Why Am I Fat?

If you are overweight, have you ever taken the time to try and figure out the reason behind it? The obvious reason is that you ate too much or you weren't active enough, or in my case both. But have you ever stopped to look further to try and figure out why you eat too much? Before I started this particular weight loss journey, I forced myself to understand my weight issues. This is what I figured out. I love food, and not just that it tastes good. Food brings comfort to me. I have always loved the wrong kinds of food. I was very thin in high school, but it certainly was not due to my diet. I was very active. I played as many sports as I could. So the way that I was eating never caught up with my until I started college. This might sound severe, but I have come to the conclusion that I have an addiction to food. I have always been the type to think about what I was going to have for lunch hours ahead of time. When I was in college, I would know in my 8:00 class what restaurant I was going to go to on my 12:30 break. I realize now, that is not normal. My bad eating habits caused me to gain about 20 lbs. I was maintaining at that 20 lb weight gain, but only because I was always very busy and on the go constantly. I was still only about 20 lbs heavier that my high school weight when I got married. After I got married I got a job working at a credit union. I am still working at the credit union and I love my job, but this is when I really started to put on the weight. This is the first job that I had where I found myself sitting all day long. I was at the credit union more than eight hours a day, five days a week. The last place that I wanted to spend my lunch hour was at the credit union. Lunch became my escape, my comfort. I went out to lunch every single day, and it was almost always fast food. Lunch made me happy, it was what got me going to finish my day. It didn't really get me going though. I almost always felt sick afterwards as I was dealing with some pretty intense stomach issues at that time (I wonder why.) I would find myself snacking again around 3:00 everyday, not because I was hungry, but because I was bored. I was eating mindlessly, when I wasn't even hungry. I would also start planning what we were going to have for dinner around this time too. I would always over-induldge at dinner because I had a long day, and food made me happy. I gained 50 lbs in the next 3 years. That is how I got to 220 lbs. This information is extremely beneficial to me. Now that I know these things, I know how to conquer my issues with food. When I get down to my goal weight, I know how to never become this again. I don't think that you can truly conquer something until you fully understand it. This time, I know how to beat it.

I did the elliptical today for 45 minutes. I paced myself a little more today because I knew I was adding an additional 15 minutes. I hit one mile at 15:30, two miles at 30:02, and three miles at 45:17. I was surprised how easy it was for me to add the additional time, so I am certain that I will be able to move up to 1 hour by next week. I am learning that the feeling that I get after working out is so much better than the feeling that food used to bring me. I feel so energized, and like I have accomplished something great.  I will take a work out high over a food high any day!

Thanks for reading,
Sarah