Stay Healthy Saturday

If I had to pick a "Before" picture I think this would be a front runner. At least out of digital pictures that I have. This picture was taken in August of 2003, and a few months later I slipped on my front steps, fell and broke my tailbone. There is nothing they can do for that other than send you home with a bottle of percoset and advise you to lay off the Oreos. It was winter, I was in pain, I was depressed and I was eating. One Friday night I announced to a shocked Jason that I was going to Weight Watchers the next day. I was nervous how I would be accepted there since I knew I didn't need to lose tons of weight, but I knew I needed help. Five months later I had lost 29 pounds and made "Lifetime" at Weight Watchers.

Five years after going to that first meeting, I'm happy to say I've kept most of the weight off. I'm about 4-5 pounds heavier than my lowest weigh in at WW which I am very happy with. I realized that I actually was too thin and look healthier with a few extra pounds. So I guess I'm right where I want to be.

But this year I had a wake up call that health is not all about weight. In May, my very active and thin father had a quadruple bypass. That alone was a shock. Then my older brother was diagnosed with cardiac problems and he needed a stent put in. I started to get worried. This fall at my annual exam I discussed my concerns with my doctor and she ran a bunch of tests. My blood work showed that I had an inherited gene that predisposes me to heart disease. So what does that mean? It means I have to be extra careful with diet, exercise and stress management now because once I hit menopause my risk sky-rockets. The time to deal with this is now by making lifestyle changes. Keeping the weight off is a great start, but there is so much more I should do. I'm already labeled as "the healthy aunt" by my nieces and nephews because I make bean muffins and wholewheat and soy flour pancakes with flax seed. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Jason thought I was kidding, but I'm going to institute "Stay Healthy Saturday" here on I Absolutely Do. Ok, maybe I'll post it on a Tuesday, but who cares. I want to reflect on what I did to stay healthy that week. Jason and I have already started a Saturday morning weigh in. His goal is to lose, and he's already lost ten pounds since the fall. He has another ten to go. My goal is to keep my weight in my healthy zone, find time to exercise, and make positive changes to our diet. I hope this keeps me a little accountable. If I know I have to write something, maybe I'll squeeze in a trip to the gym. Which I did this week... twice. My kids asked if my card beeped when I scanned it since I haven't been there in so long. Buzzards.

So here is to Stay Healthy Saturday. Small changes now will make a big difference down the road.