First Post

So what do you do when you are home sick? Start a new blog of course.
This is todays breakfast. 2 eggs scrambled with cheese, a cup of grapes, spinach, tomato and a wee bit of avocado. It just looked all pretty and colourful, had to take a picture.

So about three months ago I decided a couple of things, one: the pain in my feet (plantar fasciitis) needed to stop and two: I was going on a trip in two months to either Mexico or Cuba so even more, I needed my feet to not hurt if I was going to play tourist. I've been dealing with foot pain off and on for about 7 years and after trying everything except cortisone injections and surgery, I've found the only thing that made it go away completely was weighing less. When I made this resolution I weighed 228, the last time my feet didn't hurt I was at about 175.

So what to do? I had struggled with body image since elementary school and as an adult I had come to love my body the way it is. I've also supported others in being healthy at every size and fought discrimination against fat people. Am I turning into a hypocrite? I hope not. The only thing that was clear was that the pain in my feet was keeping me from doing fun things and the only way to get rid of it was to drop some weight.

First thing, off to the gym with me. The reason I was down at 175 a while ago was that I was doing a very intensely physical job and before I took it I started training at a gym to get ready. When I changed jobs, I ended up with what amounted to a slightly more active desk job. I had had a membership to fitness world and so did a bunch of friends. I reinstated that and started going with them.

Then a friend posted on facebook about a program they were using on their iPhone to track calories and excercise. I had just got one for christmas and the program was free (loseit) so I downloaded it. One thing I have been reading which seems to be universal is that recording what you eat and your activity is very helpful. So I started tracking calories. I managed to lose 24 pounds before going on my trip. I was pretty stoked and I was seeing progress with my feet too! Still not pain free, but I was able to walk way more than I could before and I had a great time.

I skipped out on counting calories while I was in Mexico because it was almost impossible and I just wanted to have a good time. We were also walking 2-3 hours a day, swimming, hiking and generally being pretty active. Of course I also drank a lot of beer. And I mean a LOT of beer. I came back at exactly the same weight I left at. I thought that wasn't too shabby.

Since my return, the weight loss has been much slower, so I've been focusing even more on my eating habits. This is the part that I struggle with however, I really don't want to go in on those fad diets, I want something I will be able to stick to and make it a life long habit. This is a big commitment! On one of my check ins at the gym I asked about nutrition and they set me up with the "nutrition director" or something fancy like that and I ended up signing up for their program. What made me finally do it was that they get you to eat 5-6 times a day, fruits or vegetables every meal, lots of water and don't completely ban you from anything. All things I've heard from registered nutritionists, doctors, nurses and anyone else from a reputable background and not just the "latest tips". So here we are, on day 4 of said plan, though the first two days were a little sketchy. Tequila tuesday? Cream puffs? Right.

Well, here we go!