Happiness Project: Boosting Energy

So, still following >MVM's lead (although I finally purchased Gretchen Rubin's The Happiness Project) first month's assignment is around

consciously working on boosting vitality and energy

(Let me say right here that it's normal that I am a month behind MVM and Ms. Rubin, and I think my path is going to continue to diverge more or less as we go along. As it should, since this one is MY happiness project, and it's clear to me that if nothing else, I'm not as organized as either of these ladies. So my project will be different.)


Anyway, part of the reason I'm behind? Homework! *bleah* And why do I dread homework (unless it's just reading or writing - head person, remember?) Because it takes energy! (Uh, oh; I see a pattern here.)

And why do I not have enough energy to go around? Well, I think it's a vicious cycle related to mid-life weight gain. (The intellectual-physical-spiritual imbalance is rearing its ugly head.) To be an appropriate BMI, I need to lose as much as my son weighs. Now. That he's seven. I basically weigh what I did just before I gave birth to him. And I was already overweight when I started that little adventure.

But according to my doctor, it's not so much about the weight as the body composition (y'know, fat vs. lean muscle mass vs. everything else, which is mainly water). And not only have I gained weight over the years, I have the BIA from 2004 to compare to and my percentage of fat has gone up as well as my weight, while I've lost lean muscle mass. Not good.

And, as the somewhat Type A personality that I am, with my family medical history, with the things that have been going on with my life -- parents and parents-in-law confronting various health issues as they get older, a year of working under the shadow of bankruptcy (corporate, not personal), now a new job & boss in a new company, and all the rest -- and with this chronic incremental weight gain... Well, let's just say I'm worrying a bit about my own mortality. Hello, mid-forties.

All that said, I'd like to have as much life ahead of me as behind me. (Entirely possible -- my 85-year-old grandmother just booked a cruise/ lecture tour of the Mediterranean for later this year!) I've got a son to get through college before I can retire, and that's at least 10-15 years away, and I want to see him reach his potential as well as enjoy some leisure time with the man I've already spent more than half my life with.

Which has led me to my way to boost energy: 

IMPROVE MY HEALTH. 

And while this is definitely not going to be a one-month exercise, I think it is a key to increasing my happiness.  (Along with working on that head-body-heart balance I just wrote about.)

• If I am more healthy, I'll have more energy. To do things that make me happier!
• If I feel better about my physical appearance, my sex drive might improve. Which would be fun AND probably good for my marriage.
• If I exercise, I'll be more healthy AND less depressed. 
• If I'm more healthy, that should reduce at least one area of anxiety for me (never used to think about my own - or, really anyone else's - mortality, but that has changed).

OK, so what I am going to do about it? First of all, I've embarked on a 12-week, doctor-supervised lifestyle change program. No, not a diet. I've got to make permanent changes, changes to go with the changes in how my body works now that I am officially past my youth.  What are the three keys?

• Eating better. More small meals. Cutting out simple carbs as much as possible. Permanently.
• Exercising more. And right now, ANY exercise will be more. More than none.
• Reducing stress. The eating and exercise changes actually help with this, but there are a bunch of other suggestions to choose from and incorporate as well.

The doctor-supervised part is basically a kick start.  For me, it's not much about needing to learn about what I should do as getting myself to do it. Weekly classes for 4 weeks, then biweekly for the next 8 weeks. And biweekly body composition analysis. Lab analysis (bloodwork) at the beginning and the end of the 12 weeks.

And I have the advantage of a support system at home. G-man has lost about 25 pounds in the last seven months AND really changed his body composition (yes, and appearance) as well. Not by strictly following the program, but he has definitely incorporated the key elements, especially eat better, exercise more.  (With apologies to Dennis Leary, he calls it the "shut your pie-hole (and do push-ups)" diet.)

So wish me luck.  Now that I've put my intentionality out there into the world, perhaps that too will help me to make the changes AND stick to them long enough to become habits. (Preferably without spending too much time boring any of you about it, she adds, upon re-reading this post.)