Best of 2009 Blog Challenge: Best Moments in Health

This time last year I had returned from Thanksgiving with Jim’s family (minus his little sister Katie who was in Austria, where she lives) in Connecticut. Jim and I went to the gym. It had been a while since I had gone. I weighed myself and I was shocked to see that the scale read over 160 pounds. “No way,” I thought. I weighed myself a few more times and it was the same. I asked Jim if he thought the weight the scale gave him was accurate. After he responded, “Yes.” I was crushed. This was the heaviest I had ever been. How did I let this happen to me?

I took stock and realized that yeah, my metabolism had slowed down. I love to eat and didn’t want to change that. I’m not interested in diet fads, pills, or eating disorders. I had enough experience with those in high school. I realized that not was indeed uncomfortable in my skin. I didn’t have physical confidence. (Though maybe I never had that.) I also realized that being 25 years old and wanting to start a family by the age of 30, I wanted to be in good shape for that. Not only wanted, but I need to be in good shape for being pregnant as my scoliosis is going to be even more painful when I’m pregnant than it is now. The stronger I am then, the better. Also, it’s my damn responsibility to take care of my body and my health. I wasn’t going to stop eating food I loved, so I had to exercise.

I used the eliptical, the bike, and walked (my scoliosis doesn’t allow me to run without a lot of pain) at an incline on the treadmill or on the indoor track at the Lafayette Rec Center. I would also rotate strength training different muscle groups. This was going alright for a little bit and I even lost 5 pounds, but then Jim and I went to Saudi for the holidays, eating a lot and not exercising much outside of walking. (This was a shame as I LOVE the weight rooms and swimming pools there.) When we got back to Colorado I tried to get back into my exercise routine, but I slowly stopped going and didn’t leave my computer much unless to cook or occasionally walk the dogs. I went from trying to become an uber successful Real Estate investor overnight to a leading coach in an online fitness business I had joined. I was a complete wreck, forgetting to eat then pigging out, putting off sleep, and not even hearing Jim when he spoke to me.

So at the beginning of March I ended up with this horrific injury to my chest called costochondritis. I’ve written about this in the past. It was bad. I thought I was dying, they didn’t catch it right away, they didn’t give me very good direction on how to recover from it quickly, and I was in physical and mental agony for months leaving me incapable of doing most physical activity. There is so much to be said about that experience, but for the purpose of this post, I’ll move on.

I started seeing a physical therapist who rocked. She asked me what kind of physical activity I was doing before the injury. I was embarrassed to share that I hadn’t really been physical in years, but that what I enjoyed most was swimming and yoga (these two are also awesome for my back). She suggested that I ease myself into doing those activities again. I slowly worked my way up to swimming a mile. (I used Dara Torres as my inspiration.) Any thing other than breast stroke seemed too strenuous, so I sticked to that, throwing in a couple laps of slow freestyle here and there. When the outdoor pool was open for the summer I moved my swimming there, which made me much more cheerful as I grew up swimming on the swim team in outdoor pools. I loved being able to swim a mile (or more) and then take a little time to do nothing while I dried off in the sun. This is heaven to me. I did hit a road bump when in late May my anxiety went through the roof and I had to get out of the pool as I was afraid of drowning. Thankfully I sought help for that and slowly got back in the pool.

I was afraid of going back to yoga. I didn’t want to have to face the fact that I wasn’t as flexible as I used to me (I studied/practiced yoga in college, gaining a minor in it for Christ’s sake) and I was fearful of weight bearing poses that my upper body wouldn’t be able to handle. But, I finally got my butt into class and I started to go three times a week. Nothing got in the way of going. I’d show up to parties late, or even drag my sister Marissa and even Jim to class. It took a long time for me to even attempt some of the poses, but slowly I got there and even though it wasn’t pleasant, I worked through it and they got easier.

Both the swimming and yoga became meditation in action for me. Not only was I working on healing my body and getting back in shape, but I had also found a way to help ease my stress/anxiety and mind. The last month before we moved to Costa Rica, I wasn’t as diligent about making my classes or swimming as I was busy selling out house, moving temporarily, packing, seeing friends, and wrapping up last minute things. There were a few times earlier in the summer when I hovered around 150 pounds, even dropping below it a couple times. That last month was full of eating at all our favorite restaurants one last time, so I probably left Colorado weighing about 155 again.

Moving to Costa Rica has worked wonders on my health. Neither of us is working so we don’t have tons of money to spend. This has lead us not to eat out very much, unless we are spoiled by guests. This means we cook a lot more at home, which I LOVE. We have a wonderful (read plentiful and inexpensive) farmer’s market in Jaco on Fridays so we go there weekly stocking up, understanding that everything is so fresh and ripe that most things won’t last the entire week (thank goodness I like to have frozen fruit for smoothies). I also decided shortly before we left Colorado that I am no longer going to eat 4 legged animals as they don’t make my tummy happy. (I know that sounds weird, but I don’t know how to categorize those meats without listing them out). I have actually been eating very little chicken, but do eat fish at least once a week as I still enjoy it and it is so fresh here. Most of what I cook is vegan or vegetarian. I’ve also started an exploration into vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar free baking, which is really fun and MUCH healthier. Diet wise though, I’m eating much more produce and whole foods than I had been before.

As for exercise, I live a five minute walk from a beautiful beach that I can walk on for hours. I walk a couple miles (at least) most days. The added trips up to the Monteverde Cloud Forrest of Manuel Antonio National Park have provided some great hikes as well. Walking on the beach, either with Jim and the girls or even just the girls is so fulfilling. I love the sound of the wind in my ears. I get to reflect for a bit and then enjoy my mind being quiet. It’s rejuvenating and empowering.

When we first moved down I made a yoga sequence with well rounded poses. I’ve done it a couple times in full, but otherwise I usually stretch each day. I did attend an excellent yoga class while in Nicaragua this last week, which made me realize that I really need to get my butt in gear and either find a yoga class that I like in the area (I have a friend that wants to this too) or just get back to doing it on my own.

Also, I must admit is that I have a friend that has an Olympic sized pool that she has told me I can swim in anytime. I have yet to go in the 3 months we’ve lived here. I hope to go there once a week from now on.

Another thing I’ve decided to do is walk (more like paddle) through my fear of the ocean taking me (I almost drowned last year in Dominical, Costa Rica) and my fear of re-injuring my chest by taking a surf lesson. I hope to take more, but as of now I’m committing to one.

Lastly, I hope to join my friend to a couple of classes with her personal trainer. I’ve never done that before and I’m interested having someone confirm, “yeah, if you want your butt and thighs to shrink and get stronger you’re going to have to do squats.”

Who would have thought that diet and exercise would work?! Hahaha As you can see from second picture above (taken last month), I’ve lost some weight. I now fluctuate between 136 and 141 pounds. That means that since this time last year, I’ve lost 20 pounds, most of it since I’ve been here. I’m smaller and healthier now than I was when I got married over 2 years ago. Better now/late than never! I hope to lose some more weight as well as tone up. (Because there’s really nothing very sexy about a weak skinny person is there?) I’m excited about what I’m doing and the new goals I’ve set for myself. It’s nice to be working toward something.

I am responsible for my health. Diet and Exercise really do work and are fun. I can’t believe I didn’t make better use of the natural surroundings in Colorado. If we move back there, that will change. Today, I’m fueling my body with excellent food and I’m off for a walk!

What do you do to keep your body and mind healthy? I’m so inspired by people’s empowering stories as well as new things to apply to my own life.

Food Exploration

Sorry I haven’t been posting much lately. I’ve been busy cooking a bunch, playing at the beach, creating my own yoga sequence, and reading (mostly blogs participating in VeganMoFo III to get inspiration and ideas). I’m also finishing up Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri which I’m a little depressed about. I’ve already read her other two book and she may just be my favorite author. I’m praying she’ll publish another book soon!

So let me check in about my exploration of vegan, gluten free, and refined sugar free eating. I haven’t bought flour or sugar, but I hope to have some yummy items (collected my both my Momma and Jim’s mom Susy) that meet my dietary wants/needs when Susy visits on the 26th!

For Sweetener I have been using fruit, agave (which I’m out of now <sob!>), real maple syrup (brought to us by Heidi), and a little honey.

I’ve bought ground flax seeds, gluten free oats, and nuts (almonds brought by Heidi) to allow me to do a little baking. I’ve been eating brown rice and lots of veggies, but I have had some wheat pasta, a couple churros and croissants from a local bakery, and some tortillas that have gluten in them. I can’t seem to find brown rice pasta, but they do have the Asian rice stick noodles.

As far as animal products go…I’ve been eating eggs (which I’m praying for the willingness to let go of), fish (it’s so fresh, tasty, and inexpensive here!), a little chicken, some cheese, and a bit of honey. I haven’t bought yogurt in a few weeks. I’d like to add that I’ve been really good about replacing these items with veggies (eggplants are meaty), lots of beans, quinoa (great source of protein) and nuts. I’m not crazy about soy, but I think I need to explore that again to see if it does indeed upset my tummy. Luckily I’ve found vegan margarine and I also use olive oil, some canola oil, and avocados for good fat (coconut oil soon too).

I’m practicing envisioning my life without any animal products, gluten, or refined sugar. I’m willing to let go of honey and continue to ask friends and family to bring agave, maple syrup, and unrefined sugar when they visit. Once I explore baking without gluten and refined sugar I’ll feel more confident about letting go of gluten. Yes, I’ll miss wheat pasta and I’ll have to wait to have brown rice pasta when I live somewhere else, but I can have other grains root veggies. I’m also going to miss being able to eat the delicious desserts and treats at restaurants and bakeries. I know I can made great alternatives though. I want to not want to have sushi, or breakfast tacos with cheddar, brie with fig jam, alfredo sauce, of my Mom’s chicken, and the occasional prosciutto cantaloupe salad with Parmesan, but my attachment to these things and their memories may be a bit more difficult. As I’ve said before, I’ve never been a big meat eater. I grew up eating chicken mainly. Convenience wise it is not easy as most products I have to have brought to me from the US. Also, to be honest, this could become a rift between Jim and I as it requires money going toward new things. Luckily he’s supportive otherwise. I will continue to take action in experimenting new alternatives as well as stay openminded and willing.

Lastly, Jim and I have both seen a shrinkage in our bellies which we are both excited about. I think eating more produce and whole foods rather than processed foods full of carbohydrates, sugars, and preservatives has helped. Taking our (almost) daily walks on the beach have been good too. I’m hoping this fat melting process will continue and will creep down to my butt and legs. Here’s to a healthy life!