Shape Up

I'm tired of being fat.

Before you start screaming your protests (you know who you are) let me give you some perspective. I have talked about this before.

When I started working at OBC, I went from a healthy 125 lbs to a not so nice 143 lbs in less than a month. It was the desk job, I wasn't getting nearly as much exercise as I did working retail. I didn't like that at all, so I got up early every day to do 15-30 minutes of exercise before work. I worked myself down to a happy 112 lbs in three months. And kept it that way until nearly two years ago.

So, two years ago today, I weighted 112 lbs, and wore a size 6 or 8. I was happy, I felt healthy, and the clothes I had fit me well.

I'm not going to go into what happened to make me stop exercising, but I did stop. And very fast, my weight climbed from 112 lbs to a choking 152 lbs. And no matter how much work I did or did not do, I could not get it to budge. Good-bye size 8, hello size 12. I've been reluctant to buy new clothes, because someday, those 12's will be too big. But right now, that means I've out-grown almost everything I own. Why, oh why, did I not get my brother's metabolism?

But that's ok! Today, I took a step towards being at a comfortable size. I bought my very own elliptical machine. If you've never seen one of these suckers, they're really nice. It's like a stair climber/cross-country skier machine all in one. The motion is fluid so it's not hard on your joints, and it gets your heart rate up in a few minutes.

See, we've got a lot of exercise machines and devices (I love my Bean!), but not a one of them is good for the cardio workouts that experts say is key to losing weight. I know the equipment I have is doing the job it was intended to do, building muscle, because I can feel them. Underneath those inches of fat are some good strong muscles. They're just all covered up by globs of fat right now.

I'm going to stick with my routine in the morning, and I'm going to add at least 45 minutes on my new elliptical when I get home from work. I'm not expecting to see 112 lbs again (trust me, I've got too much weight up top and that's not where I tend to lose it) but it sure would be nice to get back in the 120's by the time beach days come back around.

And while I'm at it, I'm not obsessed with size or what that scale reads or even how I look. My focus here is how I feel. When my gut folds over my jeans when I sit, that doesn't feel nice. When I can lift a 50 lbs kayak over my head an on to the car, that feels great.

Here's to your health!