I took great pause when asked to do a “before and after” on my recent weight loss. I don’t pretend to be someone with all the answers or who has found a magic elixir to take off weight. I do not wish to send the “look at me” or “look what I have done” message because I am not done and, hopefully, will never be “DONE”! My primary reasons for agreeing to “put myself out there” are to share what is working for me and encourage anyone reading this to go ahead and take the first step toward their own fitness goals. Lastly and more personally, I need to address why I would hesitate to do this “fitness” article when, only a short 18 months ago, I so willingly put myself out there as the “average-sized/ real person” tennis clothing model in the Christmas 2007 issue of First Serve Magazine. That being said, here is my story…

Looking Inward: At the beginning of my journey toward fitness, I remember thinking, ”Yes, I suppose I am a little overweight…but I look pretty good and am active enough for someone my age.” I was playing tennis several times a week and practicing yoga, yet I was unaware, at the time, that I was feeling increasingly lethargic. I was also beginning to find daily activities more difficult and even eliminating some recreational activities I once very much enjoyed. I would catch myself groaning at my aches and pains upon doing simple daily chores. My children would ask me why I kept saying, “Ugh, I am so old!” with every twist or turn. I would respond to them, “Because I am old!” I began to listen to this exchange with my kids and realized that 52 is not THAT old, I just FELT really old! It was time to lose weight, yet again.

Yes, I had lost weight and been thin before, actually many times before, but had never really been physically fit. I decided that THIS TIME would be different! I had never pushed my body to be as fit and strong as it could and should be. I began to imagine how I would feel and look if I was in really good physical condition. The idea of fitness to feel better and live longer took the place of just wanting to lose some pounds. The next question was, of course, how to go about this…

2007 First Serve Magazine Photo Shoot

Looking Back: By mid September 2008, I had my plan and it would include outside help this time. Sure, I knew about the “less food and more exercise” correlation to weight loss, but what I knew had always landed me right back in the familiar overweight and sluggish body. This time I was going to tackle this fitness challenge like I would any other new project or sport. Much like someone wanting to learn to play tennis, I decided to contact a professional! I made up my mind that with proper instruction and coaching, hard work, patience, and diligent practice, I could learn to be a fit person. I wanted to leave the “weight goal” out of the equation and simply allow the journey to take me where it would take me for as long as it would take me.

Upon the recommendation of a friend, I contacted a fitness trainer at Results, a local gym. In the interview, I cited that my goals were to feel better, become more physically active…and live long enough to enjoy my grandchildren which may not come until I am well over 100! I had to write down a weight loss goal, so I wrote down 20 pounds just because that was pretty much what I lost every other time I managed to lose weight prior to regaining it. My trainer was not as focused on my “weight loss” as much as he was interested in helping me learn to be a lean, fit person and develop fitness and eating practices that would lead to longevity and “growing younger”. I am pretty sure he knew the weight loss would follow as I kept working on the other things. It was very important to find a “coach” that was professional, motivating, and had goals with which I could identify. At this juncture, I must give my trainer kudos! His philosophy, “Strength and fitness may begin inside the gym walls, but is maintained through an active lifestyle which incorporates fun, recreational sports and outdoor activities”, has kept me motivated and enjoying fitness without being overly conscious of actually exercising.

Looking at my lifestyle changes: I used to eat two meals during the day and one long feed from about 5:00 to 10:00 pm. I now eat 5 or 6 smaller meals/snacks in a day. The quality of my food has always been pretty good, but I have focused more on eating “lean, colorful and balanced”. The primary dietary changes I made were to eat fewer calories in general, eat 95% of my carbohydrate calories from fruit and vegetables rather than starches and make lean, lower fat food choices. Ice cream is a weakness for me, so as of now, I just scoop less at night! AND… I still enjoy an adult beverage or few from time to time, but I have to figure that into my weekly exercise to keep the balance of energy in/energy out.

I do some form of aerobic exercise 5 days a week for 45 minutes and strength train in the gym for 2 hours a week. I vary the aerobics to incorporate activities I enjoy: biking, running, jogging the beach, spinning and occasionally, I work out on the treadmill or elliptical machine. Variety helps to keep things interesting! I continue to practice yoga for flexibility and for spiritual balance. I also enjoy a physically active lifestyle in my leisure time with other things like tennis, roller skating, kayaking and learning to surf (waves, not the net). These activities are not necessarily aerobic, but do increase overall fitness. This may seem like a lot, but it has become much easier and enjoyable as my fitness level continues to improve. I do not work outside the home, which probably makes finding the flex time to exercise easier for me than those that hold down a job, but I must say that the time it takes out of my week to fit in the aerobics only amounts to about 5 hours.

My husband has been very supportive of the diet and exercise modifications in my/our life. We have four children (two girls and two boys ranging in age from 20 to 28). They are all out of the house or at college as of last year which, in my mind, made the lifestyle changes a little easier. Why? I do not know. I should have been taking the time to practice a healthier lifestyle of exercise and eating for them…rather than using them as the excuse for not having the time. It certainly would have been a better example for them. My best case argument is “better late than never”! This summer, while they were home from college, they have witnessed, firsthand, how much better I feel and how easily I now go about simple daily chores. I do most of the cooking, so I do have control over what we are eating and, for the most part, my family will eat anything I prepare, with no complaints. I shop mainly the perimeter of the grocery store and prepare foods as close to their original state as possible. When eating out, I try to practice the same principles of food choice.

Looking at progress: Thus far, I have lost nearly 50 pounds in 11 months. More importantly, I am building a leaner, stronger and younger body. My resting heart rate is now a full 12 beats slower per minute! That is 6,307,200 beats per year! My Body Mass Index (BMI) has changed from high to low risk for stroke, heart disease, diabetes II, hypertension, gallbladder and even certain types of cancer. I feel less tired, sleep better and move easily with less pain and injury to my joints and muscles. All of this is wonderful and I am proud of where I have come in a year…BUT, I have not arrived! Just like the analogy I used earlier with tennis, there is always room to improve and fine tune; there will be better days than others, and there will be back slides in interest and motivation. But, with continued practice, hard work and good coaching, I can continue on my day to day journey toward becoming the best steward of the strong, healthy body with which I have been blessed.