I have been trying to institute a workout regimen in my life for, like, ever. Seriously, I have never been good at making exercise a priority. I would much rather sit on my butt and watch TV or read or do anything that isn't exercise. My idea of exercise is walking the mall while I shop (and if any of you have shopped with me, you know that I like to shop until I drop! Just ask my girls!). However, I know I need to get serious about working out and making my health one of my top priorities.
Throughout my life I had always been super skinny. Like, seriously skinny, to the point of being made fun of. Which is why working out has never been a priority of mine, it didn't have to be. All you ladies out there who think that being thin is everything, I am here to tell you that really, it's not. Being thin does not make you happy, being thin does not fix all of life's problems, and being thin is not going to make that guy you've had your eye on fall in love with you. I struggled to put weight on as a teenager. With popular songs back in the day like "Baby Got Back" I would have loved to have had at least a few curves! During graduate school, my weight issues got worse due to developing GERD, or acid reflux disease. The stress from grad school really took a toll on me and I suffered greatly from GERD. I could barely eat and I lost quite a bit of weight. I think at my lowest I weighed 108 pounds, which at 5'8", is extremely thin for my body type. I ate TUMS and Zantac like they were candy and eventually went to see a gastroenterologist, which is when I was finally officially diagnosed with GERD. I then was put on Prilosec (this was before you could buy the OTC version). I slowly started to feel better and was able to resume life as normal.
Cut to later, after grad school, when I got pregnant with our first daughter. At this time I was still taking Prilosec, but I switched to OTC Zantac, which was safer during pregnancy. I was so psyched to be pregnant and finally able to pack on some pounds. And I did! Some of the weight stayed on after my pregnancy, which I was happy about, and I was also having significantly less problems with GERD. It seemed that I was finally at a healthy weight and feeling better as well. However, I still wasn't exercising. After the birth of my second daughter, things began to slowly spiral downhill in my life. Actually, it seemed that my life was slowly crumbling and crashing down around me. I suffered from postpartum depression, I was starting to have stomach issues and GERD issues again, my husband and I were having marital issues, and I lost my grandmother, which just added to all of the stress that I was already under. Through the course of all of this.....stuff.....I was not feeling or looking healthy at all. I lost quite a bit of weight, probably about 15 pounds, and the worst thing was I could not eat. I had this awful burning, sick feeling in my stomach all the time. I wanted to eat, but I couldn't most days. I had to force food down. I knew I needed nourishment to be healthy. But, I wasn't feeling healthy at all. I began doing a lot of research on Dr. Google and discovered that the medication I was taking, OTC Prilosec this time, was most likely causing more harm than good. I won't go into details here because it's too much information, but basically the Prilosec was not allowing my body to process and break down food like it is supposed to do. Prilosec shuts down the production of stomach acid, but our bodies have stomach acid for a reason, to break down our food and prepare it's nourishment to be sent out to the rest of our body. After reading this, I began researching more natural ways of dealing with GERD so that I could wean off of the Prilosec. My first step in this process was to see a gastroenterologist again. I had a procedure done, along with a biopsy, and discovered that, along with GERD, I also had gastritis, hence the constant burning sensation in my stomach. I was prescribed Nexium, which I did not want to have to take (it acts the same way on the stomach as Prilosec), but I did take it as prescribed for about 3 months (it is meant to be a medicine used on a short-term basis anyway). I started to feel better, almost immediately. I could actually eat and enjoy food again! At this time, I really got serious about finding a regimen of natural products, vitamins and supplements, to take to help heal my body from the damage of GERD and gastritis while I weaned off of the Nexium (I will discuss this in more detail in a future post as it is too much information to include here and really deserves a post of it's own). I am happy to report, one year later from my last doctor's appointment, that I no longer take Prilosec or Nexium. My GERD is under control naturally, and the gastritis is gone. Also, my goal was to put on weight, so I worked with a nutritionist as well (and had a test run to detect food allergies and sensitivities). In the last year I have put on approximately 25 pounds!!! I am honestly shocked! It makes me wonder just what that medication was doing to my body? Was I getting any nutrients from my food at all during those years on Prilosec? I may never know. I am just glad that I am feeling healthier now.
This brings me back to my original topic of exercise. Now that I have gained 25 pounds, I really need to exercise and tone up a bit (My husband is somewhere cringing right now. He hates when I use the term "tone up". He's a power lifter.). At 136 pounds, I am sure my weight is still within the normal healthy range for my height, and I am happy with how I look and feel at the moment. However, there are a few areas that I would like to improve upon so that I can look and feel my best. Plus, I know that exercise is important to a healthy lifestyle, whether you are happy with your weight or not. Weight fluctuations can sometimes be difficult to deal with, too. For me, as I am sure a lot of women can relate, I feel like I have had several rounds of clothes in varying sizes. I just took some clothing items to a consignment store today that I wore last Fall. They are now too small for me. It can get a little frustrating, not to mention expensive, to have to buy an all new wardrobe! This all brings me to this place. This place of wanting to be healthier, live healthier, and incorporate exercise and healthy eating habits into my everyday life. Hence, Workout Wednesdays on the blog. I am trying to decide my course of action. I really want to check out a dance studio near me that offers adult fitness classes, including jazz, hip hop, zumba, barre fit, yoga, etc. For $99 you can get 3 months of unlimited classes, which sounds like a pretty good deal to me! There is a Barre Fit class tomorrow morning and I am thinking of checking it out. It's always hard to go that first time, by yourself, and not know anything about the class or the people that might be in it. But, that is why I am writing about it here, that way I have at least a little bit of accountability! I will check back and let you know how it goes, if I can get up the courage to go! Wish me luck!
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