Week 1, Day 1: The Saga Begins

Week 1, Day 1: The Saga Begins

     So most of you may be wondering why I'm even doing this blog. I mean, how embarrassing is it to write about the struggles of running being more than one hundred pounds overweight. I thought to myself, "If I can get some meaning out of this, maybe give some hope to another Chubby Chic thinking about getting back in shape, maybe this will have a little more meaning." Doing this for myself should be enough...but having accountability by somebody else reading this will also give me ammunition for finishing.
     Let me tell you a little about myself. I'm a 28-year-old graduate nurse, waiting to take my boards and begin practicing as a registered nurse. After finishing nursing school and learning about everything that can happen to you because of obesity, I started doing some serious thinking about myself. It also crossed my mind that if I'm going to be in the health care field, I should make a more serious effort in caring for myself as well.
Believe me when I say...I am the very LAST person to ever think that I'd be the one writing about my journey toward physical fitness and health. It's just never been a priority. Last year, I started doing some research on my own and found that my BMI was so high (43.9), I was a possible candidate for bariatric surgery. This was a huge blow to me, finally seeing what I had done to myself. After getting over the initial shock and shame, I decided to start making some changes. I joined Weight Watchers, started counting points and a year later, I'm down almost 35 pounds. But, the journey can't stop here...I'm still considered morbidly obese, which the medical world guarantees that if it's not under control, it will cause health problems within 1-2 years. I don't want to subject myself to corrective surgery if I can help it.
So, when I went out for my first workout (Couch to 5K app) tonight, it was HARD. It was hot and humid, the bugs were horrid and my lungs and legs were killing me, but I knew I had to finish the first workout or I'd never get to the second one. I wound up finishing the entire workout, running/walking 1.79 miles, and exercising for 30 minutes straight. I haven't been able to do that since high school. I was amazed I could even do that much. After cooling down and stretching out, I felt the best physically and emotionally that I had in a very long time. Here's to a fantastic first workout and increasing hope for success.

If anyone is interested in the app I'm using, go to www.active.com and download the app call Couch-to-5K.