When was the last time you looked at yourself in a full length mirror? I am asking this because the more “over fat,” you are or “out of shape,”you are the harder it is to look good in your clothes.
I must confess, that for some time now I have been looking at myself in the mirror only from the chin up. Yes, I use my full length mirror before I leave the house but recently I only quickly glance at my self from head to toe. The other day I had to get a pictures taken of my silhouette in fitted non-camouflaging clothing for a sewing project I am doing. I am still in shock.
I have always had an apple shaped body with narrow hips, flat bottom and muscular legs. When I gain weight its usually in my stomach and waist area. My previously flat derriere is no longer flat. Because I know how to dress for my body shape I had even fooled myself, until I saw those pictures of me without camouflaging clothes. I know I must take action for my health and of course I am concerned about how I look and finding clothes that fit me. The areas I need to work on are my eating habits, exercise and sleep.
My eating habits are better than most of the other people I know, but they aren’t perfect. I consider myself a flexitarian. I eat mostly steamed vegetables plus small amounts of chicken and fish and dairy such as non-fat yogurt, low fat cottage cheese, almonds and walnuts. My weakness is rice tortillas and gluten free cookies. Also, because I am a night owl and stay up late at night, I tend to eat a snack before I go to bed. I have read that this is not good because those calories are not burned off and eating right before bedtime disrupts sleep because the body is busy digesting food and can not completely relax.
I have been watching the Dr. Oz show lately. Dr. Oz says to be healthy a woman should not have a waist over 32.5 inches. If your waist is larger than this, it means your belly fat is beginning to crush your other organs, especially your kidney function. One way to determine a good waist size is to take your height in inches and divide it in half. According to Dr. Oz your waist size should be half your height or less than half your height.
What is your waist size in relation to your height? How do you make time for exercise? What do you eat that isn’t good for you? When was the last time you looked at yourself in a full length mirror with only your under ware on?
Because I needed a “jump start,” to start exercising again, I applied to be in a research study at Johns Hopkins Hospital Bayview in Baltimore, Md. Its called “Shape Up.” There are two components to this study a nutrition component and an exercise component. I am hoping to be assigned to both the nutrition and exercise parts. The exercise would be at the Hopkins facility. As I write this, I am realizing that besides getting more sleep,and not eating before bedtime what I really need is, help with “building in” exercise to my daily life for a long term change in my habits.
How have you built exercise into your busy daily life?
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