Hi! Health is a funny thing isn’t it? We take advantage of it until we can’t anymore and health problems start popping up. That’s how I was….the skinny girl growing up. The one that bounced back into pre-pregnancy clothes a few weeks after having six kids. Yes, I was the one everybody hated because I could also eat whatever I wanted and never gain weight. 🙂
Fast forward to 2017, my sixth child was one and many, many things happened within a few months of each other that really affected our family. I slowly started putting on weight. I didn’t think much of it because it was a REALLY stressful time. I figured it would go away when I wasn’t so stressed anymore. I also had the thought that I was turning 30 that year, so maybe my body was slowing down. I wasn’t worried about it because I could lose weight pretty quickly. Examples being my six kids and the pregnancy weight I lost a month or two after giving birth.
In 2018, we had moved states away back home by my family. We were finally in our own place again. The husband and I were working and the kids were making new friends at school, but the weight was still there and increasing. Still not worried about it.
In 2023, I was feeling increasingly fatigued, bruised really easy (which wasn’t abnormal), losing my hair (also not abnormal), but I just felt like it was more serious health issues than previous times. I talked to my doctor and got my blood work done. If there is ever a concern you have, get it checked out! It doesn’t hurt to talk to a doctor and ask questions or get bloodwork done. Well, I was anemic and prediabetic. Awesome! With a crazy, busy schedule, now I needed to schedule 3 two hour appointments at the hospital for iron infusions. You should know pills are the bane of my existence and I can’t swallow them unless they are mashed into some pudding, apple sauce, or crazy tiny pieces that might not set off my gag reflex. Those appointments were scheduled along with appointments to see a nutritionist.
The iron infusions help immensely. I had more energy and I wasn’t chewing on eight cups ice throughout the day. The nutritionist appointments don’t go as well. It’s the usual, “What are you eating?”, “How active are you?”, “You need to avoid these foods and watch your sugar.” You know those appointments where they just kind of beat you over the head with health stuff and nothing motivates you to change your habits and its overwhelming? Just me? 🙂 After that meeting I wasn’t really motivated to change a lot. Some things I “tried” to avoid or limit, but not seriously.
I continued on like before, until June of this year. A friend I had grown up with moved back and wanted to start getting into better shape. She asked if I wanted to be her workout buddy. Of course I said yes! It’s easier to stay consistent if you have someone to keep you accountable and motivated. Getting up early and doing 21 Day Fix workouts five days a week with her were fun, but nothing was really changing. Then, we both saw a post from our local gym about a six week challenge for ladies that was ‘free” and we decided to do it. We signed up and we got our money back if we lost 20 pounds in six weeks or 7 percent of our body fat. Don’t you just love how they hook you?! 🙂 July we started at the gym three days a week and two days at her house. They have early morning classes three days a week and I really like them! I feel awkward in a gym because I don’t know what I’m doing, but the classes take care of that because they explain the exercises and circuits at the beginning of class.
After signing up at the gym, I really started focusing on my diet. The coaches there recommend starting a food diary. I got the free app MyFitnessPal for my phone and it’s a lot easier to track it on my phone than pen and paper. The app is very user friendly. It has you put in goals and starting weight, and basic things that they plug in and then give you goals for calories and they even break it down by protein, carbs, and fats. I like to see how many calories I’m at and things like that. This app has helped me start looking at labels and noticing calories. It’s a good app to start with if you are beginning to keep track of your food intake.
A month into the gym and food record nothing is happening! I’m starting to get frustrated. I meet weekly with a coach and they can look on the MyFitnessPal app and see the exercise and food that I’ve imputed. They have always told me that things look good and if there is any changes I need to make, then it’s adding a little bit more protein to my diet. Okay, so I try and add a little more protein to my meals. Examples are if I’m having eggs for breakfast then throw in one more or add in another protein drink during the day. Not hard things to do and if I couldn’t add some protein to every meal then I tried to a least do one and add a protein drink for the day. Around this time we had a big family reunion with my in-laws down in Utah. My appointment with the coach right before we left wasn’t very good. He thought my body was in starvation mode with all the changes I was doing. He wanted me to up my calories and protein even more. I felt like my stomach was going to explode! I’m one of those people that usually skips breakfast because I’m not hungry until 10 am and I had to increase my food intake even more. Phew!
While down in Utah I wasn’t being really strict with what I was eating. I wasn’t counting calories, but I was still making conscious choices about food. If we ate out, then I would get something as healthy as I could, maybe with no bun and no fries, but I wasn’t stressing about it. I told my in-laws about what was going on and they had shared with me some things about insulin resistance. When I got home and resumed my workout schedule and food plan, I continued my research about insulin resistance and realized that’s what I had. It all fit! So nice to finally have a name to what was going on! Thanks for reading to the end. To be continued.
Your Average Ginger- Danielle
