To borrow from my Monumental 5k race recap, I’ve had quite a health and fitness journey over the last 12 years…
- In 2011, I lost over 75 pounds.
- In 2012, I ran my first half marathon then started crossfit.
- I’ve since ran 15 halves and one full and am over halfway to my goal of running in every state (plus every country I visit).
- My weight has fluctuated a bit throughout all that, increasing when the pandemic hit.
- I got covid in March 2021 the day before my age group became eligible for the vaccine. I had long haul symptoms for a solid nine months and was diagnosed with “exertion intolerance.” Basically doing any exercise put me on the couch the rest of the day. It led to depression and about 40 pounds of weight going back on. Ten years of work felt totally erased.
- In 2022, I started getting back into working out. Some stuff came back relatively easy, like weightlifting, but some stuff was still challenging, like running.
The 5k was an emotional return to racing that I think planted the seeds of wanting things to change for real. I was tired of not feeling good about myself and not happy with how much I turned to drinking to deal (or more realistically, not deal) with everything.
In January, I set three goals and I’ve been tracking my progress in a Google sheet (one tab for daily totals of the current month, one tab for monthly totals for the year):
- Drink less days than more
- Get outside more days than less
- Exercise more days than less
I realize these aren’t very specific, but that was intentional. I knew it wouldn’t be realistic to never drink again, and that’s not really something I want to do. I just needed to reset my relationship with booze. And I very purposefully didn’t include a weight loss goal since I know how easy it is to fixate on that. I debated whether I should even weigh myself but settled on doing it once a week, starting at the end of January.
In the 259 days so far this year, I was sober for 200, got outside for 216, and exercised on 197. And as of September 15, I am down 30 pounds.
It’s taken a lot longer than it did in 2011, but I’m doing it in a much healthier way that I hope is also more sustainable since it’s about more than just the number on the scale. I feel better on so many levels but there’s still more work to do.
I’ve lost all the post-long haul covid weight but still have 15 more to go to get to my pre-pandemic weight. And while the weight may be gone, the long haul impacts are still there. My average running pace is still several minutes slower than before. My symptoms randomly come back; today, for example, I’m having trouble getting a full breath and took some B-12 after my workout to help. And after the wildfire smoke completely demolished me after only 20 minutes of exposure back in late June, I now check an air quality app every day before leaving the house.
I believe that I can get these final 15 pounds off, but I’m not setting any expectations on when. I’m just taking it week by week and seeing where this journey takes me.
Melanie Woods 