Everyday I fight a strong weight loss enemy. Myself. I’ve discovered there is no stronger an opponent than the battle within. In order to win this battle, I needed more than encouragement from my lover; I even needed more than inspiring compliments about my weight loss so far; I needed God.
You’re probably familiar with the song made popular by Gospel Singer Yolanda Adams, “The Battle Is Not Yours.” A powerful anthem that helps relieve the burden of negative belief. Having this weapon in my arsenal, I have dedicated myself to doing some kind of exercise daily. The one exercise I do everyday (unless it rains) is walking at least 1 mile.
After my surgery in March I had to build my strength back up, so my walks started as just a simple one block journey. I would walk to the end of my street and back. That was it. My body couldn’t much more then. But, gradually, I have increased my walk to 1 mile a day since then. This daily little exercise has helped me lose weight and increased my energy.
According to Health Magazine, November 2007, you can burn 160 calories using the treadmill in 20 minutes. In the summer months I prefer to walk outside and enjoy my surroundings, however, I walk 45 minutes per day. So, I’m sure I’m burning at least 160 calories doing this. The article also states you can walk off weight much faster than any other exercise regimen. Walking is also the safest, least expensive exercise program to do.
For a person with a weight problem (that’s most Americans these days), walking usually doesn’t result in muscle pulls or other athletic injuries.
Just walking alone hasn’t been the result of my weight loss. I no longer eat fried foods anymore, thanks to my hysterectomy. Since the surgery, I noticed that my stomach no longer has the capacity to hold huge amounts of food. And eating anything fried sends me to the bathroom totally nauseated. Now my meals consist of salads, fresh fruits and veggies, lots of George Foreman grilled stuff and no red meat.
In all fairness, I had stopped eating pork over 10 years ago (no barbecue ribs for me), and had cut out red meat from my diet. But, prior to the surgery, I was still eating large amounts of food and never seemed to get full. My gynecologist told me that my fibroid tumors were the cause of my unhealthy appetite, that literally I was feeding the tumors. It seems those two huge monstrosities inside of me were stealing all my nutrients.
Since I’ve had them removed, I feel so much better. I no longer eat like a lumberjack, I can even feel myself get full now. Before I couldn’t. I was like a human eating machine.
That was my battle. It is a daily one, to eat the right things, and to exercise.
What’s your battle? Is it you? What is preventing you from achieving your weight loss goals?
Next week, I’ll be posting some before and after pictures of me. If you know me, then you know that is a pain for me because I hate taking pictures of myself, but love to take pictures of others. So this is certainly a journey for me.
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