Lisa K.
Quiet Morning to Reflect
Sep 20, 2014
I woke up at 4:55 am today and after getting my faculties together, I got to thinking of when things started to go south on my weight gain. I think it began when I worked night shift at a hospital as a Nurse Assistant. The first year I worked there I lost 15 lbs because of the physical demands yet I ate like a horse. However, the next year I switched units and for Christmas, the Doctors gave us gifts in the form of food. I gained 5lbs back and began to build an immunity to sugar. One cookie here, a bite of candy there and compound that with less stress and physical activity, the weight slowly crept up again. Then we switched from 8 hour shifts to 12 hour shifts, so when I wasn't working I was sleeping and if the night was quiet, I would eat to stay awake. And what did I eat? Carbohydrates and sugar to give me energy. Not only did I gain all the weight I had lost back, but added a few pounds, in total, 22 lbs. Psychologically, that's a drop in the bucket as I've lost over 100 lbs but if I can gain 22 lbs, I can gain 50lbs and if I can gain 50lbs, I can gain another 50lbs. You see where this could go and it just can't!
Happily, I gave up the hospital job and got a job that not only pays more but the hours are during the day which means I am getting more sleep at night. Not only that, the hours are flexible which allows me to exercise. I joined the YMCA about a month ago and have been developing a habit of going there, even if it's for 20 minutes. I want to run a 5K in November that my company is sponsoring, so I have a goal. When it was light enough for me to get outside, I did. I ran/walked 2.5 miles. Yesterday I tracked my food intake and counted how many grams of protein (80 for the day). I need to track carbs and calories, but for now, one step at a time. In all of that we do to make changes, it comes down to one step at a time.