

You see, I don't like the looks of the person who looks back at me in the mirror.  I avoid looking at her.  I don't allow myself to be photographed, or I don't look at the pictures once they've been taken.  And I'm the only person who can do anything about it.

It's time to take back the parts of my life that I can control.  I can choose wisely when it comes to my meals and snacks.  I can exercise daily.  I can be happy with the my reflection in the mirror.

And I can make this happen.