Catherine Corley - I Can't Even Pick Up 83 Pounds!

Today is "Talk About Diet Thursday!"  At least this week it is!  I thought I would share about my weight loss journey.  I have always struggled with my weight--it has never stayed the same for most of my life.  I was a sickly toddler, who became an overweight child, who (thankfully after hitting an early growth spurt at 12 to becoming 5'9") became a less overweight teenager.  I had my children in my early twenties and became an obese mom.  In 1992, I lost just under 100 lbs. on Weight Watchers and I thought I was cured!  The trumpets played; the angels sang!  I didn't bother doing the maintenance program because, at 26, I thought I would never be fat again.  Oh, youth is wasted on the wrong people!

Over the next 20 years, my weight fluctuated up and down...mostly up.  When I found out I was very ill several years ago, my cardiologist yelled at me about my weight and told me my heart couldn't handle the pain I was inflicting on it.  He said I had better lose a lot of weight right away or I would die!  Every time I saw him, he would say that and I would cry.  I thought he was a mean man!  But he did look a lot like a clean-shaven Dr. House, so he had that going for him!  

I slowly lost a lot of that weight and gained a healthier outlook on life.  I wasn't thin, but I was doing well.  I could run the hospital steps when my father was being treated there.  I could easily get through the day as a care giver and wear cute yoga clothes doing it.  Again, I thought I was cured.

Last year, almost a year of bed rest because of a terrible, life-threatening infection, and the inactivity it brought, shot me back up again to where I didn't want to be.  Not as bad as before, but 30 lbs. heavier than I was.  So in January of this year, I made a resolution once and for all that I would get back to my 1992 Weight Watchers' goal weight by my 46th birthday and stay there for the rest of my life.  

The day before my birthday, I had lost over 50 lbs. and I reached that goal and have remained below the goal every week since then for five months.  I think that might be a record for me!  I really lack self-control in this area, but it helps to weigh in at Weight Watchers every week with my cousin, Ruth.

By the way, I am NOT cured.  I am 83 lbs. lighter than I was when my Dr. House-wannabe told me to lose weight; however, I am always going to be a fat girl on the inside.  The moment something trips me up, I feel like grabbing a Twinkie...oh, I guess maybe I should change snack foods at this point.

This won't be the only time I talk about weight loss.  Nutrition and exercise are two of my passions now.  I used to hate exercising!  Now I love the feeling after a workout.  Some days, I work out for three hours; some days, I don't.  I can run farther than I ever imagined and I can do 75 pushups and hundreds of crunches.  On Thanksgiving a year ago, I was too weak to sit up in a dining room chair.

I am the smallest I have ever been in my adult life, besides that brief period in 1992, which I think lasted about six days!  Well, maybe six months.  I wear clothes I never imagined I could wear.  But the best part is, every day, that sick little heart of mine keeps on beating because it doesn't have to pump blood nearly as hard as it did before.  My wonderful doctor was right!  He saved my life in so many ways, and I am thankful for every time he made me cry because it made me the person I am and it kept me alive!

How is your heart?  Do you get check ups?  Do you know your numbers --  cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, etc.?  Trust me, take care of your heart.  I sure wish I had my healthy heart back!  Be kind to yourself.  Feed yourself nourishing foods and find an exercise routine that you love and can live with.  Avoid stress or at least learn to deal with it appropriately.  Don't make excuses!  And don't set unrealistic goals.  Love yourself enough to take care of yourself.  If you don't, who will?

I will share more of my tips and how I lost the weight in upcoming blogs.  I will also share my cousin Ruth's weight loss journey as well.  She's doing great!

Until next time, be kind to your heart!

Simple Paths Forward - What's It All About?

Why did I start this blog today?  I have been thinking about starting a new blog for some time now, but today seemed the perfect day.  I have been handed more than I thought I could handle in the last week (over Thanksgiving week as a matter of fact) and I know today is the perfect day to begin a new path.  A new blog with a new attitude, to be more precise.

Sometimes I forget that I need to reach out and share in the midst of a crisis.  Other times, I think I don't shut my mouth for a second.  Lately, I think it has been a combination of both.  So my blog will be a way for me to truly express myself and I hope you will give me feedback and express yourselves as well.  We are all in this world together.

My life is pretty ordinary.  I live in a nice house in the suburbs.  I haven't worked outside the house since I quit my job at a large law firm to take care of my father for three years until he passed away in 2010.  I lost my mother to cancer ten years almost to the day before I lost my father.  

After my round-the-clock care giving days ended, I really didn't know what direction my life should take, so I didn't take any direction!  Most of my days were pretty ordinary.  My children are in their twenties and they don't need me very often, but they love me all the time and I love them!  Each day seemed pretty much the same, that is until I got an unexpected addition to our family.

No, not a new baby at 46 years of age.  But a lovely, caring adult cousin with special needs who was added to my family and my home.  Ruth is a 42-year-old who brought with her her own set of requirements and concerns.  She lives courageously with mild cerebral palsy, epilepsy and learning disabilities.  She also came to me complete with one of the nation's biggest health problems, morbid obesity.

Now that I have mentioned her "disabilities," let me tell you Ruth's "abilities!"  I will name just a few, because there is only so much space!  She is the bravest person I know.  She is also the brightest, cheeriest, warmest, kindest and best person I have ever met.  She has courage beyond measure and strength to do what others wouldn't even try.  I am blessed to be her cousin. 

Ruth also has the best memory of anyone I ever met.  She can listen to a CD and remember most of the words after the first time and sing along the next time in the car while I mess up all the words even though I've owned the CD for years!  She doesn't forget anything.  If you told Ruth to call you on such-and-such a date, say six months from now, to remind you to make a doctor's appointment, she would not only remember and call you, but more than likely, you would probably have forgotten the purpose of her call.  She is spectacular!

We now have new challenges that Ruth and I face together and individually.  For instance, I just finished my weight loss journey (if you can ever consider yourself "finished" since it is ongoing) and she has just begun hers.  

We spend our days together and look for ways we can help each other and people around us.  Ruth has the most giving heart I have ever seen.  She loves to help touch the lives of people.  I think she does that automatically just by being herself, but in addition, she looks for ways she can purposely touch people's lives and bless their hearts too.

I want this to be about paths.  Paths we all take whether we are prepared for them or not.  Sometimes those paths are so unfamiliar we don't know whether to sit down and cry or run like a maniac to find our way!  You may be a new parent.  Maybe you are part of the sandwich generation like I was--taking care of children and a parent or two.  Maybe you are an empty nester.  Maybe you, too, have a challenged child or adult family member.  Or perhaps you just need a little more sanity in your life, your home, your food habits, your job or your relationships.  

Let's get on the path and move forward simply together.