Saturday, May 28, 2005

Saturday Musings and Fitness Fanaticism

It's been a nice Saturday. My mom is here and we've got to spend quite a bit of time together. Went shopping, relaxed, talked...very nice. She is in the process of looking for another job and I hope she can find one she likes - and if it was here where I live, that would be even better!

Very excited about a new magazine I picked up at Barnes and Noble this evening - it's called "American in WWII: The Magazine of a People at War: 1941-1945." It is wonderful. Lots of first-person stories, pictures, advertisements from magazines, movie reviews of WWII movies, book reviews...I just love it. It will be a wonderful resource for me as well as a potential market for my history writing. You can check it out online here: www.americainwwii.com

So I decided that, in light of the constant health battle I have been fighting since I took the evil birth control shot Depo Provera after my daughter was born five years ago, I am going to totally change my lifestyle. I'm going to become a fitness nut, a fitness fanatic. I want to be lean and mean, trim and slim! Just like I used to be...

Okay, so I know it's going to be difficult. I'm going radical. But really. How many doctors do you have to visit before you decide nothing is working anymore? I can't begin to tell you how many docs I have seen, pills I have taken, remedies I've tried...and nothing is working. So it's time to go radical. My health is undermining so many aspects of my life - my writing, my family, my energy level, everything. It's time to take charge. I want to be here for my daughter. I want to watch her grow up. And I have to be healthy in order to do that.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I know I have to do something. Changing my diet is imperative. Exercising more is crucial. Trying to lose this weight so I can get off of some of my medications is important.

I need to make some sort of plan. But like I told my husband, I want results now and I know I won't get that. I know it will take time. I need to stay motivated and for that to happen, someone has to be motivating me.

I worked with my brother last time I tried this - while my husband was still living 500 miles away from me - and I lost 10 pounds. My brother is a former college athlete and still stays in great shape. He was a great trainer - pushed me to work harder and constantly challenged me. I think I will ask him if he can help me again. I know I can do it - I've done it before. But when my husband moved in with me again (his job kept him at our old hometown), everything sort of stopped.

Now I can't afford to not do this. I look at the weight gain and I just can't believe I'm even battling this. I was the gal in high school and college that could eat anything and not gain a thing! I thought for sure I'd have my dad's metabolism - but turns out I have my mom's. :-)

Onward to a healthier me!

8 comments:

  1. Melissa-good luck with your writing and your health. Have you tried yoga? I do it sporadically and must get into a routine. There are so many health things out there. A friend of mine does some sort of regime that involves weight training and watching what you eat (but hopelessly I can't remember the name of it :( )

    My daughter is 5 too. Millenium baby :)

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  2. I have a link to send you, just remind me next time we chat. My paper has been running WWII interviews from people in the area.

    Exercise does a lot. I've dropped two sizes although I've only lost 10 lbs. But I know I've gained muscle. I don't have flabby arms anymore. I know you can do it.

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  3. Anonymous10:11 AM

    I too have a millenium baby. :)

    Melissa, I'm so right there with you! I gave up on doctors too for the most part (at least for the never-ending "I feel like crud" ordeal.) Exercise is important, but even more so is what you eat. (This coming from someone who ate enough sugar to kill an army of lab rats...every day.) I have some links as well as book titles you might be interested in. If so, email me from my blog sometime. (No, I'm not selling anything LOL. Just happy to be feeling better!)

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  4. Melissa,
    Good luck with the new healthy regime. I'm doing the same thing, trying to whip my butt into better shape. I'm part of a documentary on romance writing and there will be part of the filming done in Reno at the conference. I'm using that as my incentive to keep at it. I lost 10 pounds a little over a year ago using the whole Dr Phil thing and managed to keep it off. Now I want to knock off the last ten so I thought I would go back and try it again. We'll see how it goes. I'll be cheering you on!

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  5. Anonymous2:16 PM

    Good luck, Melissa! I need to do the same. I feel the pressure of RWA coming. That means it's diet time for me, LOL! I need to anyway, but RWA is always a good motivator for me.

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  6. Anonymous5:23 PM

    My diet sucks. I so need to eat better...I'm thinking of trying Suzanne's The Bread Diet *g

    But yoga is cool. Relaxing and energizing at the same time. Need some aerobics too though...fast walking while listening to RWA National MP3's??

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  7. Thanks for the thoughts, gals. I hope to be successful this time - I just have to understand that it will take awhile to accomplish, and the psychological aspect if often more difficult than the physical.

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  8. Anonymous7:06 AM

    Best of luck to you!! Hope everything works out the way you want it to.

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