Justine Manzano I’ve mentioned it before, but because I’m about to cut myself down, I’m going to make a statement. I am a very busy lady. I perform many roles. These roles include, but are not limited to being a 1) mommy to a kindergartner; 2) wife; 3) friend/family member; 4) writer; 5) editor; 6) fangirl; 7) legal secretary and 8) marketer/promoter of my own work. If you take inventory of those roles, you will find one major trend – most of them are sedentary.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I have gained weight. Like, a lot of weight. I don’t have body image issues. I don’t need to look cute and sexy all the time. My standard choice of clothing is a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Nothing fancy. So it isn’t about that. It may be a little about money problems and having to pay for a new wardrobe if I don’t watch myself. But not really.
After a trip to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan, where my son, Logan, learned about the human body, he asked me about how cholesterol works. When I explained, he said, “Mommy, you shouldn’t eat so much cholesterlol [not a typo, just Logan language]”, and I realized the kid had more common sense than me.
Still, being a bit of a food addict (I could be worse, but it’s pretty bad), reversing this trend is difficult. Add to that my mountain of annoying health problems (migraines and my mess of a back for starters). Now add that to the fact that I work at a desk as a secretary all day, then spend every spare minute I get writing and you can immediately see how this has become a problem.
A little over two years ago, I lost 50 pounds. I’ve gained back 40 of them. That is not okay. I need to get back in the saddle. The first time around, I went on Weight Watchers and just started to walk more. So now that’s the plan again. I am taking stock of my habits. It’s the little things. Have to go from the 24th floor to the 22nd? Take the stairs. Take them back up again, too, while you’re at it. Have to run errands? Walk. But how do you inspire yourself to do that?
As a member of Weight Watchers, I’ve invested in an Active Link as a way of inspiring myself and keeping myself moving on a regular basis. I’ve discussed my new health initiative with my family, and they are on board. If I didn’t make my daily activity quota, we’ll go for an evening walk. We’ll try to walk more in general (hey, it saves gas). I’ll walk Logan to school in the morning instead of taking a school bus or driving in. And we’ll try to figure out other low impact methods of adding more activity to our day.
I’ve personally found that going for a walk has often given birth to amazing story ideas. So why, as a writer, am I not doing this more? Well, I live in the big city. Things can come to me. But that doesn’t mean I should allow this.
So, faithful readers – I don’t care what you’re doing, it’s time to get moving! Keep me honest folks, because I’m on a mission to get in shape, so my son no longer needs to worry about my cholesterlol, and I’m dragging you with me!
So finish off your kid’s Halloween candy and let’s get started!
And if you need a handy guide of what not to do in a diet, check out my review of a book on weight loss.
Wish me luck!