2018 is indeed my year! - A report on Resolution #1
Whoa! I looked at the date on my last post and said, "Oh, it's not that bad, I wrote my last entry in October of last year." One thing bugged me, though. I looked at the date again: 10/29/16. It was not last year; it was actually 2016, so it was really 16 months ago. And that is the thing with life, that it goes by so fast and you don't realize it.
Take for example the fact that this coming February 25 I will turn 50 years old. 😑 Right...50 years old. When did this happen? It feels like yesterday that I moved from Puerto Rico to Chicago at age 19 and then, Bam! all of a sudden I am going to turn 50.
So I figured that might as well make a big deal out of it. At different levels. In different areas of my life. And for several reasons:
1) I will be turning 50! (I think that repeating this is helping come to terms with it).
2) It will be my third year as a Fit Girl and I have to really represent.
3) I need to regain my health; I need to make sure that I am as healthy as I can for as long as I can.
4) I miss doing things that enrich my spirit.
And while I generally don't make New Year's resolutions, I thought that given the importance of this year (did I mention I will be 50?), might as well make some good ones and stick to them. I was conservative in selecting my resolutions; I only drafted 5 and tried to make sure that they build on each other. For this first blog of 2018, I will write about the first one.
Resolution 1: Reclaim my body and my health
This coming March will be three years since I first started my Fit Girls journey. It was such a good thing for me and for my family. We all jumped into the healthy eating habit and exercising and saw amazing results. By July 11, 2015 I wore a size 8 dress for my 4th wedding anniversary dinner and I felt totally fabulous! Not only that - a couple of days later I went to my doctor and I weighted 154 lbs, which is the lowest I had been in several years. I felt fantastic! That year for the first time I completely ran a 5k, Carrera de Muertos. I was running about 4 miles per run...it was all so good. I see my posts from those days on my Instagram account and I can feel the energy that I had back on those days. It was such a great feeling...
And then depression showed up uninvited. It really fucked me up. It was such a struggle to get out of bed on a daily basis, to do the bare minimum. Everything was like in a fog. I remember one day that it took me 3 hours to get ready to go to work. I was a mess.
That is when things started slipping. Little by little the dining outings and ordering outs became more frequent, and I frankly had no desire to go to the gym and workout. I didn't completely lose it; I kept a semblance of my old habits, still tried to do clean eating, and worked out on a regular basis. But it was not the same. And you know how life is - it throws you some curve balls that you are not expecting. My mother-in-law got sick on the day my husband and I landed in Puerto Rico for a mental health break. Momma was in serious condition; it was a really difficult time for my husband and the family with a lot of decisions to be made and the ensuing problems.
That moved me to act on a dream I had been nurturing with my family since the previous year. I decided to quit my job as Assistant Director in the organization I founded, CALOR, and used my retirement plan to purchase a home in Puerto Rico for a bed and breakfast. I spent a good couple of months in Puerto Rico, intermittently, getting La Mariposa ready. The home is a dream come true; I woke up every morning to lots of sunshine and a magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean on the North side of the house, and the Cordillera Central, the main mountain range, on the South side of the house. I was working out there regularly and keeping up with clean eating.
But soon it was time to come back home to Chicago. I was lucky to have received an excellent employment opportunity and without hesitation I returned to the formal workforce. So most of 2017 was spent getting acquainted with my new position, learning the ins and outs and trying to adjust to a new work environment and culture. Needless to say, health and fitness fell by the wayside and before I knew it I was back at 179 lbs.
I knew I just could not continue like that. I knew that I had to reclaim my health, not only physically but mentally as well. And with my 50th birthday coming up, I just had to make that commitment to myself that this time around I had to do it and stick to it. I know I can! I did it before and know firsthand the feeling of awesomeness at having energy, the knowledge that my body is an incredible machine capable of doing fantastic things; that I could curb my Type 2 diabetes by eating properly, exercising regularly which in turn keeps my A1C in the right range.
So there came in my first goal for the year, which is divided into three components: 1) Go to the gym at least 3 times a week; 2) focus on nutrition; 3) chronicle my journey.
I am so happy to say that I have made progress in all these three components. I have been consistently going to the gym at minimum 3 days a week, but more often than not I go more than that. This past week, for example, I went 5 days in a row and loved it! I started a 12-week exercise program and tomorrow (2/19) I will start on week 4. This has had the added benefit that I am finally weaning myself from my dependency on my husband. For years he has withstood my abuse (🤣😂) as I fire him from being my trainer when I don't like what he is telling me to do. But I totally depended on him and never took the time to learn to do exercises properly. With this program that has changed. I have had to learn to do each exercise on my own, learn proper posture, and keep my own time (he used to do that for me as well!) and I have to tell you, it is such an empowering feeling! I now walk around the gym with renewed purpose, completely sure of what I will be doing, the weights I will be using, etc. Andrew is still around to help and answer my questions, but I am mostly on my own.
I won't lie - some times it is rather difficult especially with this Chicago weather that sucks. It is a hassle to come from work tired, make dinner, and still brave the elements and get out to the gym. Ofter times one of us (our daughter Amanda also goes with us to the gym) is attempting to persuade the others to stay home, but ultimately one of us snaps out of it and we end up going.
As for nutrition, it is still work in progress. Due to unforeseen circumstances it has been a bit difficult to fully get into meal prepping, but every week we are making progress and I expect that the next couple of weeks it is going to get better. I have 4 of the Fit Girls Guide books and I am trying to incorporate new recipes every week. I have my favorite recipes, but in reality there are so many delicious recipes to try and I can't wait to try them at least once! Luckily my hubby and daughter help me with this, so it should get easier.
The last point for this first resolution is chronicling my journey. This has been the most difficult part. After such a long time not writing, I had a big case of writer's block and I could not even finish my first attempt at it. In fact, it took me about a month to get this going! But it seems I am finding my groove again, so here is the first post for this year! I am also keeping a journal for this 50th year of my life. I have always loved journaling and I want to really document this year of my life. Reading back these entries (both in my journal and on this blog) give me energy and help me focus on my goals. So while I hope that others that may read this blog find that my journey resonates with them and let's them know they are not alone, at minimum, I know that it helps me in my journey - it is my story.
Have no doubts about it - 2018 IS MY YEAR!
Next week I will write about Resolution #2 - Observing my version of Sabbath.
Take for example the fact that this coming February 25 I will turn 50 years old. 😑 Right...50 years old. When did this happen? It feels like yesterday that I moved from Puerto Rico to Chicago at age 19 and then, Bam! all of a sudden I am going to turn 50.
So I figured that might as well make a big deal out of it. At different levels. In different areas of my life. And for several reasons:
1) I will be turning 50! (I think that repeating this is helping come to terms with it).
2) It will be my third year as a Fit Girl and I have to really represent.
3) I need to regain my health; I need to make sure that I am as healthy as I can for as long as I can.
4) I miss doing things that enrich my spirit.
And while I generally don't make New Year's resolutions, I thought that given the importance of this year (did I mention I will be 50?), might as well make some good ones and stick to them. I was conservative in selecting my resolutions; I only drafted 5 and tried to make sure that they build on each other. For this first blog of 2018, I will write about the first one.
Resolution 1: Reclaim my body and my health
 |
| This was one of the first times that I did a "face to face" and I wasshocked at the difference. |
 |
| Another comparison picture. I was so pleased and felt great! |
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| July 17, 2015. Four months after I started Fit Girls Guide. I had not felt this great in a long time! |
And then depression showed up uninvited. It really fucked me up. It was such a struggle to get out of bed on a daily basis, to do the bare minimum. Everything was like in a fog. I remember one day that it took me 3 hours to get ready to go to work. I was a mess.
That is when things started slipping. Little by little the dining outings and ordering outs became more frequent, and I frankly had no desire to go to the gym and workout. I didn't completely lose it; I kept a semblance of my old habits, still tried to do clean eating, and worked out on a regular basis. But it was not the same. And you know how life is - it throws you some curve balls that you are not expecting. My mother-in-law got sick on the day my husband and I landed in Puerto Rico for a mental health break. Momma was in serious condition; it was a really difficult time for my husband and the family with a lot of decisions to be made and the ensuing problems.
That moved me to act on a dream I had been nurturing with my family since the previous year. I decided to quit my job as Assistant Director in the organization I founded, CALOR, and used my retirement plan to purchase a home in Puerto Rico for a bed and breakfast. I spent a good couple of months in Puerto Rico, intermittently, getting La Mariposa ready. The home is a dream come true; I woke up every morning to lots of sunshine and a magnificent view of the Atlantic Ocean on the North side of the house, and the Cordillera Central, the main mountain range, on the South side of the house. I was working out there regularly and keeping up with clean eating.
 |
| La Mariposa Beach House (Arecibo, PR) - a dream come true! |
 |
| Waking up to this every day was heaven! |
But soon it was time to come back home to Chicago. I was lucky to have received an excellent employment opportunity and without hesitation I returned to the formal workforce. So most of 2017 was spent getting acquainted with my new position, learning the ins and outs and trying to adjust to a new work environment and culture. Needless to say, health and fitness fell by the wayside and before I knew it I was back at 179 lbs.
I knew I just could not continue like that. I knew that I had to reclaim my health, not only physically but mentally as well. And with my 50th birthday coming up, I just had to make that commitment to myself that this time around I had to do it and stick to it. I know I can! I did it before and know firsthand the feeling of awesomeness at having energy, the knowledge that my body is an incredible machine capable of doing fantastic things; that I could curb my Type 2 diabetes by eating properly, exercising regularly which in turn keeps my A1C in the right range.
So there came in my first goal for the year, which is divided into three components: 1) Go to the gym at least 3 times a week; 2) focus on nutrition; 3) chronicle my journey.
I am so happy to say that I have made progress in all these three components. I have been consistently going to the gym at minimum 3 days a week, but more often than not I go more than that. This past week, for example, I went 5 days in a row and loved it! I started a 12-week exercise program and tomorrow (2/19) I will start on week 4. This has had the added benefit that I am finally weaning myself from my dependency on my husband. For years he has withstood my abuse (🤣😂) as I fire him from being my trainer when I don't like what he is telling me to do. But I totally depended on him and never took the time to learn to do exercises properly. With this program that has changed. I have had to learn to do each exercise on my own, learn proper posture, and keep my own time (he used to do that for me as well!) and I have to tell you, it is such an empowering feeling! I now walk around the gym with renewed purpose, completely sure of what I will be doing, the weights I will be using, etc. Andrew is still around to help and answer my questions, but I am mostly on my own.
 |
| Keeping track holds me accountable and allows me to see my progress. |
I won't lie - some times it is rather difficult especially with this Chicago weather that sucks. It is a hassle to come from work tired, make dinner, and still brave the elements and get out to the gym. Ofter times one of us (our daughter Amanda also goes with us to the gym) is attempting to persuade the others to stay home, but ultimately one of us snaps out of it and we end up going.
As for nutrition, it is still work in progress. Due to unforeseen circumstances it has been a bit difficult to fully get into meal prepping, but every week we are making progress and I expect that the next couple of weeks it is going to get better. I have 4 of the Fit Girls Guide books and I am trying to incorporate new recipes every week. I have my favorite recipes, but in reality there are so many delicious recipes to try and I can't wait to try them at least once! Luckily my hubby and daughter help me with this, so it should get easier.
 |
| Some of my favorite recipes from the Fit Girls books. |
Have no doubts about it - 2018 IS MY YEAR!
Next week I will write about Resolution #2 - Observing my version of Sabbath.
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