HAWMC 2013: Day 2

So … way back in the beginning of March, I signed up for WEGO Health’s Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge. The goal? 30 blog posts in 30 days, using the prompts they provide.

To be honest, it completely slipped my mind Monday. But I still want to participate — at least sometimes. Maybe less often than I originally intended, because I also joined NaRoMoWriMo — National Romance Novel Writing Month. The challenge is to write 40,000 words on a romance manuscript by the end of the month … It’s perfect, because I have a story that’s begging to come out — and a first chapter to perfect by June, so I can enter it in a contest.

Today’s Prompts:

• Introduce your condition(s) to other Health Activists. What are 5 things you want them to know about your condition/your activism?
• Share links to 3-5 of your old posts (or posts from other Health Activists!) that you think will help the newly diagnosed.

As many of you know, I’ve been blogging about weight loss — or my lack thereof — for a very long time … since 2009 here at my own blog, and before that through Blog To Lose.

It’s a journey … and one that’s never-ending. I struggle every day to find the “magic” formula for a healthy weight.

Here are a few of my favorite posts about my journey:

• I have a new rallying cry: My response to a blog post from Theodora  that moved me very much.
• How old is too old: I ruminate on hitting the big 4-0.
• I have so far to go: I fall into the comparison trap and find myself lacking — big-time.
• Weight Watchers, Take 2: One Month In: I’ve returned to a tried-and-true method of losing, and am enjoying success.

And here’s the destination I eventually hope to reach: Stateless dieting. Roni Noone explains the concept beautifully.

There’s always a first time

The challenge? Thirty health-related posts in 30 days, using prompts prepared by the folks at WEGO Health.

Day 28: The first time I … Write a post about the first time you did something. What is it? What was it like? What did you learn from it?

The first time I read “Atkins’ New Diet Revolution,” I thought the good doctor was nuts.

“Give up pasta, bread and potatoes?” I scoffed. “Yeah. Like that’s ever gonna happen.”

A few months later, my brother and his wife started Atkins. Dan assured me that giving up all those foods I thought I loved really wasn’t so bad. And at the time, right after both my parents and my grandma died, I was ready to listen.

My roommate and I read the book again and decided to give it a go.

“The worst that can happen is we’ll try it for six weeks, lose nothing and go back to eating what we’ve always known,” we told each other more than once.

Well, the six weeks came and went and the weight kept falling off. Atkins is the only diet I’ve ever been able to stick with long-term — and the only one I’ve seen results with.

I find myself wondering more and more often whether I should go back to the plan as outlined in “New Diet Revolution.” I like “New Atkins for a New You” and its emphasis on getting more carbs from veggies … but it doesn’t seem to be working for me — at least not like the original plan did.

Yes, I’m several years older. The first time I started Atkins, I was just days past my 32nd birthday. My roommate and I did our traditional birthday dinner at the Outback, came home and ate cake and then spent a day getting ready to go low-carb. We set to cleaning out the pantry, boiling eggs to make deviled eggs and making roll ups with deli meat and cream cheese.

Now I’m 40 1/2. That’s bound to have some effect on my weight-loss speed. But I can’t help but wonder if I’d be losing more, faster on the old plan.

Either way, Atkins is still the only diet I can do without feeling deprived.

5 challenges and 5 small victories

The challenge? Thirty health-related posts in 30 days, using prompts prepared by the folks at WEGO Health.

Day 27: 5 challenges. 5 small victories. Make a list of the 5 most difficult parts of your health focus. Make another top 5 list for the little, good things (small victories) that keep you going.

I  love this idea. I’m just not sure which list will be easier to come up with.

5 challenges

1. Getting enough exercise. Duh. After skipping Thursday’s workout, that was an easy one.
2. Saying “no” to those darn Faux Frappuccinos I order at Starbucks. It makes it even harder when all the baristas see me coming and know my order.
3. Trying not to let the scale get me down. I KNOW it’s just a number, but no matter how often I repeat it to myself, that number still has the power to make or break my day.
4. Standing up for the low-carb diet I believe in. I hate it when people tell me “you should eat some carbs.” They might be fine for most people, but they’re not good for me. Period. Yet, for some reason, I have a hard time explaining my position.
5. Not throwing in the towel when I go several weeks without seeing progress. I’m struggling with this one right now. I almost ordered a milkshake at Arby’s Thursday, using the “you’re not losing anyway, so one won’t hurt” excuse. I refrained, though.

5 small victories

1. Being able to turn down break-room snacks I’d have previously scarfed in mass quantities. (Thursday it was chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes.)
2. Flexing my arm and seeing a bicep.
3. Looking at pictures of myself and thinking “I look pretty good.”
4. Having clearer skin thanks to all the H2O I consume.
5. Feeling strong and in control of food, instead of having it control me.

For the record, the victories were MUCH easier to list than the challenges. I could probably come up with five more, no sweat.