Health-Wise Wednesdays

I know lots of bloggers use Wednesdays as the weigh-in day for their diets. It's a way to stay accountable and be encouraged as they lose weight, which I think is just great. I'm going to use Wednesdays for another reason. I want to be sure I'm staying fit.

At my age (46) and height (5'4") my ideal weight is anywhere from 111 lbs to 146 lbs, and my body mass index (BMI) should be between 19-25. I currently weigh 141 lbs and my BMI is 24.2, which means that I'm within range, though at the higher end of the spectrum. That doesn't bother me, unless I start gaining weight of course. I typically stay between 141 and 143 lbs. My concern, however, is my health.

My father died at age 66 and his mother (my grandmother) died at age 65, both from complications brought on by diabetes. I had never bothered worrying about that, until a few years ago. As a young girl, I had that metabolism so many envy: I ate my weight in food but never gained a pound. At my high school graduation I weighed a whopping 103 lbs. The heaviest I'd been was during pregnancy, and losing the weight had never been an issue, even after my last child when I was 36 years old and quickly got down to 130 lbs. But as the years rolled on I put on a few pounds here and there. I shrugged it off, comparing myself to other women my age who struggled much more with their weight and believing myself to be "just fine". Then one day a magazine came in the mail that talked about diabetes and how a person could avoid it completely through diet and maintaining a proper weight. So I weighed myself out of curiosity, since I was sure I wasn't that overweight. I was shocked to find myself weighing 152 lbs! How had I allowed that to happen? I decided right then and there that I wasn't taking good care of the body God had given me, and I needed to do something right away!

I began eating more sensibly, and watched the pounds disappear. One pound, two, then four, then six. I was thrilled! I cut down on the small amount of food I was eating, and lost 6 more. Yes! Then I stalled, as most dieters do. I stayed at 140 lbs. I looked and felt much better than I had in a long time. I wasn't the only one to notice, either. My family, friends, co-workers, all complimented my new slimmer and trimmer look. I won't deny that their words went straight to my head. If I could just lose a few more pounds, I'd really be a knock-out! So I reduced my food intake even more. I was eating toast and coffee for breakfast, a granola bar mid-morning, a regular size lunch, and either a small salad or Slim-Fast for dinner. If I got hungry during the day I would eat ice to trick my body into thinking I was eating and filling up on water instead. It worked; I was able to get down to 134 lbs and into a size 4. Wow! What an accomplishment! Or so I thought.

Not long afterwards, I became very sick. I had bronquitis so bad I could hardly walk without having to stop every 3 steps to catch my breath. I went to see my doctor and explained my symptoms, especially the fact that I was so weak. I figured it was because I wasn't breathing normally, but Dr. K decided to check something else. She took a blood sample and found I had severe anemia. Instead of hemoglobin levels 12 and above, mine was down to less than 8. That was a serious wake up call. My focus had gone from getting healthy to looking good, a huge mistake. My doctor put me on iron fortified vitamins right away.

This led to me gaining some of the weight back. I got to 145 lbs in no time, because the vitamins made me hungry. So brilliant me stopped taking them and decided to just try to eat better. My weight got back down to 140 lbs, and I thought I had it all under control. Nope. Once again the anemia returned, and I had to face the fact that my body doesn't absorb enough iron just from food. So for the last year I've struggled to keep healthy while not putting on extra weight.

Enter MyFitnessPal.com. My sister introduced me to this FREE website that helps count calories through a simple to use, simple to follow daily food diary. It helps me to see what I'm eating, how many calories I'm taking in, and it helps me to track weight loss if I want to do that. More importantly, I can adjust the settings so I can see not only my calorie intake, but also carbohydrates, protein, sodium, fiber, vitamins, you name it. It's just what I need to educate myself about eating what is right so that I can be healthy. It even has an exercise tracker that lists cleaning as exercise. Thank God! After I've been cleaning all morning long, I'm too tired to get on a treadmill or exercise machine. I'm glad someone recognizes housework and cleaning as calorie burners!

So that's my goal: healthy eating. Because I'm already beautiful ;-), I want my insides to match my outsides. I'll be monitoring my eating habits and looking for ways to improve and become a healthier me. Just another way to honor God for all He's given me.