Day 7 - Swing!

It’s the last day of the first week and I just had my consultation and testing.

Talk about fascinating stuff.

Also, let’s touch for a moment on how my mood can swing from side to side so quickly. I was feeling a little lost and frustrated by my current predicament. Now I am completely enthralled, excited and engaged.

So today I met with Sarah the Registered Dietitian (RD). She started the Melanie package with an introduction and an overview of the system. Then we spent 90 minutes talking about me (my favourite guilty pleasure).

We discussed my normal day, my food choices, my medical history and my vices. She listened and took intense notes. She will be creating my program based on this appointment and all my test results. I made it very clear; I don’t eat fish. I started the meeting nervous that it was the same as all the other programs that were a ton of work and lasted a few months, but never stayed long term. I thought about all the charts, contemplation and time these programs took. I internally withdrew from the conversation, which is saying a lot considering it was about me.

Then we got on to fitness and I perked back up, she needed to know what I do, what I like, what I am hoping for. It was great to talk about all the fitness options. Then she asked about my fitness goals in 3 months, 6 months and beyond. Hard question when the only answer is always, I want to fit – in 3 months, 6 months, 3 years... forever.  But I obliged with the below goals;

3 months – For this to be my routine

6 months – to never have to think about this again

Then we did the testing; first my age test, this test checks the function of your heart and the way blood easily (or not) moves through your arteries. It’s a little black box they attach to your finger and then you breath.

44.

I am 44.

 This does not work with my living forever plan, if I am already aged 9 years out.

She said I can fix that number and that went right on my ‘goal’ list. I want my heart to be younger than me. She said we’ll work on that (of course) with healthy fats, nuts and seeds with a new fitness program.

Then we did the metabolism test, this is the one I was most excited about... this is where I was going to see (and have proof) that my metabolism is slow (thanks Thyroid), BUT it’s not, in fact my natural metabolism is fast.

What. The. Fuck.

I didn’t understand. How am I fat with a fast metabolism? Do i really eat that much?

So to back track this test is to determine my actual RMR (resting metabolic rate) and to see what my calories consumed should be to maintain and to lose.

So I had to start asking questions, Sarah did remind me all of this would be answered in my program, that would arrive in 3 weeks, but I needed an explanation now.

She started to say the ‘starvation mode...’speech and I zoned out. I know that starvation mode is a real thing, but it’s for prisoners of war, not a dieter. It takes time for your body to recognize the lack of calories and alter its state. It takes years of restricting calories to tell your body to go against what it knows and to save them for the next famine.

Do you see where I am going?

I have spent years eating in the 1200-1400 range, falsely described as the right number of calories for optimum weight loss. And when that doesn’t work, I would drop to 1100; calories in vs. calories out BUT hold on... that means I was starving (at least according to my body) for years. That’s why the second I over ate, my body clung to the calories and stored them away for the next famine, which was inevitably a few days away.

Hmpf

So yes, my thyroid sucks, my insides are old and I'm over weight, but I have a reason. I have a thing to correct, a plan and a goal. It all feels so obtainable.

My genetic test is at my house and I have to complete it tonight and then... and then we start.

The better part of this is the realistic timeline for my goal, and not my grant goal of 43 lbs but my life goal of 65lbs, is 25 weeks. And I gave myself 45.

I am ready to get going, running... move on this.

I hope this excitement continues, each step seems to be cooler and better than the last.

New Goals

Eat the right foods and calories for my body

Lower my internal age

Read Sapiens A Brief History of Mankind (this plays to reading more and having less screen time)

Lose ALL the weight

Be Awesome. Still.