The Dream Shall Never Die

Back in March 2010, I began an exercise regimen and nutrition plan to lose weight, reduce body fat, build muscle and eat healthy.  I planned also to get in shape to prepare for a much-needed knee replacement.  

My initial results were good.  I lost 8" in circumference from various body parts, i.e. upper forearms, waist, bust, upper thighs, calves plus 3 lbs. I was thrilled and motivated to continue.  By the end of five months, I'd found my waist.   I'd lost a remarkable 16.5",  8 lbs and lowered my body fat.  But I was facing the holidays...

After the second post I may have become a bit cocky.  I stopped documenting my progress.  My physical therapist wanted me to seriously diet and cut out alcohol to lose another 10 lbs.  The holidays loomed...always a challenge.  I continued to exercise and weight train but I doubt I was even following the nutrition plan.

Fast forward to March 2011, I meet with the orthopedic specialist about my knee.  I'm mentally and physically prepared for the operation.

He asks me, "Why are you having surgery?"

My jaw drops.  I've needed surgery for at least six years and it's taken that long to work up to it.  I return home, contemplate the question, cancel the surgery.

Another year passes, I continue to work out but no longer try to diet or avoid alcohol.  My routine gets stagnant even though I still see the physical trainer occasionally. My knee continues to hurt so I schedule another dr's appointment in January.  This time he agrees to move ahead with the surgery scheduled for March 2012.  It's a great success!  And it hurts like holy hell.  I am laid up a bit, returning to work after 2 weeks but on pain meds; no driving.  I rehab as soon as possible and I get those legs into shape toot suite (I have no idea how to spell that).

But, I don't diet.  I don't curb my drinking.  I continue to prepare gourmet meals for my family and eat them. I love to cook.  I love to eat.

By Thanksgiving 2012, I'm looking pudgy again.  I work for a television station and sometimes have to stand in as a character in a locally produced ad.  Photographs and TV don't lie.

I have now convinced myself I am a fat pig.  I am discouraged but not defeated.  I sign up for a new program, EZ Coach.  In February this year, I am weighed, measured and my body fat is checked.  That, the body fat part, the moment I dread, is an eye opener.  Despite my regaining all but 5 lbs of my weight loss of 12 lbs, despite my flabby gut called "core" in fitness circles, I have reduced my overall body fat by 10.4% from the original measurement in 2010.    I am stunned.  And, I am re-motivated.

By continuing to weight train and maintain my cardio exercise, I have developed a great deal more muscle and my fat cells have shrunk.  I am no longer in the "obese" category of 36.3% which I could not admit in 2010.  It's now 26%.  All I can think is,  "what would it be had I been watching what I eat."

To misquote the immortal words of Ted Kennedy,

"...the work goes on, the cause endures, the

hope still lives and the dream shall never die."

Diet, Exercise & The Best Intentions

I first started exercising to lose weight (as opposed to just having fun) when I was 24. I'd been married a year. I remember beginning a running regimen, calorie counting and eating Deserta(sp?) for sweets. It worked. In three months I'd lost 20 of the 30 lbs gained while backpacking through Europe four years earlier. My girlfriend and I spent three months travelling and eating mostly pastry, drinking mostly beer & just packing on the lbs. Carbs are cheap.

It came off fairly easily and I did not regain weight until I was pregnant and then only a little. By the time I reached my mid-forties, I was still a muscular 138 lbs, playing tennis four times a week, doing yoga nightly and I still fit into a size 6.

Those days began to slip away when I learned I'd need my first hip replacement at the tender age of 47. Five years later I had the other hip replaced. Now one knee needs replacing. It's been a slow but insidious weight gain ever since and I now top the scale @ 165. (I can't believe I'm admitting that!) I lost 10 lbs last summer to attend my high school reunion but I gained it all back over the Christmas holidays.

If I really had guts I'd post "Before" and "After" photos of my weight gain. In other words, the "before" would be me slim & trim. Not gonna happen. Can't deal with it. My husband is kind enough to photoshop my chin for photos we send out now. Otherwise, no one would have any.

I am, however, making another vow to exercise four times per week, 30 minutes minimum. I'm reducing, no eliminating, my alcohol intake. As for eating...well, I have to really curtail my favorite pastime: cooking. If I do all that, maybe I'll be able to lose the weight, get my knee replaced, go back to playing tennis, stop doing yoga for arthritics and start doing real yoga again.

Yes. And pigs will fly.