OMG! My BMI! WTF?

I’m officially overweight. My Body Mass Index is technically in the “Overweight” category for the first time in my life. I’m not really sure how it happened… well, I have an idea on how it happened…I’m just surprised my weight shot up so quickly. But, I’m glad it happened.

Glad? says you. Yes, glad, says I.

It’s a serious reminder that I am not one of those women who is perpetually thin no matter what I do. I’ve been athletic my entire life, and still am, so weight has never been a high priority issue for me. In fact, up until last year, I stayed within 15 pounds of my high school weight. But, I’m coming up on my 35th birthday this May, and my metabolism has become about as efficient as driving a dump truck with the emergency brake on. Unfortunately, I only noticed this after a doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago. I went in for a sinus infection and came out demoralized by the reading on the scale.

I don’t want to give the impression that I’m obsessed with my weight and the scale, per se. I’m not. I never have been. I am, however, obsessed with my overall health (always have been); weight being only a small part of the equation. Heart disease runs rampant in my birthmother’s family and my birthfathers side has a whole other host of problems, so I have taken the time to educate myself on health and fitness and nutrition. What I realize today, though, is that I need to take what I know and change my thinking about it.

My entire athletic life has been sporadic exercise. That’s what I’m used to. On season. Off season. 4 months hard. 1 month off. It’s worked for nearly 35 years.

But, I can’t do that anymore. My body won’t let me. I need to re-train myself after all this time. I need to get more consistent about my exercise. I train to race my bike and that helps to keep me motivated. But the days of going out on the bike and hammering 18 hours a week for four months only to burn out in May have got to end. I can’t allow myself to burn out. But this is going to be a hard transition. All out is all I know. So the question is: do I have enough discipline to hold myself back? And the answer is no.

So, I’ve hired a coach. And we have discussed at length all that I’ve written here. And it will be up to her to design a program I can stick to. She says she can do it and I’m on board. I agreed to do everything she asks – no more, no less.

We’ve been at it for nearly 4 weeks. It’s a lot different than anything I’ve ever done. So far, I’m feeling really good. I’ve lost some weight and I’m not feeling overwhelmed. I have time for my family and I’m not drained of energy at work, but I still feel like I’m getting good training for the race season. Am I going to come out with guns drawn for the March and April races? No. But then, that’s not the goal is it?

Happy ridin’!