OK- I feel like I've been on this Journey to a Healthier Me FOREVER!!
I know there are excuses and there are reasons and I have had some valid reasons for derailing my progress and many out of my control. I sure hit the perfect storm though over the last 10 years. Menopause is not kind to the waistline and I remember my mom crying because she had lost her waistline when she went through "the change" and though I didn't lose mine- everything did get fluffier in equal proportions over my body and just as I thought I was over "the change" and started to lose the weight gained, I went through Menopause AGAIN. Yes, this is a thing - seems my ovaries came out of retirement for one last hoorah and then the clock was reset. For those who don't understand this process- that means 4 years of Menopausal weight issues.
I think it could have been much worse, but at least while going through these years of change, I was still teaching fitness classes at the gym and was dancing 2-3 times a week, so I was staying in shape, though my shape was fluffier. And then just when things are getting back on track...boom, the pandemic hits and life as I knew it and as I loved it was temporarily halted. No dancing, no gyms, no work and I was depressed. I spent a lot of time talking to friends on the phone or over zoom, I spent a lot of time getting sunshine on the patio and tried to do fitness online but it was not "fun". I did line dance in the house often to help keep my spirits up. Walking outside felt weird because you'd see someone coming and wonder who was going to cross the street because heaven forbid you get too close to another human who might have covid. Weird times for sure.
Then we embark upon this big move to Nevada which ultimately began in May of 2021 and there was a lot of back and forth, living in an AirBnB with a kitchenette that didn't have a stove or oven. It was a challenge for sure. Lots of stress, lots of unhealthy eating and ok probably too much wine drinking. But we made it through that stressful time and got into our new home.
However, though we would not change a thing about where we live, when moving to such a fun community like ours, it's sort of like Freshman year in College. Lots of parties, lots of food, lots of drinking events ~ and of course, you love all the fun. This is what you signed up for- an active, social environment, until your clothes start to feel snug and you realize you want to have lots of golden years and you can't live them like this and expect to have lots of them!
In 2022, I got myself refocused and back on Weight Watchers and was doing well and of course, like WW does each year in January of 2023, they re-vamped the program and my "free foods" were no longer free and I tried to still do what I had been doing but it all magically stopped working and of course, then I get pissed off and start to self-sabotage. I had lost 20 pounds in 2022 and had gained 10 of those back in 2023, partly because I was pissed off at WW. So I re-focused in 2024 again and lost another 20 pounds (yes 10 of those are the ones I lost and regained)..so I was ultimately down 30 pounds from my Reno Move Here weight. In 2025, I had gotten down to a total of 40 pounds lost (since 2022) and had mostly maintained (+/- 3 pounds) through summer....until my trip to NYC.
On my gal pal trip in NYC, I was walking back to the hotel with my friend Janine, when I tripped over uneven sidewalk and went flying, landing on hands and knees with my left knee taking the brunt of the injury. Truthfully, I'm not sure how my hands got nothing and my right knee had very light road rash and later some bruising on my thigh made me realize that my purse probably saved that knee from worse injury. I ended up with 17 stitches on my left knee and of course, that halted my activities for a bit. Though I was back to teaching line dancing 6 days later, carefully. But getting back into the groove with my walks was hard and it was more a mental thing than anything else, I was having a bit of PTSD from this experience.
The rest of 2025 was filled with birthday celebrations, a cruise, a week in the Bay Area for Thanksgiving and my birthday, holiday parties, hosting football parties and Christmas festivities and there we are back to a net loss of 25 pounds. UGH.
Well 2026 is here, January had its share of events and trips, so I knew trying to do Dry January to kick off the year was not going to work. So now it's February and I've set a goal to walk every day- knowing if it's a dance day that the walk is probably going to be to/from the Clubhouse, I've decided that it's Dry February (might make one exception on 2/14 for Valentine's Day) and I'm limiting my Starbucks consumption (& spend). I had gotten way out of hand with my daily Lattes, so I am going back to treating myself to a Latte when it's Nail Day (bi-weekly) or Hair Day (weekly). I'm going to save a bundle!
We are blessed with some very mild weather here in Reno this year and I know we need the snow or rain and I want it, I love having 4 seasons but it's awfully nice to be walking in 50 degree weather, honestly it was 40 when I started today and it was not cold. We have such a dry climate here and if the sun is shining it feels much warmer than the temp would lead you to believe. I have walked 3 days in a row so far and yesterday's was the true test- I walked to the clubhouse to teach my line dance class. I love our scenery here, so beautiful!
My initial goal for 2026- to get into ONEderland by May. I wanted this goal before we went to Europe last year and then I thought perhaps by my 60th birthday two months ago--guess third goal post is the charm.
