Challenge 18... checkup time...

Today was my annual internal medicine checkup with the doctor I've seen for the last 20 years. 

Last year he told me that I showed many signs that I was developing chronic problems associated with obesity: blood pressure creeping upward, blood sugar less-than-stable, joint pain, extreme fatigue, etc. He left me with the admonition that I could keep going down this road by not eating right and not moving, or I could get healthy. The choice was mine, but he assured me I wouldn't be the exception to the reap-sow principle if I kept living an unhealthy lifestyle. 

So I showed up in his office early today *shock* and sat down to read my book. 

A few minutes later I heard a familiar voice say, "Where did Norma go?"
"She's sitting there," the receptionist said.
"Where?"
"There."
"I don't see her.... *in a louder voice* NORMA?" the doctor said as he scanned the waiting room from left to right.
I stood up.
*gasp* "You look completely different? What did you do?!"
"I lost the 75 lbs you told me I had to lose."

And then I went for lab work and came back for the exam. I found out I'm 22 lbs lighter than I have ever been at any point since I started seeing him as my doctor. WOO HOOOOO!!!!!

It was the best checkup ever. He was as thrilled as I was. 

I am so happy that the Lord led me to this journey. I was so bloomin' stubborn for so many years, thinking that I could figure out a way on my own. Mercy and Grace. It was pure mercy and grace. 

The picture? That's the magazine rack in the exam room. The top slot had the Carolina Alumni Review, the middle slot had a random sports magazine, and the bottom slot had a Duke Medicine magazine. (My doctor went to med school at Duke and is currently an associate professor in UNC's med school, in addition to his private practice.) 

I did a little rearranging to make everything prettier. :) 

Challenge 9... fitbit lit...

I can barely contain the joy in my heart! Woo Hoo!  Look at me all Fitbit lit! That, folks, means that I walked my 10,000 steps today.

*happy dance*
*200 more steps*

But for real, you need to get one of these things.  I hate tracking anything.  Tracking is THE worst. That's one of the reasons the program I've used to realign lifestyle with health goals works for me. All I have to do is remember to eat every three hours. Can do.

Of course, the major lifestyle shift works better if I can also drink at least 64 ounces of water each day, be at least moderately active for 30 minutes, take as many steps as possible (10,000 being the goal), and sleep AT LEAST 6-7 hours a night (that's a big one for my old habit of sleeping 4-5 hours a night).  But all that means tracking so. many. numbers.

And then --- laaahhhhhh!!! --- Fitbit!

 It does ALL THAT, plus calories in and calories out. Glory. I LOVE THIS THING!!!

I was just looking at the activity graph and saw a spike between 5:30 and 5:45. What was I doing? I thought. I was walking around the neighborhood. For only 15 minutes? Yep. Driven home by thunder. I finished the time (and a little extra) on the elliptical tonight.

Much to my surprise, I've drank over 100 ounces today. Whoa.

I am so excited about my little tech toy! In the past two days I've found myself getting up and moving because I knew just sitting and surfing would show on the graph. Perfect.

You can order them from fitbit.com. Mine is the Fitbit Flex.

Seriously... you need one of these things. Make it happen.

Challenge 8... hello, fitbit...

My precious. My birthday present. (Why yes, we have read The Hobbit twice in the past calendar year.) 

Hopefully it won't make me evil. And hopefully it will make a little more of me disappear. 

Last September we had a family event which produced a family photo of Jimmy and his brother, plus the wives and all the cousins. The photo op just so happened to come on the heels of a physical in which my doctor concluded with, "Get thee to a nutritionist and a gym if thou wishest to live long in the land the Lord hath given thee and enjoy the fruits of thine family for generations to come." Between  medical exhortation and photographic evidence, I decided denial isn't a happy place and sent up an SOS to my old health coach. 

Nine months later, I am eight pounds from the weight I'd like to be and sitting nicely in the middle of a lifestyle revolution that includes less junk, more movement, more rest, and an all-around more purposeful and distinctly more healthy approach to life. And it feels awesome. 

For the first time ever that I've tackled weight loss (and ohmyword have I done this many times), my main goal is to be healthy, not just to lose weight. It's a package deal. I do have a goal number in mind because after 20 years, I think I should probably take off the rest of the baby weight I gained through three pregnancies-- hence the weight more pounds is like to lose. But the number isn't the driving force; the lifestyle is.

At this point, eating is under control and I've cultivated some good habits there, but I'm sporadic at best with movement and facing a summer that could go either way -- sedentary or active. 

So for my birthday, I asked Jimmy to get me a FitBit. I'm thrilled for the definitive tracking I'll get. I'm sure I think I move more than I actually do, so I'm using this took to spur me on to movement and good habits. It even tracks sleep and water--- those are my two weakest areas of compliance with great health habits. 

So yay for birthdays! And supportive hubbies. And zillionth chances. And grace. And even yay for technology.