What I've Learned...

Some of you may remember me. I used to be CoryIda. I was very successful on here and also very social. Over the past few months, I haven’t been either one, but I think it’s time to participate again, at least in the health aspects of this wonderful site.

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Here’s my story...

In September of 2010, I was morbidly obese and had been for a half a dozen years.

My joints ached, my feet and hands were swollen, and I was constantly exhausted.

I felt 62 instead of 26.

I worked hard and I learned to love exercise.

When I was stressed, I exercised.
When I was cranky, I exercised.
When I was sad, I exercised.
When I was tired, I exercised.
When I was excited, I exercised.

I did, on average, two hours of intense cardio (Zumba mostly), three hours of walking (or other low impact, low intensity cardio), and two-to-three hours of strength training every week.

I ate well, too. I didn’t have off-limits foods (other than what I am allergic to), I just made good choices about what and how much to put in my body. Tons of fruits, veggies, lean proteins, healthy fats, whole grains, and lots and lots and lots of water. I indulged cravings sensibly (either with healthier options, smaller portions, or more exercise to make them fit in my goals).

I shed what can best be classified as a crap-ton of weight, and it was actually pretty easy for me. I used to feel bad when people would ask me about plateaus and I would tell them I never had one. I was consistent and had consistent results.

Maintenance was trickier in that it was hard for me to eat enough to not lose more.

Somewhere around March or April of this year (so after about a year and a half), I measured in with a 26” waist. I’m 5’10” and am a solidly built (large bone structure) woman. 26” is tiny.

I was sitting probably at around 20-21% body fat (down from over 55%) with visible muscles and visible ribs.

I was a bit too thin, really - not too thin for health, just too thin for someone who, from the very beginning, was adamant that “I want to be healthy, not skinny.”

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Well... it was a kind of crazy spring. My marriage ended less than amicably, my son struggled tremendously with his social and behavioral issues, I was busy with work and a house that was falling apart around me, and I started letting health take a backseat to my problems.

I stopped focusing on always eating well (and stopped tracking as well). I exercised less frequently and not as intensely.

And... the problems got better but my laziness continued.

Fast forward a few months and I am in a blissfully happy relationship, my son is doing a million times better, I got a fresh start in a new part of the country, and...

I’m squishy.

I gained back somewhere around 20 pounds. The number doesn’t really bother me much (remember, I said I was too thin before), but the squishiness does.

As does the weakness. I have so much less stamina and strength than I did before. I am starting over lifting much lighter than I was, and I don’t have anywhere near the endurance I did.

Losing weight the first time was really not that hard for me.

This time around? It’s hard.

For one thing, my motivation is different. I don’t have to beat obesity this time - heck, I am not even technically overweight. It’s much easier for me to make excuses knowing my health is not an immediate concern. Somehow, “I want to be less squishy” isn’t nearly as motivating as “I don’t want to carry around an extra 140-ish pounds on my body anymore because it’s horrible for my health.”

For another, my goals are different. As I said, I don’t really care that much about the scale or even a lot of inches. I just want to tighten up a bit, which means lowering my body fat.

I had heard this before but it never registered until now, but it is MUCH harder to shed body fat than it is to just lose weight. Just eating a caloric deficit isn’t going to cut it because I want to maintain as much muscle mass as possible, which means I have to pay more attention to my macros and actually be consistent with exercise (not just doing cardio to burn off any extra calories I ate or want to eat, but actually working my muscles hard).

It also means slow going. It’s kinda hard to get excited about a 0.4 pound loss when you used to put up five times that number with each weigh-in. And when the scale doesn’t even show that 0.4? Well, that sucks.

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But you know what? I had a motto back in my CoryIda days. It’s something I shared with people all the time - on the forums, in person, when I won the Biggest Loser contest through my local news station, and even when I was featured on Huffington Post. There was a reason I shared it: it was a very simple, very true statement that helped me accomplish my goals:

“Every choice you make about what you will put in your body and how you will move your body will either put you one step closer to good health or one step further away.”

I’ve taken a few steps back. I’m not unhealthy, but I’m not as healthy as I could be or should be.

So I am going to remember my own words and make choices that help me get back to my goals.

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I've learned something - weight loss was easy for me but hard for many; maintenance was tricky for me but easy for some; gaining weight was (sadly) all too easy for me while some people really struggle with it; lowering my body fat without losing a lot more weight is realllllllly hard for me but relatively easy for some.

And... what does this have to do with you???

Whether you are a hard-gainer, a hard-loser, a hard-maintainer, or anything else - fitness can be hard. We all struggle with something different but we are all capable of reaching our goals if we make the right choices (and act on those choices) consistently.

Whether it takes a week, a month, a year, a decade, or more to accomplish them, you can get closer with every positive choice you make.