Once again, or I remember when………

Once again this morning (or early afternoon) I am reminding myself to be grateful to be here, thankful to be able to do all that I do and not sad over what used to be.

What brought on this introspection you ask…….something so very simple, and yet profound to me.

Many years ago, when I was in school, I was tested and put in accelerated math classes.  And as an adult, my first career was as a bookkeeper.  I was good at math.

But a few years ago things changed, I got sick (I’m BETTER NOW), and yet I struggle with math.  If you’ve gone through any life-changing issues, you know what I’m talking about.   There are days you look back at what was and ponder what is now.  If you’re lucky (or having a good day) you realize change is inevitable in one form or another as life progresses and you move on.

So what truly made me realize again today how much life has changed?  I heard of the John Flynn method for piecing a diagonal backing.  And I looked it up on the internet.  And I read the math formula to do that……….which may as well have been in Greek.  Apparently I have lost my ability to understand algebraic equations…………

Thankfully we have calculators and simpler construction methods……….but I sure wish I could still comprehend math like I used to!  I remember the days when I would have looked at that equation, comprehended it and started doing the math in my head!!!!

Which left me thankful today for all that I still have……….all that I still can do…… for the return of good health………and for great computer programs that do the math for me!

Now I’m off to go do some non-math related quilting, to be followed by some painting………………and when DH gets home I may have him help me work through that formula so I can understand it.

How did this happen?

OMG! How did this happen? Okay, I know, “HOW” it happened, now I have to solve it!

And what am I talking about? Well, today, for the first time in obviously way too long I had a reality check. Over a year ago I had taken down a mirror in our bathroom in order to paint the frame. And I didn’t get it painted and rehung until yesterday. This morning as I looked in that mirror (half-length, not just face!) a stranger was looking back at me!

So I had to do it, I had to drag out the scale………….I am now almost at my heaviest since I was full-term pregnant with my now 28 (soon to be 29) year old son! I was only 4# heavier before he was born!

HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?

I was a bodybuilder in the 80’s, I know exercise and nutrition. In 2003, just before my dad died, I was in the BEST shape of my life. Of course with dad sick, I was super conscious of my own health. Was that only five years ago? Then dad died, and my MIL died and my world was rocked and I ricocheted into depression. Fast forward a couple years and I started getting sick myself. Last year the neurologist diagnosed Aspertame poisoning (yes some people CAN be poisoned by that innocent looking stuff!), and I took all diet or reduced calorie foods out of my daily intake. And I started eating…..whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted as I broke a 30+ year addiction to diet sodas (I started drinking them at 13!).

Add to that the lack of exercise I had become accustomed to while I was sick, and forward to this morning’s reality check.

So, I went and did it, I got out the tape measure and the notebook. (HORRORS, the dreaded tape measure!!!) I have a system I used in the 80’s and it worked. I’m going back to it. On the last page of the book I take today’s current measurements and weight and all that vital (and disillusioning) stuff (that I’m not going to publicly post!). On the front page of the book I start daily with a record of what I’m eating and if how much I exercise. When the sections meet together, hopefully I will have lost some weight.

According to the charts, I have a BMI right now of approximately 29. Not quite in the obese for my height and gender, but almost there. This is what just one of the BMI index sights has to say about my number and it’s associated risks:

If you have a BMI of 27 or more, you double the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, and gallstones, and are 14 times more likely to contract diabetes.

So, let me see, high blood pressure runs in the family, but mine thankfully is extremely low. Heart disease also runs in the family, and diabetes in on both sides of the family.

Methinks it’s time to take responsiblity and get back on track. After all, I’ve got many many years ahead of full creativity and I’m not going to let a little thing like lack of food intake control stop that!!!!!!

Of course this means THREE meals a day, regular schedule, healthy food. EEKS! No more grabbing a couple cookies and a coffee and heading back to the studio. No more having ice-cream for lunch (yes, I am airing all my dirty little diet secrets! LOL). This means ONE slice of pizza with a salad and some fruit, NOT splitting the entire pizza with DH. This means breakfast EVERY morning to balance out my blood sugar…..can you see where I’m going with this? And can you see how I got here?

Wish me luck, breaking habits and replacing them with healthy ones is hard work. It takes dedication, determination, motivation and a whole lot of effort. But I figure if I”m still going to be making art when I’m 98 and breaking Gram’s record for lifespan, I just better get to it!

So, to get to the weight at which my Dr. warned me I was getting a bit heavy (which would make it my minimum loss number), I need to lose 16 pounds. To get to the weight I need to be at a comfortable to my Dr. number, I need to lose 29 pounds.

Goal #1, lose the 16 minimum pounds.

Goal #2, walk up the steps to the quilt shop without losing my breath

Hmmm, aren’t you “supposed” to start stuff like this on a Monday? LOL Oh well, Tuesday is as good as Monday, no time like the present!!!!!!!!!

I’ll keep you posted on how it’s going!