FIT FOR LIFE: The journey begins

Walk: 1 mile in 16 minutes

It all began with wanting to be a healthier human. Setting a goal to run a 5K (3 miles), seemed easy enough, and I have co-workers who have completed the Chautauqua 5K in the past. There it was, not really a new year’s resolution, but a 2010 goal.

Why did I choose this goal? Well, numerous reasons:
1) I have been trying to lose weight for the last two years and have been unsuccessful,
2) my family has recently lost weight,
3) I want to be healthy,
4) I want to stop hiding my bulges in clothes, and
5) I have way too many things I want to accomplish in life, and if I make it to 100 years old, I might actually be able to fulfill all my goals.

Truly I am a goal-oriented person, and a procrastinator. If I’m working toward a goal, though, I’m basically content.

On the flipside, I have no experience running. I like the idea of it because it is free (all you really need is good running shoes) and can be done anywhere.
I have been taking the process slowly because I have overextended myself in the past causing knee and back problems, which kept me out of exercising for weeks at a time—not good for my goal.

The last two months I have been walking on a newly purchased, but used, treadmill, working toward two miles in 30 minutes. Currently I am walking two miles in 32 minutes.

My goal is to be running one mile straight by the end of March, two miles by the end of April and three miles by the end of May. My 5K is June 26 in Wytheville.

After I had my eyes set on taking part in a summer road race, a Fit for Life press release appeared in the newspaper, and I started thinking about how taking part in the grant-funded program would be the perfect opportunity and would greatly compliment my 5K goal. I mentioned it to some co-workers, and we all signed up and luckily were all chosen.

The weeks leading up to the program’s March 1 start date were full of orientations, blood tests, bone density tests and test results. The blood results came out rather shocking for me. I found out my TSH levels were above normal, meaning I have hypothyroidism, a condition where the thyroid gland is not producing enough of the thyroid hormone. My first response was tears; I have never had to take medicine for anything other than a short-term illness. Now I find out I have to take medicine for the rest of my life? Once I got over the drama queen reaction, I found positives – this medicine could possibly make me feel better, I could have more energy and it could be easier to lose weight. Of course I never felt like I had many of the very generic symptoms of hypothyroidism to start with, but perhaps they appeared so slowly I did not notice them. Also, my mother has been on thyroid medicine since she was my age, so it was very likely that this would happen to me sooner or later; thanks mom!

It has been about a week now after starting new medication, and I do feel a little more energetic (of course this could be due to other factors).

On the first day of the program there were about 60-plus people attending – graduates of previous classes and the spring 2010 newbies. We all got in lines to get weighed. I weighed 6 more pounds than I weighed the morning of class, just so you know. We also had our body mass index measured by a high-tech machine that you hold with your hands.

Next we were measured around our arms, waist, thighs, hips and bust. Our portraits were taken and we completed a one mile walking test. It was a rather hectic evening, more of a social time to catch up with recognizable faces and read through heaps of paperwork.
Nutrition class was also held March 1.

Each week we are given three challenges: 1) health—surrounding ourselves with supportive community, 2) fitness—participating in group activity for 30 minutes and 3) nutrition—eating at least five fruits or vegetables a day. We’ve been asked to write down everything we eat, how much, where we eat it and our mood when we eat it. This information will be required every week throughout the 12-week program.

We even have homework in our new book “The Cooper Clinic Solution to the Diet Revolution” by Georgia G. Kostas.

In addition to all of this, we are asked to complete three additional 30-minute workouts throughout the week.

So far I have participated in two yoga classes—both 45 minutes each—and I walked 15 minutes before each class. I am sore already from the yoga and it feels great! My personal goal is to work out at least 30 minutes five days a week. You can follow my progress on twitter @SwVirginia_News or look for my update in two weeks on swvatoday.com and in print. Some of the challenges I will be facing the next couple of weeks will be a vacation—this will definitely be a great learning experience of writing down what I eat, trying to make healthier food choices and staying active while out of my normal routine.

Contact Jean Farley at 228-6611 or .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).