This post is sponsored by Omron Healthcare. I have received compensation and product as payment. All opinions are my own.
Earlier this year, I made a commitment to myself that I was going to lose weight, check my blood pressure regularly and exercise more. It’s my 27th year around the sun, I’m getting married in less than a year and there’s never going to be the “perfect” time to start making huge lifestyle changes – sometimes you just need to jump!
Well, I did jump! I jumped right into a new world of eliminating foods that cause inflammation (more on that later), I’ve been sleeping better than I ever have in my life (I SLEPT FOR 9 HOURS ON A WEEKDAY — THAT HAS NEVER HAPPENED!), I’m actually training this year for the Chicago Marathon (remember the past few years where I didn’t and ran anyway?!), and most importantly, I’m measuring my health by checking my blood pressure and my heart rate.
It’s easy to feel like you’re making progress by looking in the mirror or by a little extra room in your jeans, but being the health data nerd that I am, I needed something more.
Something More
When I joined the Omron Healthcare Going for Zero challenge, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I’ve never taken my blood pressure regularly and I see my heart rate activity through my fitness tracker, but I wasn’t looking at that over time.
In three months, I’ve managed to bring down my overall risk for heart attack and stroke! My resting heart rate has dropped, which is a great sign of cardiovascular health. I was surprised to see the impact of my pre-marathon training already! Up until this point, it’s just been a few miles here and there. But I can tell it’s making a difference!
I’ll share a little more about the diet and lifestyle changes I’ve made in the past few months in my next post, but if you’ve been following my journey on Instagram, you know it was time to make some serious changes to what I’ve been putting into my body. Words can’t even describe how great it feels to share this — I’VE LOST 10 POUNDS!!!
When I moved to Chicago, I immediately gained 15 pounds and have fluctuated losing a few pounds here and there, but in the end, gaining a few more. I was about 25 pounds heavier than I was when I was in college and my clothes just kept getting tighter. I was holding onto things I couldn’t wear and not confident in my body. Even with this body positivity movement, I was crushed when my doctor had told me it was time to lose weight. And I thought, me?! It’s not that bad! It’s just a few pounds! 25 pounds wasn’t just a few. I was kidding myself and not ready to admit that to myself or anyone else for that matter. I lost that first 15 but have struggled to lose any more weight and keep it off.
Weight is something I don’t always like to talk about because it’s so different for everyone. I don’t believe in dieting because I think it can create an unhealthy relationship with food and feel restrictive. I made a pretty drastic change and cut out any foods or beverages that can cause inflammation, I eliminated artificial and added sugars, I stopped drinking for a month, and I started keeping a food journal. My next post will share more (and show you what a typical day looks like), but I’m so thrilled to celebrate this huge win!
If you want to hear a few more updates about what I’ve learned taking the Going for Zero challenge and why YOUR heart health is important, check out my video!
Let me know if you’ve joined the Going for Zero challenge or if you’re ready to start making changes to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke! I can’t wait to hear about it!
This post is sponsored by Omron Healthcare. I have received compensation and product as payment. All opinions are my own.
