Here's the deal; I joined the Navy and arrived at my "A" School facility at a cool 170. At that time, despite being 170, I was of decent body composition - around 27.5%. Hey, I said decent, not diesel. While that didn't make me Ms. Universe, it made me pretty average. That was two weeks shy of two years ago.
Within a few months it became clear that my sleeping patterns were quickly becoming more erratic, my energy level plummeting and my overall feeling of health was shot. Oh, and the pounds were creeping on. I put on about 12 pounds between May and August of that year, without changing my diet or fitness habits.
Military Treatment Facilities, being what they are, refused to help me out - I asked for blood tests to check my thyroid levels, they said absolutely not, and to just eat 1100 calories a day. My base metabolic rate being 2200, I recognized this as a stupid approach, but decided to give it a shot anyway. What happened? I gained weight anyway. Turns out if you consume too few calories, your body wants to store everything it gets. So I got more sluggish, more puffy and a lot heavier.
Months of protesting finally found me in the office with a doctor who seemed willing to help. After my bloodwork came back he called me in so he could say "Your TSA is abnormal, Ms. So-and-So." No-freaking-kidding says I. I get a prescription for Synthroid and scurry on out of the office feeling accomplished. But did that do it for me?
No. Just a couple of weeks after I started the Synthroid, I found out I was pregnant. Not even a chance to lose a pound before I started gaining weight uncontrollably. Turns out it can be hard to manage the thryoid levels in a pregnant patient, and as many times as they switched my dosage, my body would throw it right back in their faces.
Ever try to diet while pregnant? Yeah, don't - dieting while pregnant is a big no-no. So I watched as my weight soared and my blood pressure followed suit, just praying for a healthy baby out of it.
Well, good news - the baby is 7 weeks old and as beautiful and healthy as a baby could be. Me? Well, by the end of the pregnancy I had gained over 80 pounds. I lost about 12 after giving birth and all that comes with it. Within a few weeks, normal post-pregnancy processes took me down about another 15.
In your head you would assume that would leave me with about 53 pounds to lose, but I should be so lucky - prior to the pregnancy I had gained a square 20, bringing me to a grand total of 73.
And now the point of all of this - in the past 7 or so weeks, I have experimented with various fitness videos and books, diet strategies, supplements, etc...some work well, others fell flat. I did manage to lose another 15 pounds in the process of trying all of these things out, but there is some work to be done and it's going to take the right tools.
Every day, I will be back to detail something new from this fitness mission of mine - from workouts, to experimentation with diet tips, to reviews of the supplements I am working with and the inevitable trip-ups I will face as I work towards the following:
- Lose 80 pounds, and/or
- Achieve 21% body fat
Just for fun, I will go ahead and throw in a time frame for all of this. Today is 10 March. Goal day is 10 December. Seems so far away, but 80 is a lot of pounds, and safety is key. I'd like to live a little longer, you know?
No comments:
Post a Comment