One Year

Hey guys! Thank you for all the well wishes on my birthday, it was a truly awesome day and I'll recap more of it in my weekly post next Tuesday. I just wanted to write a little something to note today...

A year ago I was sitting in the doctor's office. The doctor told me I was overweight (obese on the stupid bmi scales), had disconcerting cholesterol numbers, and was riding very high with my blood sugar levels. I knew we wanted to have a baby very soon and that I needed to get in shape. I was told I needed to eat better, eat less, and work out more for my own health and for the gestational and lifelong health of any future children. So I did that. I started counting calories and I really committed to running and strength training. By May, I had lost more than 35 pounds and reset all my health numbers to healthy ranges. I survived a half marathon. And at the end of that month I was pregnant (unbeknownst to me at that point!).

A year later, staring down the end of this pregnancy, I just can't believe how much time has passed. A lot has happened and I really feel like those three months of trying to prepare my body and mind for this life change were invaluable. I trust myself and my ability to accomplish goals much more. I have much greater faith in my body than ever before.

Even though this baby hasn't arrived yet, I feel like I've really come full circle to a fresh challenge. I now have a new set of goals before me, namely being a loving, healthy role model for my children. I could not be more excited and ready to get to work on that. I'm eternally grateful for all the support of friends, family and especially Ed who really helped keep me on track. I hope I can be as supportive and encouraging for you all in your times of need as you have been for me. 

I just wanted to say that a year ago, I sat down and figured out what I really wanted and took serious action to accomplish said desires. I don't believe hard work is the key to everything, there's always a little bit of luck and good timing thrown in to make things succeed. But, for anyone out there that feels like you have something undone that you desire, I encourage you to take action this Valentine's Day. Make it a day to try something new for your health, happiness and growth. I've always liked Valentine's Day for the sappy, lovey reasons you normally think of, but now I think of it in a whole new light.

For me, Valentine's Day will now and always be about loving myself enough to take better care, and respecting my dreams enough to truly work for them instead of ignoring or undermining them. I hope everyone out there has a wonderful Valentine's Day full of self love and respect. :)

From last June. A very happy, healthy, unknowingly pregnant, me. :) 

The numbers of my health

Some of you may have already seen my excitement on Facebook about my doctor's appointment yesterday. I'm gonna post some numbers on here and I am well aware that they may mean nothing to you or you may think my current numbers are still wanting... but... so what! I want to celebrate my accomplishment a little and show what kind of results a couple of diet and fitness tweaks can give you.

Before, when I went in for blood work in February, I was about to turn 27 and we were thinking about starting a family soon so I knew I needed to make sure all my ducks were in a row. Apparently, they were no where near in a row in some specific areas:

Cholesterol total: 252

LDL: 165

HDL: 60

Vitamin D: 23.6 (insufficiency level)

Glucose: 100

Hemoglobin A1c: 5.4 (an average of my blood sugar levels the past 2-3 months according to WebMD)

Weight: 201

She told me that all of my cholesterol numbers really concerned her, and that my blood sugar also warranted concern. For whatever reason, talk of heart disease and my family health history didn't sink in, but, she merely had to mention diabetes and I was shaking in my boots. The vitamin D deficiency she chalked up to not enough sun thanks to too much sun screen coverage? Crazy I know. So, she prescribed weight loss, diet change and 10 mins of sunscreen-less sun a day.

So I did it. Well, I tried to do it. I didn't 'do it' every day. I went over my base calorie limit of 1250 every now and then but it was all tracked using MyFitnessPal. I tracked any extra calories earned during workouts via my heart rate monitor. I started doing yoga using DVDs and an app called Yogify. I started meditating using a variety of sources: an app called Headspace, one called Take a Break, and CD's of meditations by Belleruth Naparstek. I worked hard and am still working hard.  (Edit: Sorry if it wasn't clear but I figured most of you assumed I'm including in my new routine my running at least several miles approximately every other day)

Yesterday was my big check up to see how it was going.

Cholesterol total: 186

LDL: 109

HDL: 58

Vitamin D: 35

Glucose: 91

Hemoglobin A1c: 5.1

Weight: 175 (ya'll.... that's 10lbs away from my 12th grade weight)

She told me I was a 'woman transformed' and that the results she was looking at was 'like I was on medicine.' I know I've lost weight but this is what I really wanted, for someone to say you are healthier now! Hopefully this is just the start.

To keep us honest, we signed up for another race! Well, two more races actually. It's hard to believe, but I'm going to try my hand at another half marathon! I meant it when I said I felt horribly disappointed about my performance at the Avenue of the Giants but that I felt like I really still had it in me to do much better. So in October Ed and I will be running in the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in San Jose.

The second race we signed up for is the Hark the Herald Angels 12k on Angel Island - the Ellis Island of the West! The course loops around the island which will be really nice, I've never seen it before. That will be in December though - I love me a good holiday run. 

Well that's about all. And for a good smile here's a funny diagram for summer vacations. I'm not sure I agree with alllllll of it - but it's pretty close!