The Rosa Chronicles: The Ups, the Downs, and the Wardrobe Changes

More than 10 years ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. I was not surprised - diabetes had been a part of my life ever since I could remember. My brother José, 10 years older than me, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 9 years old. As I grew older, I found out that a sister of mine whom I did not get to meet had died of complications related to diabetes at age 3. Years later, my 5 year old niece was also diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and my own mother received her Type 2 diagnosis soon after we moved to Chicago. To me, it was just a matter of time until I was diagnosed. My diagnosis came as a result of my inability to lose weight. I had joined a gym, hired a trainer, made some changes to my eating habits, and yet, I was not able to lose much weight. Concerned, I went to my doctor and explained my symptoms. She recommended a battery of tests which came back with a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) . PCOS, in turn, is associated with diabetes. I had man...

Don't you hate it when you start doing something, and you are super motivated, you are giving it your all, and then it all goes out the window? Yeah, I hate that too, and that's exactly how my year has started. Well, not all of it, but at least the part that gives me the most work.  So here's what happened. As I said in my last blog, Andrew and I joined the gym to have access to more equipment, to use the treadmill, etc. Because in the past I have had some issues with going to the gym, mainly not knowing what the hell to do, I spend a good amount of time creating this somewhat ambitious 10-week workout plan. Based on the days that Andrew and I had decided to go to the gym, I selected the workouts that I would do there as well as those that I would do on the days I worked out at home. I knew I may have to adjust it; after all, I had not worked out for a couple of weeks, plus I was also incorporating a full-body circuit. I just did not know how much I had to adjust it. ...

It has been a while since I last wrote something. Somehow the end of a year does something to my mood and it takes me a while to recuperate, and I still don't get enough energy to get back into routines, any type of routines. It is hard to believe that another year came to an end. It feels as if I had barely started working on my goals for the year, and then, boom, we welcomed a new year. Why is it that time goes by so fast? I remember being young and thinking that a year lasted, well, a whole year. Now, a year feels like it last about 6 months or less. So, as many people do at this time, I was faced with the issue of setting resolutions for the new year. Ay, qué dilema!  Was I really ready to do this? Was it even necessary? After much thought, I decided that resolutions were not for me. Instead, I would rather continue working on what I had already started. Take for example my desire to go back to school. Approximately a year ago I decided that I wanted to go back to school ...

Sometimes you seek guidance from others instead of trusting what you are already doing. This was my experience this week when I sought out help from a nutritionist in my fight against diabetes. Here's what happened. As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have been taking a nutrition course online. It has been great; I have learned a lot and as a result have been able to make some changes to my diet. Now I know the balance I must have between carbs, protein and fat, and I have been adjusting my meals to try to keep with that goal. This has meant that I have had to let go of some foods that I liked but that were not contributing anything but empty calories to my diet. I have moved away from refined grains to whole grains, I am looking at foods with a low sodium count, and I am making sure I get my recommended servings of fruits and vegetables. All in all, it has been a great course...until two weeks ago. Constant companions: fresh fruit and a scale to weight my food. The w...

Yes. That is exactly how long it took me to finish Week 1of the 12 week shape up challenge.  I started, very excitedly, and then daily living came into play and of course I got side-tracked. But I came back and was able finish it, so I am focusing on that, on the fact that I finished it, instead of focusing on the two weeks it took to finish week one. Focusing on the good, on my accomplishments is something that does not come easy to me. I generally focus on what I have not done, what still needs to be done, and in the process I miss opportunities to celebrate great things. At work, for example, I am very efficient with my time. I am generally able to finish various tasks without much problem (well, aggravations and barriers, but all of them bearable!). Anybody else would be happy and satisfied with what I get to do in a day. But me? No, I don't do that. I always think that there was something else that I could have done. I tend to think of the 5 other things that are still pendi...

On Monday I came back from a wonderful vacation in my beautiful island of Puerto Rico. There, my husband and I spent ten days enjoying the beach, the weather, and the company of family and friends that were with us at one point or another. We spent some time with our friend Elba Vázquez at Brisas de Cidra Guest House. We went to Naguabo, a beautiful town that we had never been to, saw some of the most amazing sunsets, and had fresh and delicious seafood accompanied by mojitos. We spent some time in San Juan, visiting places we had been with the girls when we went last summer. And then we went to my hometown, Arecibo, where I visited family and friends, and spent some amazing time as well.   Throughout our stay there, we tried to incorporate exercising as much as we could. We did not obsess about it; after all, we were on vacation, and the point was to relax. But we walked quite a bit, used our bands for strength training, and even used the fitness room at one of the hotels....

And Day 30 got here! It was actually yesterday, and to be totally honest, I do have to make up for some missed days due to life in general and also for being on vacation. But all in all, I was pretty disciplined throughout my 30 for 30 challenge. Once I make up for the lost days, I will be working on a schedule to continue working out consistently at least 4 days a week. Ideally, I would like to continue with the minimum 30 minutes per day, but being realistic, I know that this may not be possible. Whenever I can, I will try to fit it in because, from my point of view, there is something wrong with not being able to dedicate at least 30 minutes per day to myself. But things happen and sometimes it is just impossible, and instead of getting frustrated when I am not able to do so, I would rather work on getting as much time in as possible. I am sure that the discipline I have acquired during the past 30 days will keep me focused. What I have learned One of the most important things...

...what is important is that you get up and keep on going. Boy, do I know about that! I have been struggling with my weight for several years now (I'm using "several" to be generous). And I have done many things to deal with it, but I have not been consistent, despite having seen results. Take for example 2011, the year Andrew and I got married. I was eating right, I was running several days a week, I was getting physical therapy twice a week. And by the time we got married, I had lost a considerable amount of weight. Not exactly what I had wanted, but hey! I was able to comfortably get on size 10 pants without any problems. But, as usual, something got in the way and I got distracted. Andrew and I on our wedding day 7/17/11 Then I tried again. Last year we added yoga to our exercise routine. It was great, because in addition to Andrew, our daughter Amanda joined us and yoga became a weekly routine for the three of us. Loved it! I felt great, energized and super ...

On Sunday, on my 4th consecutive day going to the 1st floor to workout, I was very proud of myself. I had started working out in December, on and off, but that week, that week I had been consistent and had kept my commitment on working out. I had already started seeing small changes in my body. My legs, which have always responded to exercise pretty fast, were beginning to feel strong again; the flabbiness was beginning to melt! And I had begun to feel muscles in my belly that I did not even remember existed thanks to some abs work that I was doing. And when I hopped into the scale and saw that I had lost 3 lbs. in the two weeks since I had last weighed myself that was all I needed. I was pumped! Yeah! I was going to get this done! It was going to happen! Along with my husband, who has been training me, I drew the plan for the upcoming week:  chest on Tuesday, arms on Wednesday, shoulders on Thursday, all followed by 40 minutes minimum of cardio. 1 mile, 327 calo...