30 days to a better me.. or something

I decided with some prodding (and by prodding I mean my doctor telling me I was borderline obese) to change my whole diet and exercise regime around. Here's the background on why, just in case you were wondering: In February I went in for my annual well woman health exam (HATE those.. so damn invasive but necessary) and the nurse practioner said she was concerned about my blood pressure. So I made an appt with my now primary care doctor. After some blood tests and a BP machine I went back and sure enough high blood pressure! At 34!! He put me on a beta blocker which I was on a few years ago and told me to exercise more. So I did. I started back up going to the gym when I could (which with my super busy single mom schedule wasn't enough) and working out at home with this program I stumbled on a few years ago called Bodyrock. Its an interval training program. 12 minutes (well 15ish if you do the bonus workout targeting specific areas like ass and abs which I desperately need LOL) every day with one to two active rest days. I did it religiously for several weeks and started to see some improvement. I had more energy and I slept really well and I could start to see some small changes in my body but not in my weight. It still sort of hovered around where I was when good ole doc told me I was borderline obese. I went back for another check up with the doc end of March and he said to keep up what I was doing and if I was concerned with the weight thing then he could recommend me to a nutritionist. I said that I knew someone but if I needed a recommendation I'd give his office a call. After muddling over what I was going to do for a few days I decided to message my friend Greg who is an herbalist. If what I was doing wasn't helping then I was going to try the "hippy" way as I like to call it. 

Greg is certified in western herbalism and ayurvedic medicine. I've known him for several years and he happily set up an appointment with me. I saw him on April 19th and he listened to my pulse and asked me some questions. He wrote down some things and then told me my whole way of eating was going to change. I have to admit I kind of panicked when he said that. My fat kid brain refused. She likes chocolate and cookies and CUPCAKES!! Wonderful glorious cupcakes. SIGH. I was determined though. We discussed what I was going to start doing and he gave me a list of things I needed. 

I have a HUGE aversion to anything green. Veggies and I are NOT friends.. Not one bit. In just the last few months I finally admitted defeat and would have salad once or twice a week and not feel like I was going to die. I'm looking at this paper and thinking "Holy gus! How the hell am I going to do this?" I just decided I could. So I took the weekend and ate really crappy to try and get it out of my system. On Sunday after the Monsters were back with their dads I headed off to the store to go and pick up the necessary items to get started and Monday morning managed to choke down my first breakfast smoothie. It was gross. But I did it and that was the biggest hurdle. 

I've managed in 7 days to lose about 5ish pounds. I think that's pretty damn good to be honest! But with a change of diet comes exercise. Greg suggested 30 minutes on the stair climber at the gym. Well I went yesterday and I had sweat dipping off the end of my nose by the end. My legs were jello as I hoofed it down the stairs and out the door to my car. I felt so good though when I got home! 55 flights of stairs I "climbed" in that 30 minutes. I was pretty proud of myself. I'm definitely going to try and go as often as I can and get in 20-30 minutes on the stair climber. 

Now for those days when I can't get to the gym I'm going to rely on the BodyRock program. (here's the link if you're interested http://www.bodyrock.tv/) I started with the 30 day challenge tonight. It kicked my ass! But I always have at least 15 minutes at night after Monsters have gone to bed to work out instead of sitting on my ass watching TV. With summer coming up and the warm weather which means the beach, pool, shorts, sundresses and a mini vacation, I decided this is how its going to start for me. New diet that I can do and not cheat too much on (sorry Greg!!) and these 15 minutes a day in addition to going to the gym when I can is what I'm going to do. I'm determined. If I can get down to the weight I should be for my age, height and body type then perhaps I can stop taking these dang beta blockers. It also means I'll be more active with the Monsters... Hikes and biking and walks and just playing at the park. Mostly I'm doing this for me and for my health and well being. And well, let's face it, I'm a bit of a control freak and I've let this poor  body of mine down for too long and it's time to take control again.

 I'll be the first one to admit I'm a HUGE lazy ass and really I'd rather read than work out. But I can't. My health is at stake if I don't change what I'm doing. Fortunately it's not something that's life threatening but it could be one day and I don't ever want it to get to that point.

If I've peaked your interest in BodyRock go check out the link above. If you want to know where to start check out this link here http://www.bodyrock.tv/2012/04/30/may-30-day-challenge-sexy-by-summer-day-1-start-here/.

Go check it out for yourself. They are on Facebook also. AND they just started a new BodyRock Flow which is kind of cool. You'll see it on the page if you click the link above. 


If you want to know more about Greg and what I'm doing with my diet then leave me a comment or send me a message and I'll get back to you. 


I hope that I've inspired someone to give this a whirl. If I have great! If I haven't well give me 30 days and I'll try again and with pictures!! 


Till next time!