206.2 lbs.: What?

One of the biggest advantages of being tall is that weight gains do not draw as much attention as it would to one of an average height. In the year and a half my now-husband and I have lived together, I have added forty pounds to my body. After a month of Whole30 and after our wedding, my husband and my diets went to complete garbage. Carbs? Yes. Butter? All of it. Added sugar? Add more sugar. We enabled each other when it came to what food we ate and effectively stopped exercising.

It is science. Calories in, no calories out. He gained weight. I gained weight. That is how 206.2 pounds happened to me. I reorganized my closet mid-December. When my husband encouraged me to try on my clothes, it was a reality check. Waistlines on pants and skirts scream in pain. Arms and shoulders of sweaters are not accommodating to the addition and if there was no stretch in the fabric content, my husband had to help remove me from said piece of clothing. For the most part, two pieces of shapewear must have been layered in order to zip up dresses. It is frustrating and devastating to have the most fantastic clothes hanging in my closet, but no longer fitting into them.

One of my role models when it comes to weight loss is my little sister. While she kept to herself how much she weighed at her highest, she hinted that it was over two hundred. Like me she towers over most and hid it well. Around 2015, I encouraged her to start Couch to 5k. Before a knee injury, I very much enjoyed running though I didn’t start until my mid-twenties. I suspected my sister would fall in love with it as I had, as she was approaching 25. A year later, she and my brother-in-law joined a health club and have found joy in not only running (creaky knees are also her weakness) but spin, yoga, pilates, bootcamp… Her profession as a chef is very conducive to eating healthily and once they figured out that by waking up earlier and hitting the gym during off-hours, weight just disappeared.

I am going to rededicate myself to getting healthier just like my little sister did. Since my husband and I do not have the food science chops or the kitchen skill that both she and my brother-in-law possess, we are going to follow Whole30 once again; however we are going to do it long term. It is my hope that once I get in a good rhythm, I will not desire the garbage that I have been consuming.

Rather than getting back on the insane workout routine that I was on during the first nine months of last year, I am going to add in an hour of elliptical five times a week for the month of January. Baby steps. I am sharing all of this with y’all to keep me accountable and I will check in with y’all on the first of Februrary.