Health Notes

I don't think of myself as having a particularly addictive personality, actually I'm pretty good at starting things but I bore easily and decide to do something different. It has served me well in many ways in different circumstances, not so well in others as you can imagine. But I've noticed I've definitely developed what I believe might be my first addiction. And it's a boring one at that. Health. Yep. A six letter word that to many should only have four. Ha ha ha!

Anyhoo, I decided to get serious back in June 2012 and have gotten much more fit and healthy. I've dropped 22 pounds in these past months and now that I've incorporated more workouts besides walking, (added yoga, total body workouts and just recently Pilates) I've noticed less back pain - a problem I never had until I had babies and was carrying them around all the time. I've never been truly "unhealthy" - I've always been inside the range of a healthy weight, although right at the edge of overweight 22 lbs ago. But I've been remembering all the things I was ever told, and then doing research myself, and I have found some fun facts. I've decided to write them down in one place so I can refer back to it to help motivate myself...although fitting back into my "skinny" clothes is DEFINITELY motivation! The GREEN is where I started in June, the RED is where I currently am and the PINK is my ultimate goal

1. Your waistline should be no bigger than half your height (I'm 5'4", 64", so I can't go above a 32" waist) 34"  27.75"   25".  In my 20's it hovered around 23-24"...so never going to see THAT again.

2. I got this one from my mom back in my teens, and I find that all the BMI charts tend to support it: For a woman, at 5' you should weigh 100 pounds, then add 5 pounds for every inch above 5'. So ideally at 5'4" I'd be 120 pounds.  146-148 lbs.   124-125 lbs.   118-123 lbs. I would love to amend that to add another 3-5 lbs for every decade you are past your 20's...lol!! In my 20's I was between 115-123...I hope to see that again

3. You should keep enough flexibility in your 20's & 30's to lay your hands flat on the ground while keeping your legs straight in a standing position. In your 40's, to be able to touch your toes, in your 50's your ankles, and your 60 + I suppose it's be able to bend in half at all, ha! Eek!  As much as I love yoga, I still can't lay my hands on the floor (in my 20's I could) although I can touch the floor with fingertips. Definitely some work needed there

4. The dreaded BMI (Body Mass Index or % of your body that is fat). Staying between 18.5-25 is healthy. There are charts all over the place but I have gotten it done by those lovely fat pinchers before    25     22    21-22   In my 20's I was around the 21-22 mark

So, those are pretty basic and easy to keep in mind. I am absolutely looking for tricks to lose the last few pounds and get fit. My goal is to get to my "pink" goals by this June. That's a little over four months and I hope do-able. I guess at that time I'll update the progress on it all. I'm planning to join in on a 90 day fitness challenge with a bunch of ladies from church, and I've toyed with the idea of starting one with my family, although so far that has yet to come to fruition. Of the 2 people I talked to, one was very hesitant and the other is already super fit. Hmmmmmm. maybe I started by asking the wrong people? I have family that reads this blog...any ideas? Interest?