My Health Journey - Fitbit, Nutrition, Self-Discipline!

Once upon a time, I was an athletic, competitive, healthy young woman. Today - I'm carrying around the weight of another person on my small five foot five frame. It's exhausting.

There's no one particular reason that I allowed myself to get into this current condition. Several things happened over the years and before I knew it, my doctor was telling me to loose as much weight as I could to avoid needing blood pressure medication. 

Five weeks ago, I embarked on a journey to recommit to improving my health. Last year, I had lost fifty pounds in six months. Then, with the additional closures caused by the pandemic and needing to stay home to help our kids with virtual schooling, the pounds packed back on quicker than a drive-thru cheeseburger is ready at the pick-up window! It was a blow to my self-esteem, again.

Thinking over it as the weight steadily remained at two-hundred-eighty-eight pounds, I decided to do my own research. THERE ARE SO MANY DIETS OUT THERE!! It is insane. How could I choose the right one? The truth was, my entire diet was a disaster to begin with anyhow. I drank my calories through soda pops and sugary beverages. Hunger? What's that? Never do I recall actually feeling hungry. Mostly, because I was consuming a pound of sugar a day (okay, maybe not a pound, but A LOT).

At no point did I track my daily calories either. It wasn't something I was ever taught to do. However, my husband had bought me a Fitbit Alta that I could use to track my steps, calories, water intake, sleep and more on the Fitbit app. Now, last year, I did use my Fitbit to do all of those things and that's how I lost the weight, at least in part. Simply being aware of what I was doing everyday was a huge help. 

Still, this time around there needed to be more. My choice to buckle down and stick to real, sustainable changes, meant my mindset needed to change on everything, especially - FOOD. 

Where to start, again? 

Processing all the information from my doctor, all my research, and the advice of a licensed nutritionist, it made my brain do somersaults! Every thing ended on the same line - as long as you have a calorie deficit everyday, you will loose weight, slowly, without doing anything else. Of course, they recommend getting at least thirty minutes of activity a day, but yes, it is possible to loose weight just from watching your calories.

Now, armed with this new (at least new to me) information, I concocted a plan to get me going in the right direction. 

*PLEASE REMEMBER, I AM NOT A MEDICAL DOCTOR NOR A LICENSED NUTRITIONIST - this is just for your reading entertainment only, a mere documentation of my personal story and train of thought.*

My Plan:

Stay in a range of 1700-1800 calories a day. It gives me a calorie deficit of around 1000 calories a day.

Getting 10,000 steps every day. 

Earning 60 active minutes a day.

Drinking 80 ounces to 120 ounces of water a day. I use this RTIC 40 ounce tumbler because it keeps my water cold and fits in every cup holder we have in our vehicles.

Eating 120-150 grams of lean protein a day (recommended by my nutritionist).

Eating at least one serving of veggies at every meal (even breakfast).

No off-limit foods. As long as it fits within my daily calorie goals without causing me to go over, it's good.

I'm using my Fitbit Alta and the Fitbit App to track everything. It's been helpful in not only tracking my physical activity but things like my sleep quality, resting heart rate, and meditation sessions. The hourly reminders to "get moving" are great too. Especially because I'm usually at the computer or standing idly at the kitchen sink washing mounds of dishes. This gentle nudge is all it takes. 

Biggest change this go-around, my mindset. I am five weeks in, starting weight was 287.6lbs, current weight is 281.0lbs. Doesn't seem like much but it's about a pound a week! My goal weight is 150lbs. In other words, if all I did was continue to stay in a calorie deficit with no exercise, hypothetically, I could reach my goal weight in three years. By adding in exercise, I hope to reach that weight in half that time. 

Biggest challenge so far - staying accountable and building my self-discipline. It's easy to fall back into bad habits but a struggle to build healthy ones. One way I am tackling this is by eliminating options of things like soda, fast food, and snack foods by not buying them or bringing them into the house. This doesn't mean I don't buy any type of sweets or snacks, we do have kiddos and my husband would throw a fit if he didn't have chocolate once in awhile. It simply means putting limits on buying things I am personally tempted to over consume, like salty snacks and sugary drinks. It's a process, for sure, but so far I'm taking it day by day, just keeping that end goal in mind, and building my will power with every better decision I make.

This week, I am working towards improving my nutrition. The first four weeks, it was more about limiting my calories. Now, I want to know that I am fueling my body the way it needs to be fueled. For example, cooking vegetables. Honestly, cooking anything, hahaha! I'm not a cook, at all, but cooking an array of fresh veggies is terrifying to me. To ease my way in, I've started buying frozen veggies and adding them in a stir fry or to the crock pot or in casserole dishes. For breakfast, fresh bell peppers diced up in an egg omelet or breakfast burrito along with baby spinach or broccoli has really made me rethink where I can hide the veggies. Yes, I need to hide my vegetables still. Don't judge me, Karen!

If you want to follow more of my health journey, check out my YouTube Channel, Pieces of Pietz, I post a weekly weigh in video every Sunday there. I'll be sharing lots more here on the blog as well! Wish me luck!

-Crystal