Next Sunday will be my one year anniversary for “Rechel’s Journey.” I took a look back and read some of my earlier posts, and they remind me of the roller coaster ride that I have had this year. When I first started Rechel’s Journey, I was in a low place in my life, and I didn’t think I could get any lower, but I was very wrong about that. I knew what I wanted to do, I just couldn’t seem to make myself do it. Eventually, I went back to some of my old habits. Slowly but surely, I started to eat bad again.
I went on a big ice cream binge. I was eating an extreme amount of Blue Bell Ice Cream. That was some good stuff, but because of the amount that I was eating, it contributed to a 45 pound weight gain over a 3 month period of time. I was eating a half gallon of ice cream every day or every other day for weeks. By the time I got towards the end of this past summer, I was in trouble. I knew I had gained weight because I was having trouble sleeping. I was in pain. My lower back was killing me. I could not find a comfortable position to sleep in, so I tossed and turned all night. I was miserable. I had gotten too big to fit my clothes. Worse yet, I could not adequately perform basic activities of daily living properly; namely showering and toileting.
I was off for the summer, but I was extremely busy. I played in an orchestra this past summer, and when we had rehearsals the week before the performances, we met at a theatre in Disney. I had to walk to the theatre, and it was a far distance for me. Just trying to get there was a huge task. The first two or three times that I had to walk to the venue, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was struggling. After I finished all of the performances. I went back to my seditary life and I just ate ice cream and layed around before I had to start going back to work.
When my work schedule re-started in August, I had to start on my normal routine, and oh my…..I could not get from point A to B without huffing and puffing. I could not believe how far gone I was. As I was walking trying to get to from the parking lot to my first job site, I was in excruciating pain. My lower back hurt so much, and I literally could not breathe. My singing voice had become affected as well. I could not hold my notes for longer than 2-3 beats. I was in such a bad place. I never imagined that things could get so bad.
At that point, I knew I had to make a decision. The thing that pushed me to change was the health machine at work. There is a machine that does medical test at work like blood pressure, pulse, weight, bmi, etc. One day, I saw the machine sitting there, and I decided to check my blood pressure. So, I sat down and took the test and it read: 149/99. I knew immediately that it was high. Looking at how I was feeling, that fact that I couldn’t sing too well any more, that I had to use a shoulder rest on my violin in order to play it because I was too big to play without it, that I couldn’t sleep at night, the intense back pain, the panting that replaced normal breathing, and that I just took a blood pressure test that was high, I had to make an immediate decision.
From that day on, I decided to change my life. Better than that, I decided to LIVE. I immediately changed my diet, and within a week, my blood pressure went down. It hovers around 120/90 now which is much better. I still have some work to do on it, but it is in a much safer range now. I am eating a more balanced diet. I have cut down all of the bingeing by eating what I want but in smaller portions and within reason. If I want ice cream, I go to a local frozen yogurt store and buy a single serving of frozen yogurt instead of ice cream. If I want candy I get it, but I search for one piece of candy instead of a package or a box of it because I am not at a place that I can take one piece out and save the rest. If it is in the house, I will eat the whole box or bag, so I don’t bring it into the house or in my car where there is easy access.
Today, I have shed 50 lbs, and I have returned to normal activity. I am at my lowest weight all year, and I am happy with my progress. I have decided to shed pounds for me and for my school in Kenya, Kawelu Primary School. To find out more about what I am doing, click out the 100 lbs. for Kawelu picture on the Home page of www.rechelsjourney.com and you find a link to a video about my plan. So far, I have shed 50 pounds for me and 13 pounds for Kawelu. Make a pledge and support my cause.
Thank you to all of you for your support this year, and I look forward to the upcoming year with all of you as a great system of support for me.
Kyeni