14 more days...

That’s when I hit my one-year boot camp anniversary. I figured in honor of the soon-to-be landmark date, I would break down the top 14 things I’ve learned over the past year…

14. Exercise is like crack. Once you start, and I mean really start to exercise, it’s really hard to stop. My days feel incomplete without exercise.

13. It’s all about the endorphins. I’ve come to learn that if those endorphins don’t kick in after a good workout, I feel like I haven’t exercised at all. Additionally, I’m able to better handle stress, and my mood is way better because of it.

12. God really does have angels on Earth. Stacy and Eric! You have both saved my life. Your encouragement, your dedication to my goals, and your not-so-subtle nudges to push me harder, have truly been life-saving and have given me a life I didn’t know I could have.

11. Sometimes being accountable to yourself is not always enough. Between my close family and friends constantly checking in on me, some of the strangers who read my blog waiting for an update, my husband asking me about boot camp each day, and Stacy sending me texts and emails to check in on me – I have been accountable, not only to myself but to a huge support system. I’ve tried time and again to get my health in line, but for some reason, being accountable only to myself was never enough. I needed the swift kick in the ass from my husband who has been extremely aware of the (necessary) cost of getting my health back and the reality that I don’t want to disappoint him or waste our money. I need people who I run into in town to continue to ask about my blog and inquire as to why I haven’t updated it recently, or the 1,000,000 emails, texts, and instant messages from Mary demanding a blog update – not to mention all the encouragement that goes along with it.

10. I have a love affair with chocolate and it’s way more powerful than I can handle. I’m entirely grateful that my husband is accepting of my extramarital affair with chocolate. I have tried and tried to end this relationship, but I have yet to succeed. Stacy tells me time and again about cutting out the sugar in my diet, but chocolate is the one area that I have not been able to cut ties with. I suppose everyone has his or her vice, and maybe I just need to accept that chocolate will always be mine.

9. The encouragement from others is way more powerful than they know. I am constantly surprised when someone I know, but would never in a million years think they would read my blog, mentions that I haven’t updated it in a while. Prime example was last weekend when I ran into Nate, Melissa and Eli in downtown Woodstock. While I thought that Melissa may read my blog when she has the time amongst being an awesome mom, nurse, and student working on her PhD, I would have never thought that Nate would read it too. Not sure why, I guess I just figured this is a girly thing and dudes wouldn’t be interested. But… this is the stuff that keeps me going. My fellow campers saying that they didn’t even recognize me from behind because my body has transformed that much is a little nudge to make me work harder that day. My co-workers recognizing that my pants are getting a little baggy and are bringing in some clothes that no longer fit them to try and help me out, gives me the support to hit my next weight loss goal.

8. Just because you’re skinny, doesn’t mean you’re healthy. An insanely scary thing happened a couple of weeks ago that rocked my world and my family’s world. Greg’s sister-in-law, who is my age, developed a blood clot in her brain that scared the hell out of us all. Jenny is a cute, tiny, little thing and the last person you would think this could happen to. Greg always jokes that she’s so small she needs ankle weights in the wind so she doesn’t get blown away.  Most people tend to think that smaller/skinny people are healthy people, but the development of a blood clot in the brain at such a young age is a huge wake-up call that health is defined by exercise and diet, not size and weight.

7. I want the whole world to know what I now know. I’m trying not to be obnoxious about it, but I want all my family and friends to eat healthy and exercise as much as I do. I can’t begin to tell you how much richer my life is, and how much better I feel, even not having reach my goal yet. I’m always trying to find the best way to encourage those I love to take better care of themselves, and I usually try to do it by asking them to go exercise with me… even if it is at their own pace. I’m going on a girl’s weekend this coming week and I’m hoping that some of the ladies will go for a run or walk with me at least one of those days. I’m sure some of them are in better shape than I am, but I’m trying to pay it forward when it comes to health.

6. Your weight can affect so many different aspects of your health. This might be TMI, but one of the most significant changes I’ve found when it comes to my bio-physical health is that my cycle has become regular again. I haven’t shared this with many outside of my close circle, but I was diagnosed with PCOS (Poly-Cystic Ovarian Syndrome). This is an imbalance in hormone levels in the body, which causes your ovaries to stop ovulating and in effect develop small (mostly harmless) cysts. This has a huge impact on fertility and while it’s not always found in women who are overweight, that’s one of the main contributing factors. It’s amazing how increased weight affects blood sugar levels (hence why so many overweight people develop Type II Diabetes), which in my case affected my hormone levels, and my cycle. That doesn’t even mention the fact that for all I know… I might have been pre-diabetic 49lbs ago.

5. Feeling good about yourself physically helps you feel better about yourself mentally. Of course there is a correlation between your physical self and your mental self. I have a greater sense of confidence, I stand taller, and I have a greater sense of accomplishment. I recognize the importance of setting goals and I now have the confidence to achieve those goals, be it physical or mental.

4. The skinnier me is way more fun than a fatter me. No need to go into detail here… (wink, wink)

3. Healthy people are happier people. I always had this perception that healthy people had easier lives, made more money, and didn’t have to work as hard to be happy. Come to find out, that healthy people work even harder at being happy because it’s not easy to make the time to exercise, work hard at being healthy, and eat well. Do I still believe that healthier people are happier people – Yes! But that’s because of the aforementioned endorphins, the increase in serotonin levels, and the positive difference in disposition that being healthy can achieve.

2. Clothes shopping is not longer a chore. Don’t get me wrong, I still haven’t done a lot of this, but the times that I do… WAY MORE FUN!!!

1. God has a purpose for everything. One of the greatest realizations I’ve discovered through this process is the plan God has in place for my life. Now don’t get me wrong, I still question why I have some of the struggles I do have, but my current path is clearly defined. I haven’t explained much detail about my job, but I am currently working with Severe and Persistent Mentally Ill, and within my internship and now within my job, I have been working on an integration of services between mental health and primary care services. Connecting the head to the rest of the body, as people in this industry say. A major component of this work revolves around how physical health can affect mental health. This includes obesity, diabetes, smoking, hypertension, etc. There is a direct correlation between what you put into your body, or do to take care of your body and how it affects psychological illnesses and even how well a psychotropic medication can work. Now, I do not have a mental illness, per se, but I can feel the mental effects of being healthy and understand the symbiotic relationship between the two. I feel as though I’m better prepared to talk the talk, because I am walking the walk. I think my journey, beginning last April, was Gods plan, setting me up for what I’m doing now.

I have 14 more days to drop one more stinkin’ pound and I know I can do it. 50lbs in a year is pretty darn good in my eyes, and I’m looking to drop 25 more to hit my final goal.