Making A Commitment to Health and Wellness

Rissa Peace Root © 2007

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In the last issue, I suggested that finding a community could help you reach your goals. For me, those goals go beyond losing weight, so I also use the SparkPeople website to help me set goals and track my progress. The website offers options for short term goals, which will encourage you to get eight hours of sleep or go a day without soda. Those worked for me, so I created a long term goal and defined midterm goals that I thought would help me get there. I also give myself credit for spending time in the studio. For some reason, this time, my goal setting has been successful.

I keep hearing that most people overestimate the amount of exercise they get and underestimate their caloric intake. After I began tracking my nutrition and exercise using the SparkPeople website, I can see how it could easily happen. The biggest shock was how many calories I was getting from what I considered healthy choices, like our local Japanese buffet. I discovered that I was averaging about 1500 calories per meal when I ate sushi, soup, and dumplings, which are more than I ordinarily consume in an entire day. I thought that because I was avoiding rice and anything fried, I was doing well. My caloric intake would have skyrocketed if I have eaten those fried wontons, egg rolls, and shrimp fried rice that I really wanted. The point is not to be scared about eating gyoza, it is to demonstrate that we all can benefit from the periodic reality check.

June 2006 - March 2007

I am proud to announce that I have lost fifteen pounds since joining, for a total of twenty-two since I started my journey toward fitness last June. If that seems like slow weight loss, that is because it is; my thyroid disease makes weight loss very difficult. Debbie Reed, the crazy quilter who referred me to the site, has lost more than thirty pounds and is nearly at her goal weight. It feels good to know that many of the people I encouraged to join SparkPeople have also lost weight, some of them a great deal more than me. We chat about it, congratulate one another, and continue to find support in the forums. I am working toward health and fitness and would love to have you join me for the ride.

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