Whoa! Slow yourself down!

I am fairly new to this watching calories and exercising thing...this lifestyle change...but I just found out something I thought I would share with others.

In Nov 2015, I dislocated my shoulder and of course, had to go to the emergency room to have it put back in place. While there, they had to have my weight to know how much anesthetic to give me to put me out while doing the procedure. I reluctantly got on the scales (I knew I was NOT as light as a feather!) and when I saw the number '218' come up, I almost fainted! I don't which was worse...the pain of my shoulder or the shock of seeing that number come up! Something clicked that day and my internal self said: Whoa! Slow yourself down!

I cut out all sweets and start eating smaller portions during meals but still had not given up snacking altogether yet. From the middle of Nov to Christmas Day, I had lost 10 pounds and I was fairly proud of myself since Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were in that time period but still had not fully committed to losing weight for real...Yet!

Last fall, before I fell, I told my husband I wanted an activity tracker for Christmas and, sweet man that he is, that's what he got me. However, he made sure he got me one with a watch on it so if I didn't actually use it, I could at least use it to tell time. He's not only sweet, he's honest!

I started using it that very Christmas Day and I was shocked at how little I was actually walking in a day. It was a struggle to get up to 3,000 steps in those first few days and how fast an hour would go by without me being active at all! Mine has a red line on it that reminds me I haven't done anything every hour I sit. So, when we got home, I got on-line and checked out the website that comes with my Garmin and found out there were 'recommended' steps every day for someone as inactive as I was. I entered challenges with other people and proceeded to push myself every week to win those challenges...sometimes I won and sometimes I didn't depending on how many steps were necessary for that week. I even got badges for so many steps and for winning challenges! I was currently involved in a 150K challenge for this week. We are talking about a person who had a bad hip and walked with a cane for almost a decade, got a hip replacement in 2014 and now could actually walk again! Hooray...I was on my way to total fitness and a svelte body!!! In about 3 months, along with the other badges I had earned, the one of which I was most proud was the 1,000,000 step badge! I had taken that many steps (approx. 418 miles) from Christmas Day until Feb. 25th, 2016! However, instead of feeling great and full of energy, I was so tired and lethargic to the point that I felt on some days, I just can't take another step today! Where was all this energy I had heard about when one is exercising and losing weight???? Why is all I thought about was taking a nap and going to bed early, even with a nap, every night??? Something just wasn't right!

Last Thursday, 3/3/16, I had an appointment with my physical therapist, John, for my shoulder and I was complaining about how tired and sore I was all over. I told him how I had no energy and it was all I could do to get my recommended steps in lately, much less the personal goals I set for myself everyday. Was it because I needed new shoes since I had literally walked out of mine or because I had run out of Alieve...what was my problem?? Some days, I would walk as many as 28,000 steps...way over what was recommended with my daily average for last week at 22,000 steps a day! My recommended goals were about 15,000 steps give or take. John is a runner who participates in 30-50 mile trail runs during the season and runs to and from work everyday...5 miles a day. He definitely is someone I trust when it comes to stuff like this...and my shoulder work, too. What he told me last week was a shocker!

Apparently, I was exercising (I am a walker only at the moment...can't run due to bones around my hip replacement not being strong enough) TOO MUCH! I had never heard of such a thing in my entire life! Calories In, Calories Out and losing weight was my entire focus! I have lost 36 lbs so far with this formula so what was he talking about?? He told me that I had increased my exercise level so much in such a small amount of time, my body was having trouble healing and rejuvenating in between the amount of steps I was doing every day. I was breaking muscle and fat down but not giving my body the rest it needed to build back up again. If I didn't stop what I was doing, it was possible to hurt myself and not be able to walk at all for long periods of time. His 'prescription' for this weekend is to walk no more than 10,000-11,000 steps for an entire day...he wanted me to do no more than just what it took to function in a day but relented with the amount above. I am to get plenty of sleep, naps as well, and just take it easy for 3 whole days! Starting next week, I can push it 3x a week but with a day of rest in between each one. This has not been as easy as it sounds! It is all I can do to keep from making my 'recommended' goals each day and I feel so lost...yes, LOST...without what has become my daily routine. I also had to remove myself from any challenges with which I was involved which was also extremely hard to do...very competitive person that I am! However, I did it just this morning.

So, for the next little while, my goal is to Whoa! Slow myself down! because what I am doing now is not a race...it is a lifestyle change and I have plenty of time to accomplish my goals if I take care of myself now. I hope this helps others who may be in a similar situation.