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Lessons from a Sassy Black Lady

I had my lady visit to my new doctors clinic today and it was kind of a startling experience. All through my pregnancy I decided to take the attitude of "don't panic, you're completely fine" in regards to my health. I didn't want to gain so much weight, but gain I did. My midwives were thrilled with my health and I couldn't have had a more "normal" birth.

But that was pregnancy. This is me by myself now. And me by myself is very overweight and has high cholesterol.

The RN at my doctor's office is a sassy black lady. She basically gave me a verbal ass-kicking. Something like, "girl, you need to eat right and exercise, don't give me no excuses!" I told her I'd been steadily losing weight on weight watchers albeit not much because I'm breastfeeding and all. She gave me some ideas for exercises to do every day and told me to eat steel cut oats to get my cholesterol levels down. She also told me I needed a vitamin D supplement.

This spurred the thought progression I've been revisiting lately.

I remember a sting in college when I went to the gym 3 mornings a week, every week without fail. I did the elliptical for 20 minutes because that's all I had enough time for. I lost 15 pounds in a month. 3 days a week for 20 minutes. That's it.

One summer I worked at a deli where I had to scoop ice cream. It was only one small element of my job, so I only scooped maybe five to ten times each shift. But my scooping arm was ripped by the end of the summer.

The conclusion: it doesn't take much to be in good shape. What it does take is consistency. If all I did was the simple exercises the RN showed me today three or four days a week without fail, I would have a better body and I'd be in better health.

I have to journal everything that passes my lips for a week (including vitamins and lozenges etc..) and go back to have her tell me what I'm doing wrong.Honestly I should be doing this anyway because it's part of being on weight watchers. I got this app on my phone that lets me just take pictures of my food rather than writing it down. I'm going to try it for a week and see how it goes. I'll probably still do a written journal for my next visit.

I've been around this eating healthy block a few times already. I know when I'm eating something that's not helping me any. The question then is, would I rather indulge in what I enjoy eating or would I rather enjoy being a healthy weight? The answer should seem obvious, but as much as I want to be a good student I find myself wrestling with the idea that you can't have both. I'm also a bit nervous to be told the honest truth about my stubborn ignorance on the subject. Am I really ready to have someone call me out? I guess I'll find out.

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