Some of you know I've been walking regularly, also on a gluten free diet, both necessary and desired to improve my overall health and endurance. What I haven't discussed much is weight loss. I've lived much of my life battling weight up and down, over and over. I know some of...
...you can really relate to that. You know the frustration. You know the ups and downs. You know what it's like to work really hard to lose weight, only to gain it back, and more, at a later time. You know how defeating that can be.

A number of years back, I kind of just...
...came to terms with the fact that I'd just be one of those folks that's always going to carry extra weight. Of course I didn't want to settle on that, but I was losing my desire to go back and replay, again, the same pattern of loss and gain. And while I have always...
...successfully lost weight on programs like Weight Watchers, I found the plan, regardless of how I implemented it, to be unsustainable over the long term.

Still, even with my acceptance of my situation, I always had that nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me I...
...could do better. Then, something happened to help nudge me back into the place where I was willing to try again.

Last year, our office moved to a new building. We had a gym at our last office, but it was out of the way, and, honestly, kind of easy to forget about.
I had used it over the years, but not consistently. The last time I used it was a few years ago. I got really sick over the summer that year and couldn't work out for almost 3 months. By the time I made a recovery, I had lost the desire to start over, yet again.

But in our...
...new office, the gym is now very close to where I work, and near the coffee machine. So I see it, every day. And it has a glass door, so you see folks in there working out. It started working on me again. I set a goal, with the help of a co-worker, to start my workouts, very...
...slowly, the day after Labor Day. And that's exactly what I did. I made no specific goal or promise to myself outside of this - I would do some kind of exercise, twice a week. I knew it had to be something manageable and sustainable. 2 days didn't sound too bad.
At one time, I was running, 5-6 days a week, training for a 10K. I was there. Then got sidelined with back to back carpal tunnel surgeries (15+ years ago). Couldn't run for almost 12 weeks. And what happened after 12 weeks? I'd lost the desire to push myself...
...back to those grueling workouts 5-6 days a week. And then the weight started coming back, again.

So while I know how to get great results, I know my body and mind can only keep up that pace for a time. I need to find something that brings results, but is able to be...
...maintained over the long term. So those 2 day a week workouts (short, starting at only 20 minutes per workout), led to 3 and 4 days a week. Very slowly, very gradually, adding additional exercises for cardio, and resistance. At all times, I allowed myself to miss a workout...
...if I wasn't feeling up to it, with no guilt allowed for that miss. Just a promise to pick up again with the next scheduled workout.

And so it went through the end of 2019. By that time, the workouts had picked up in intensity and length, but still felt very manageable.
Come January 1st, 2020, I had to start a new diet, not by choice, but by necessity. Due to my celiac disease diagnosis, I had to go 100% gluten free, and I set 1/1/20 as the date to start that.

Up to this point, my weight, even with the workouts, hadn't changed much. My...
...overall health had improved. My endurance was better. My muscles were bigger and stronger. But the weight only changed a few pounds. I didn't let that discourage me.

Once I went fully GF, I found a side-benefit I wasn't expecting. It turns out that many...
...of the GF items I was trying, really aren't that great. Breads tend to be dry and dense and lacking that really great bread flavor. Other items can be really crumbly or even gritty. This led me to an unintended response - I started cutting carbs. I just got tired of the...
...products and realized I could do just fine without them. Following the lead of others I know, I went more protein heavy, with things like eggs and dried meats, as some options. After a bit of adjustment, I found I wasn't really missing the carbs as much as I thought.
And that's when I started noticing the change. Once the carbs reduced (I did not go the Keto route, just FYI) the weight started coming off. Only this time, it wasn't due to a weight loss diet where I'm counting points or calories, I was just choosing not to eat certain foods.
As a type 1 diabetic, I already knew that carbs can lead to fat. Take in too many carbs, you add more insulin, which turns excess carbs into fat, that you store in your body. I've had that knowledge for ages, but I loved my carbs too much to cut back enough to make a difference.
Knowing I couldn't have certain carbs now, unless they're GF, and knowing the GF options aren't always the best, I just cut them out. And the weight started coming off.

The higher protein diet also made me less hungry. Less hunger equals less calories taken in. Less calories...
...well, you know. Suddenly the weight began to drop. Slowly. Very slowly, actually. Unlike being on WW, this drop was almost unnoticeable at times. But I knew if I was eating less (not tracking anything, BTW), that more would likely come off. And it has. Lower than I've been...
...in many years. Officially, I'm down 32lbs as of today. Now that may not sound like much to some of you, but believe me, it makes a huge difference. In overall health. In energy and endurance. And, most importantly, in mental health. Scoring this victory is making a huge...
...difference in my overall outlook. And that's a huge bonus.

So, moving forward, there is no specific weight loss goal. I know where I'd like to be, and if I get there, I'll be really happy. If I don't get there, but can sustain this pattern of exercise and eating, then...
...I will feel as if I've finally achieved what I've wanted for many years. Right now, this doesn't feel challenging, like past workouts and diet plans have. This is a slow and intentional permanent lifestyle change. And I think it's something I can keep up for the long term.
If so, then I've found the one thing that's eluded me from past attempts - the ability to actually change my thinking, not just my meal plan. This time I don't answer to a diet plan. My only accountability is to me. If I can keep myself accountable, then this is sustainable.
Of course, time will tell. There are no guarantees here other than to say I feel like I can keep this up for the long term. And that's not a feeling I've had before. I'm looking forward to what's going to happen in the future!
So thank you to everyone that takes the time to like my tweets about walking, or gluten free baking/cooking. Your encouragement is very helpful, as is the encouragement I get from Mrs E and the daughter and others around me. I really do appreciate the positivity!
Now, time for that post workout breakfast 😋
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