The Blog Challenge is Over...Now What?

It's been a pretty busy day for me. I was out most of the day and so I sit here at 10PM wondering what I'm going to talk to you about. I think I'll give an update on the progress of my weight loss journey. 

One thing I have discovered is losing weight this time won't be as easy as it has been in the past, for several reasons. First, I have never been this age before. As we age, we tend to lose muscle mass. Muscle burns more calories than fat does so it now takes less calories to support my body. I am working on building muscle but since my heart attack, some restrictions have been imposed on me. I'm not supposed to lift more than thirty pounds. I take a beta blocker that artificially holds down my heart rate. It also affects my metabolism. That means that losing weight is going to be a different experience this time than it has in the past. 

In the past, when I applied myself to the task of losing weight and getting in better shape, it happened somewhat easily for me. It took time but I saw consistent progress every week. Now, I'm using intermittent fasting as I've mentioned before as well as portion control. I haven't been as vigilant about the exercise as I would like to be and I have been staying up too late at night so my sleep has been erratic and my progress has been a little disappointing.

There are several things wrong with this scenario. First, not exercising is going to have a more negative impact on me than in the past. Remember the muscle loss I just told you about? Well, that doesn't get better if I don't work said muscles. That requires exercise. And the lack of sleep? Well, that is a whole other can of worms. Besides the fact that my energy suffers if I don't sleep well, it also messes up the hormones that control hunger and satiety feelings. And sleep deprivation causes blood sugar imbalance and just generally messes up everything.

So what am I planning to do? One thing is I will continue to write this blog to remain accountable to at least myself. I hope others are getting some help from it also. I'll start going to bed at a reasonable and consistent time every night and getting up at the same time each morning. That will set my circadian (internal) clock so that my sleep becomes more regular. Hopefully I can overcome the energy lack with adequate sleep. By getting enough rest, I'll want to exercise because when I do I feel so much better. Second, I'll set time up in my calendar to exercise and make it non-negotiable. I was exercising pretty regularly until last week. I went away for a long weekend and fell out of the routine. How easy it is to do. But I'm getting back on that horse.

They say it takes 90 days (some say 60, some say 30) to make a habit stick. If I start tomorrow, that takes me to the end of October. I can do some form of exercise every day for 90 days. Once I do that, I expect that not doing it won't feel so good. I'll continue following the eating plan I've developed because that feels good to me. 

As I said, I haven't been really happy with my progress but as with all of life, there have been some lessons here for me to learn. Consistent progress will depend on a vigilance I haven't had to use in the past to accomplish what I want. Ok, I get that. I need to really move every day. And I need sleep.

Stay with me through this process. Hopefully we can both learn something and make changes that will stick.

By the way...after my weekend away, I gained almost a pound back. But I'm still down more than nine pounds. I'll take it. Baby steps. 

As a health coach, I work with women who are facing serious health challenges like heart disease, metabolic syndrome and diabetes or who have been diagnosed as having a precursor to a serious health issue such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or high blood sugar. I help them make food and lifestyle changes so they can get healthy, live longer and enjoy a fuller, happier, more energetic life. If you would like to have a free consultation about the health challenges you have and the improvements you would like to see in your health, click here to schedule a no strings attached call.