A while back I mentioned that I hoped to be able to share
something a little more interesting in the near future. My intention was to
change things up a bit. Since I get a little weary writing about what I eat or
don’t eat every month and how it affects my body weight, I am pretty sure a
reader might feel the same way. I thought that this month I might tell you
about a remarkable young woman that I met at a group run recently.
As I was nearing the end of a 12 mile training run my path
connected with the path that Ashley was running on. I had seen Ashley at the
start of the group run on several occasions; however, didn’t really know her
and doubt if we had said more than 5 words to each other. As we ran along on the same path, I introduced
myself and we talked a bit about running, kind of the usual small talk, why we
run, how long we have been running, you get the idea. It was during this small
talk that she informed me she had lost a significant amount of weight through
diet and exercise after a warning from her doctor.
Now she had my interest. It turns out that Ashley was told
by two doctors in the same week during June 2010 that she was morbidly obese.
In the world we live in today it would have been very easy for Ashley to look
around, find several people the same size as her or larger and rationalize her
excess weight as being normal. Well she
didn’t do that. She listened to that little voice inside, a little voice we all
have, and she decided she had to take action.
We got about this far into the story and it was time for
Ashley to make the turn and head back to Jacksonville Running Company where the
run had started. I had started my run at home so I let Ashley know I would like
to continue the conversation in the future and then kept heading west on Gate Parkway.
Over the
course of the next several weeks I would often get a chance to chat with Ashley
for a little while during the Sunday group run. As I learned more about
Ashley’s journey and compared it to mine, I realized there were many
similarities. The most prominent being that we both lost a significant amount
of body weight, around 100 pounds, in our late 20’s and left a sedentary
lifestyle behind to become a runner and athlete. I also recognized two main
differences. Ashley of course is a
female and her late 20’s came 3 decades after mine.
I finally
told her about this blog and that I had been thinking I might write a little
about her journey some time. After giving her some time to look the blog over
she seemed willing so I sent her a list of questions. She replied with very thoughtful
answers. Her answers were quite personal and very revealing of the kind of
determination it takes to have success at losing a significant amount of body
weight.
In my
questions to Ashley, of course I asked what she had done to lose weight even
though I was pretty sure I knew the answer. I assumed she had done as I,
restricting and counting calories as much as possible and staying as active as
possible to burn calories. Boy was I wrong.
For those
that don’t know me well, I am not a TV person. I don’t watch it except for a
very few times of the year, all of which involve some sporting event. I’ve even
been known to watch football games with the volume off because I don’t want to
hear the nonsense the commentators are blathering about. I am also quite sure
the worst thing to ever happen to TV programing is the proliferation of what is
known these days as Reality TV. When
I read that Ashley was a big fan of the show Biggest Loser and had bought their
cookbooks I had to change my opinion. If someone can follow a show such as the
Biggest Loser, buy their cookbooks and use this information to create positive
change in their life, hand me the remote. (Which button controls the volume
again?)
The second
or third time I ran with Ashley I asked what she felt was the most important
thing she did that helped her lose this weight. Again, I thought I knew the
answer, again I was wrong. For me, I’ve always felt writing down everything I
eat to be the most important thing I can do when trying to lose weight. The
rational being that I won’t eat something if I know I have to write it down.
For Ashley, it was advance planning. On Sunday, she would plan all the meals
for the week, do the shopping and then come home and do all the cooking. So
after a long day, when she got off work, dinner was ready and waiting.
I want to
wrap up this month’s post with a couple tips from Ashley’s comments. When asked
about what an indulgence might be these days I found out that she likes sweets.
Well no surprise there. Who doesn’t? The thing is she will have a Weight
Watchers single portion sundae and eat it slowly with a CHILDS spoon.
Thus, the sundae lasts longer and is usually satisfying.
I also asked
what snack or treat is satisfying and does not cause regret. Her response,
Apples, is one of my favorites. The combination of crunchy and sweetness is
what does the trick. She suggests a good firm apple of any variety. She said
that an apple will satisfy even if she is bored
hungry. Now bored hungry is a
term I haven’t heard before but I can sure relate to eating as a result of boredom. I even caught myself doing it the other
day after first seeing the term in Ashley’s response.
I think that is about all I can fit in to this month’s post.
I think next month I will share some of the tips and tricks that Ashley has
used to keep herself on track and motivated. There is some good information
there; in fact I have already borrowed some on a recent run of mine.
Ashley and I at Jacksonville Running Company on 4/27/2014
My recent
weight history from April is in the right sidebar. So I am wishing all a
healthy and happy month of May until I again weigh in at Fear No Scale around
the first of June.
