Not enough any more...

Saeriellyn

I'm here because reality has finally bit me in the butt.

I was a trim 135 all through my teens and early 20s, a size 8 at my wedding; not super fit, because I have never been a lover of exercise, but one of those annoying types with a raging metabolism who could eat what I pleased with no repercussions. Even I am annoyed when I think about it, because as lucky as we are at that age, it ends eventually and we have never learned how to make healthy choices.

So I packed on another 15 gradually, over the years, helped along by three pregnancies, but I had always been able to hover around 150 just by making small changes - avoiding soda, cutting out empty carbs. I didn't love my body but I didn't hate it.

Now I am 36 and in the midst of battling some mystery autoimmune disorder. A run of oral prednisone, in spite of spurring me into more activity than I've taken on in a decade, shot me up to 160 and it is not coming off in spite of the small changes that have served me in the past. I have tried large modifications to diet only to fall off the wagon because I don't see results within a week and I lose patience and get discouraged.

I have body image issues for the first time in my life. So here I am. Somehow I have to get control and accountability for what I am consuming. I still hate exercise - not lazy, just bored by it. I can work my butt off for some practical purpose or doing something fun, but running on a treadmill makes me want to shoot myself. So I am committing to 45 minutes of playing DDR every day (don't laugh, this is more of a sweat than I have broken in years) along with light strength training. I'd like to raise the intensity as I go but right now I know "light" is all I can commit to.

My goal is 20 lbs. 25 would be fantastic but that would be vanity loss and I am not going to shoot for that yet.

Would welcome encouragement and accountability. I feel like I am doing this alone. My husband is in denial and always bringing home bags of chips and six-packs of root beer or gallons of sweet tea and thinks as long as he hits the gym a couple times a week it doesn't matter. He means well, encouraging me to exercise, but when I am the only one depriving myself it is tough.

I am doing the 5:2 fasting plan and trying to stay semi-paleo on my "feast days".