Makeover Diary - How it all began

December 2002
I was feeling good and happy that I was making some progress -- 23 pounds to go! But oh my -- have you ever seen a school staff-room at the holidays? It is non-stop treats. I was good though. I ate the veggies and one treat only -- I was proud of my self control. By mid-December I actually lost another two pounds -- I was down to 166 pounds. Tim went away for 10 days for work and I was a single parent again. This time I was busy at night working. I wasn't snacking that much, but I didn't exercise as much as I wanted to.

We went to Vancouver the week of Christmas. I went for a brisk 7 km walk every second day and did a half-hour home exercise routine. I read a book and spent tons of time with the kids. I was feeling pretty good and managed to get lots of rest too. I was so proud of my loose jeans and making it through Christmas without being a little piggy, that I started to snack on December 26. I kind of snacked in between meals for the next four days so that by the time we got home on December 29 I was up three pounds to 169 pounds! But hey -- I'm okay with it…..I stayed in control for quite a while and I finally knew what it felt like to go for almost four weeks with some consistency.

January 2003

New Year's Resolution -- to be me and be okay with it. As you can tell by now I "yo-yo" with my eating. So my realistic goal is not to stop yo-yoing altogether but to control it so the highs aren't so high and the lows aren't so low. I gave my notice to KidSport in December so I have one more crazy month and then I am just going to be teaching and doing some public speaking workshops occasionally for the Canadian Sport Centre. With more available time I will be able to exercise more and spend more thoughtful time on my menus! I love eating still but I must admit I crave more protein and veggies and savoury food now. I like to cook and when I actually have time to plan a grocery trip -- my whole week is better and I have better food choices planned.

So this last four months has been very tough -- I thought it would be easy and that I would slide right into the program….but I have learned more about myself and my values and my ability to make choices. January will still be tough but I am on the right track and I have made a lot of progress since September. It has been challenging but I have been slowly moving along the road towards my goals. I need to celebrate what I HAVE done and learn from the challenges. I can do it!