Alicia’s Journey To Better Health

First I want to say thank you to all my bodyspace friends who have helped me through this difficult year. My grandmother found out that she had ovarian cancer in March. I have been taking care of her for the past 3 years, she died on Thursday. I spent so much time caring for her that I forgot to take care of myself. I know that she would want me to take care of myself now. It is going to be hard because I am now very out of shape. I have a diet and exercise plan that I, along with some of my bodyspace friends, put together. I am working on the diet this week and will start my exercise plan next Monday. I am starting the exercise portion on Monday because that is when my doctor said I can start exercising again( I have had a really painful back problem on top of everything else). I know that my grandmother would want me to take care of myself. I am going to do this not only for myself, but for all the people in my life. If you make yourself into the best you can be, you will be able to give your best to others.

Watching the Olympia made me wonder, what is the perfect body? Is it zero body fat with muscles? I thought about it for a while. Then, I decided what it means to me. To me it means being healthy. When you are healthy you are able to be happy. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to look like Gina Aliotti or Jamie Eason, but I don’t think that is a realistic goal for me. I know I need to lose FAT, but where to start. Well, I was born with a Bi-cuspid Aortic Valve (heart condition) and I am having trouble with my blood sugar. This is a starting point. I’m going to eat low sugar and heart healthy foods. I will, when my back gets better, start an excercise program that I found that I know I can stick with. Then I will find MY perfect body, what ever it is, and I will smile. I wish everyone that is on this site a happy, healthy body so we can smile together. Good luck to all, and thank you for the support!

Is this a good idea? I have decided to no longer weigh myself. I am going to focus on changes in the mirror and how my clothes fit. I got on the scale and it read 197lbs. I have been doing a new workout and diet for two weeks and gained 3lbs? Either the scale is wrong or I have put on some muscle. I do have to take into account water weight too. I know I’m not getting fatter because everyone says it looks like I’ve lost weight and my clothes fit better. Let me know what you think. Thanks everyone!

First, I want to tell all my freinds that I’m sorry I haven’t been in touch in a while. It seems like I’ve just had one setback after another and I was depressed and didn’t want to spread it around. I am finally recovering from a back and leg injury that put me out of training. The medication the doctor gave me caused me to have stomach problems, so I was put on an all carb diet. I am now 5 foot 4 and 194lbs. I have never been this out of shape in my life. I have to start back slow, I get out of breath just climbing the stairs. Will someone out there please give me some ideas on how to get back into things. I have the drive, but don’t know where to start. All help is greatly appreciated!

I’m starting my whole diet and workout program over again. I haven’t done anything in the last three weeks and have gone up two dress sizes. One of my grandmothers passed away and the other has cancer and we are being told she won’t make it to Christmas. I just kind of gave up. I’m starting over today not just because I want to but because I know they would want me to. One is 82 and the other was 84. I want to be that old one day and the only way to do it is to take care of myself.

I found out last Monday that my grandmother has cancer. Due to her age the doctor said she would not survive the envasive surgery required to remove all the cancer. I have been very depressed because of this and have not worked out at all this past week and I’m having some trouble sticking to my diet. I would really love some ideas on how to motivate myself. All help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I have been following Bill Belfert’s Bare Minimum training program for about three weeks. I went out to buy a dress yesterday and found that in three weeks I have droped a full dress size! I thought my clothes were getting loose! I was using a weight scale to measure my progress but I don’t think that is an accurate way to track progress anymore. It was only showing a slight drop in weight. I had forgotten that muscle weighs more than fat inch per inch. I guess I’ll just do measurements and get some calipers. Can anyone recommend a good brand or style of calipers? Thanks.

I must be in pretty good shape even though I’m still heavy. My brother was not able to do the resistance and time that I can on my elliptical! I was very shocked because he is in good shape. He said it gives him a new challenge. I do think I might have had an advantage because he has never used and elliptical before. Oh well, it still makes me feel good about myself.

My doctor said my wrist is heeling fast and I can start back weight training next Friday! This is great because I will finally be able to do all the Bare Minimum training program! I will also be able to join my bowling team again. Boy, I thought it would take six weeks to heel, but now it is only a little more than three. On another note, the diet is going well now that I can cook again. Things are going my way today!

The doctor said my x-rays show that my wrist might be fractured. I guess I will not be doing weight training for a while. I still plan to do cardio, but I really like weight training. If my wrist is fractured I’ll be out six weeks. I’m going to have to really follow my diet so I can reach my goal.