New Beginnings Rock!

I've recently turned over some metaphorical new leaves, and I was so encouraged and excited about these positive changes that I've decided to share them with the world!

New Year's Eve, the start to 2012. I'm around 165 lbs in this pic

Less than a year ago I weighed more than I ever had in my life, I felt tired all the time, and I was getting blindingly painful headaches. I went to my doctor to get things checked out and learned some "wake-up call" news. My blood pressure was in the hypertension range, which was the cause of my headaches. My blood sugar level was pre-diabetic. My cholesterol count was high. Yikes!

I felt my mortality very deeply at this point, deeper than I had ever felt before. I think we are all born with this innate hope that we will never grow old and live forever. I felt old. I felt mad. I asked myself how I could have gotten to this point. Wasn't I a basically decent person? Hadn't I already had my fair share of set-backs and heartache? The only person I could blame however, was myself.  My next thought was: What now?

I started with the basics. Actually using my gym membership! My bestie Kacie was amazing in helping me get started with weight training. She took me on a tour of her gym and spent hours with me, going through the machines and helping me set up routines with free weights. Besides all the other things I already love about her, I really appreciated Kacie's expertise, and I felt a lot more confident navigating what I had previously considered the "Mens Only" area of my gym. Aside from the gym I have also taken up hiking, which I've always loved, with a group of girls. Being out in nature while also getting exercise is such a win-win situation! I will be posting my hiking adventures with pictures in upcoming posts. So Step 1: Be more active, keep your body moving and let it work for you, not against you!

Step 2 was a bit harder, and I still struggle with a balance: my diet. I can admit that I never once really thought about what and why I ate. While I love my mixed heritage, I grew up loving both my dad's meat and potatoes, no frills American cuisine as well as my mother's spicy and salty Korean fare. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. Anything that was fatty, salty, spicy, or covered in cheese was fair game. While I wasn't averse to fruit or vegetables, I never remember seeking them out except for my favorite tangerines bought in the open air markets. They were packaged in plastic mesh sleeves, and I could eat two or three whole sleeves in a sitting! But I digress. With youth on my side, I ate with a gluttonous zeal and failed to see the consequences. Now as I get older (eek!) and hopefully wiser, I realize the damage I did to my poor body. I decided that I was going to think about how I fueled my body. Especially with my new workout regimen, I couldn't feed my body crap and expect it to be my friend. I'm not good at feeling restricted or being on a specific diet per se, so I decided to K.I.S.S. like my Pops would say all the time, Keep It Simple Stupid! I would increase my daily intake of fruits and vegetables. Since in the past I would go days without having either, this would be fairly easy. My other move was to cut down on white flour and sugar, and to add more whole grains. Luckily in my area there are a lot of local grocery stores that have all sorts of whole grain options. The move that's been the hardest but most rewarding for me? Cutting down on processed foods! It's so easy to tell yourself that grabbing a microwave pizza from the store is going to be quick and tasty. Then you read the label and see how many calories, grams of fat, and milligrams of sodium are in that one thin box and you realize it's not worth it! Does that mean I'll never make another box of mac n' cheese? That I'll never pop the top off of my once favorite type of potato chips? Boil up some delicious Asian ramen noodles with an egg? No. I'm not going to make that promise. I'm human and I'd go crazy if I beat myself up over every time I indulged in a treat. What I have learned is moderation. As a bonus, my new healthier eating has also taught me to be better about time management. Nuking a TV dinner is quick but not necessarily healthy. Trying to eat healthier takes some time and planning, and I am learning that I appreciate my own efforts and feel better about myself when I take the time to eat well. I will be posting more specifically about my eating, and even some favorite recipes in upcoming blog posts.  

The smoothies I drink every morning. Usually some variation of almond milk, Greek yogurt, spinach, and fruit.

Skinnier face!

Due to these new endeavors, since March 2012 I've lost 13 pounds so far! While some lapses in gym activity may have prevented even greater weight loss, I am most happy that I have stuck with eating healthier, because I feel like those benefits have paid off the most. This last week in June I went back to my doctor to see if my new test results would reflect my efforts. I am so happy to report that my hard work MOST DEFINITELY PAID OFF! I had such a huge grin on my face when I walked out to my car, I think I even did a little happy wiggle dance. My blood pressure was much lower. My HDL cholesterol stayed high, but my LDL cholesterol was lower. My glucose level went down to a point where my doctor remarked that most people have to be placed on medication to have such a dramatic decrease. Also, my triglyceride level went from 154 mg/dL (borderline-high) to 93 mg/dL! It felt so rewarding to know that my hard work could actually be measured in numbers printed on a page I held in my hands. It was so tangible. So validating. I felt victorious, but the battle is far from over. I'm making new goals as soon as I achieve the ones I set for myself, and I relish the challenges and successes every new day will bring. 

Wearing my VaVaVoom dress and feeling sex-ay!

Thanks for reading, and I hope you'll join me in my further adventures. They may not always have a happy ending, but I can promise that I'll keep it sassy ;)