Day 5: Woke Up Happy! & Info

I woke up on time and ready to go walking this morning! It was a great feeling! I think I have come up with a good winter plan, but I will discuss that in a different post, for now I want to talk stats.

I am not really sure it is necessary to state where I am currently at in terms of weight and measurements, but at the same time I think it would be interesting to see the how and what of changes a year from now.

Before I give my stats, I must admit that I do not like to tell people how much I weigh or even how much I would like to lose. The main reason being, most people respond with, “oh, but you don’t need to lose any weight – you don’t even look fat (or heavy)!” Well, great, I don’t look like I am over weight and out of shape, but my body says different every day.

A couple of things to keep in mind:

1 – Different heights can handle different weights. A person who is 5’1” and 150lbs looks different from a person who is 5”6’ and 150lbs who looks different from a person who is 6’1” and 150lbs. My guess, one would look over weight, one would look fine and one would look a little too thin.

2 – Different builds can handle different weights. Even if you had 3 people lined up at the same height (5’6”) and at the same weight (150lbs), but one was small build, one was medium build and one was big build…again, you would have 3 people who appeared to look different – one over weight, one fine and one a little too thin.

3 – Being female adds a whole other level to the complication of weight, appearance and health. There are so many different ways a female body can look that in the book Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body by Stacy London and Clinton Kelly there are 15 some odd different types. The book discusses each basic type with petite, average height and tall – we are talking curvy all over, curvy on the bottom, curvy on the top, straight, bigger on the bottom, bigger in the middle, bigger on top! It can give you a headache. So, as a woman, I not only have to worry about my height and my build, but I also have to worry about my curves. If you took someone who 6’1” and they were curvy all over, and 150lbs, they would appear larger than someone who is 6’1” and straight.

4 – I, personally, am losing weight because my doctor told me I needed to. He said I am overweight and needed to lose 10-15lbs. He told me not to go on a strict diet in the attempt to get myself to my “ideal” weight. He said I would basically being starving myself to get to that weight. I like a doctor who sees things pragmatically.

5 – This health journey is less about weight (although I do hope to lose some) and more about ensuring I have a healthy body. I have high cholesterol; high cholesterol and heart problems also run in my family.

Without further ado, here are my stats:

Height: 5’1” (full disclosure – small build, curvy all over)

Weight: 145 lbs

 

Measurements:

Hips: 42”

Waist: 35”

Chest: 40”

Cholesterol levels:

Total: 206 mg/dL

Triglycerides: 226 mg/dL

HDL (good): 44mg/dL

LDL (bad): 117 mg/dL

CHOL/HDL Ratio: 4.7

Non-HDL:  162 mg/dL

(Note: Not sure what it all means, but I know it means that my total, triglycerides and non-HDL cholesterol is high.)

A final thought: it is my personal theory that women who are petite and curvy all over have a tougher time keeping the weight off or in check. I further believe that it is actually very easy for petite & curvy all over women to look overweight even when they are not. Why? Simple, because they tend to have shorter torsos, shorter waists, shorter legs and sometimes even shorter necks  and when you add a larger chest and/or hips than you are creating an image of a “chunky” person. You might not agree with me, and that is o.k., but all I know is that when I was my “ideal” weight of 110lbs (and yes, I was that weight before having children) I could look heavy or pregnant if I chose the wrong clothing (clothing makes a huge difference, but that is for a different post!).