Meet Ruthie

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Today I want to introduce you to Ruthie as the first person I’d like to highlight in this new series I am calling “Stronger Together“.

I actually got the idea to do this from a post Ruthie had made on the Facebook page – I believe the post below was in response to what someone else had said about being frustrated with the scale…

I’ve decided to stay away from the scale for a while. I’m having a LOT of trouble with water weight which has ALWAYS been a major problem for me. I’m pushing water & taking a water pill but still retaining water like crazy. So my goal has changed to exercising which I have found I love my treadmill:) Increased speed to 1.7 from 1.6 this am and went from 20 min to 22 with a 2 min cool down so total of 24 min walking. Thats with incline of 1. I’ll do that again this evening. I now have more energy during the day than I know what to do with lol. ~ Ruthie

What I LOVED about that post was recognizing how far she had come with her mindset since I had first met her not so long ago on Facebook. She had gone from wondering if she could believe in a healthier lifestyle for herself to LOVING the treadmill!

I especially love how Ruthie is handling setting doable goals and building on them every step of the way and I hope that in sharing Ruthie’s journey with you, it will inspire and motivate someone else who might be feeling discouraged…PLUS she is just a great person who offers a lot of encouragement! 🙂

I asked Ruthie to respond to a series of questions that more or less correspond to steps I’ve taken in my own journey as outlined in the “How to Lose 100 Pounds” book series.

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1. YOUR Journey and Plan for Weight Loss Success: Please tell us a little bit about your own journey with weight loss and getting healthy?

My weight loss journey has just really started. I’m 45, married, with 2 wonderful children..well one is married for a year now with a baby girl on the way, she is 25. My son is 13. My husband is a great help and encourages me all he can with my weight loss. I have a long way to go since I need to lose 100 pounds.

I guess I’ll give you some back ground on how I got here…I didn’t have trouble with my weight as a child, in fact it didn’t start until after I started trying to have children. Before I had my daughter, Jennifer, I had one miscarriage and one stillborn. The miscarriage I was six month along but the baby was only two month along. So I put on weight there. Then I got pregnant again and was due but the baby ended up stillborn, more weight, this time about 40 pounds. Then I got pregnant with my daughter. She was early but I still put on weight, about another 40-50 pounds and I hadn’t gotten rid of the last weight gain yet.

Two months after she was born I started dealing with the first of many blood clots. I spent many months taking care of my baby from a bed or couch. I was also told “Go home and enjoy your baby and pray you win the lottery because you won’t live long enough to see her graduate high school.”

I was turned down for disability due to my age so when I could walk I found a job and life went on. I would lose weight and exercise what I could until my next clot. Then in 1993 I moved to NC from Upstate NY. I found some really great drs that worked better with me all around. At first I was able to lose more weight but then the clots became more and more. I was put off my feet more and more. I tried to watch what I ate but nothing seemed to help.

Two years after moving to NC I found out I’m a diabetic. I actually took that very well since it answered a lot of questions I had at the time. I was sick and it felt good just to know why. I worked very hard to get it under control but my doctors were more concerned about my clot problem and my blood thinner levels not being where they needed to be.

Shortly after that I went into a very bad depression for many years. My health spiraled down hill. I went thru many years dealing with these health issues, trying to work and being put out. The weight crawled on and on as I was unable to do much except eat and sit in a chair with my feet up. Then in 2004 I was told I could never work again due to clots in my lungs, I was “awarded” disability with the help of a lawyer. Awarded like it was a great thing.

At 37 I felt like my life was over! Its one thing to not work because you don’t want to, its another thing to be told you can never work again. I felt like my world was over and yes food became my friend, especially potato chips.

Then the worse thing happened and I got a hole in my leg and I couldn’t walk, at all! It took months to heal and then I had to learn how to walk all over again. I went from sitting on my couch to laying on the couch, that’s all I could do for months so the pounds added up some more.

Depression set in some more as I couldn’t even take care of my children. By the time my leg was healed depression had set in so bad it was hard to tackle. I had been to see Dr after Dr and had been on medicine after medicine. It wasn’t until this year when my daughter got pregnant and my son has started playing sports in school that it has really hit me that I need to do something.

I changed my primary care dr and things started moving. He changed my depression medication and I can be me again, that may sound strange but I haven’t see me in a very long time. I’m a very happy person again who like to do things again.

I have permission to exercise but not push it so it hurts so bad that I won’t continue. He also sent me to a diabetic doctor who has found out my thyroid level is low which could also cause my weight problems. So now I’m waiting on my my levels to get where they belong to see if that helps the scale move.

I have found that I like to exercise but I don’t like the scale, I have more energy by exercising. I have found that the things that I used to enjoy I have found joy in again. Little things like setting goals have become major factors in my life now, they help me have something to work and look forward to.

2. Finding the Motivation: What is your big WHY for losing weight and getting healthy? How do you stay motivated?

My WHY for losing weight and getting healthy is that I’m tired of telling my son that I can’t do things with him. He is 13 and I’ve lost enough time with him. He is ready to play school sports and I want to be there beside him not always on the side lines sitting on the bench.  I also have a grand-daughter on the way and I want to be able to play with her. I proved the doctors wrong about not living long enough to see my daughter graduate high school so now I need to prove to myself that I CAN lose the weight and exercise like everyone else. I can be healthy and get rid of some of the medicines that I take.

3. Goals and Planning: Are you setting goals for yourself? Please share with us where you are at with your own goal setting and any tips that you might have for this planning process.

I have learned to set goals for myself which is totally new to me. This has come from Paula’s book called, Goal Setting For Weight Loss. I have learned that setting goals can be a lot of fun besides useful. I have a long term goal for my weight loss, which I figure I will someday see lol, but I have monthly, and weekly goals that are my exercise goals.

I’m having trouble with the scale right now so I have turned my goals from the scale to my exercise, which once the scale decides to like me again I will add the scale to the goals too.

I started my first month with the treadmill. I wanted to be able to walk at a speed of 2 for 30 minutes. Each week I increased what I was walking. I blew that goal out of the water way before the end of the month!! What a feeling!

I already have the next month planned out (August), which is situps and my husband has bought me and exercise ball to do them, I can’t wait to begin. My monthly goal is to do 50 by the end of August, I’m going to see how many I can start with and then start with my weekly goal.

4. Eating for Weight Loss: Are you following a specific diet or food plan? Any tips for how you deal with challenges in this area?

I’m not really following any specific kind of diet plan even though I am a diabetic. I try to cut back on how much I eat and try not to eat stuff that comes out of a box ready to eat. I find that stuff has way too much sodium for me and too many calories.

My family likes to have Rice A Roni and mac and cheese (out of  box), so when they have that I try to have something else that is healthy for me. If they have pizza out of a box I have found that I can make my own with the flour tortilla, or the other low carb flavored ones, use just a little pizza sauce, and put on your own favorite toppings and wow your own personal pizza with less calories and less sodium which is my problem.

I use the tortillas too to make wraps for lunch and its a very filling sandwich. Some mustard, low sodium turkey, shredded cheese, mushrooms, your favorite veggies and wrap. Better than on bread and more filling too. I do have pasta and mac & cheese but I make my own, I don’t care for the whole wheat, I just check the sauce for the lowest calories and use a smaller plate to eat off of. I have lots of trouble with breakfast cus I just hate to eat that time of day. Since starting my journey I try to at least eat Yoplait yogurt. I also do eat plain oatmeal with sugar free preserves.

Since starting my journey I’ve started using a smaller plate or using a bowl. It really seems to be helping.

My problem is when I get bored or depressed. To get passed this I have started eating carrots or chewing Extra Dessert Delights Sugarfree Gum…I really like the root beer float one. The gum comes in so many different flavors and feels like you are cheating but not.

I am now doing a challenge where I don’t eat after 8pm which I’m finding is harder than I thought, I didn’t realize how often I eat just before I go to bed. I’m going to try the gum for my treat before bed, someone on the Facebook page had said that they do that instead of eating…so worth a try.

5. Exercise for Weight Loss: Do you have an exercise plan currently? Please share your own exercise plan and any tips that you think could be useful for others.

I have never liked exercise before but I do now!

I have started out with walking on the treadmill, due to it being too hot to be outside. Right now the scale is not my friend so I’m exercising for energy and actually for the joy of it. I know the weight loss will come. I have set goals to meet with my exercise which makes it fun. I set a monthly goal then a weekly goal to go with it.

My next month I’m adding sit-ups to go with the treadmill, I now believe you should always look to the next month and plan on what you want to do, not what you have to do.

I have also done a lot of research on walking and whether its on how far you should walk or how long. I’ve even talked to physical therapy people and I’ve come to the conclusion that you need to walk or ride the same time frame each day and increase the time each day or every few days. In other words if you walk or ride for 20 minutes you should do that for a few days, then increase as much as you can…its not the distance like I once thought.

But I have learned that exercise can be fun and not to use it just for weight loss, if you do that you could become discouraged and stop. You need to exercise just for you, not the scale which sometimes you just need to put away.

6. Getting Back on Track (after a gain or just starting out): What words of advice do you have for others who may be struggling to forgive past attempts at weight loss or for those who are just trying to get started? Is there anything else you would like to share?

I would recommend How to Lose 100 Pounds Facebook Page to anyone who is trying to lose even 10 pounds.

I have talked about how great the books are but I have left out how wonderful the support is that Paula gives on her page. She is on there every day talking about her own journey and asking about everyone else’s for the day. If you are having trouble you don’t have to hesitate asking her for help. I have sent her messages thru inbox even for help. No question is too big or small in her eyes. She doesn’t claim to be a doctor or know everything, just someone who is going thru the same thing and understands. I found her FB page from her wonderful books. I have read them all.

I love all of the How to Lose 100 Pound books, but as I said earlier my favorite is the one on Goals. I have used that in other places in my life than just my weight loss journey, it just makes sense! Reading these books has really helped me to get my journey started this time in a way that I believe I can get it done. I don’t look at it as weight loss this time…its a journey to a healthier me.

I actually enjoy exercise for the first time in my life…I can’t believe I enjoy exercise! This goal thing has me looking at exercise in a whole new light and I owe it all to Paula’s book on goals, I just can’t say enough good about this book. It teaches you to break things down in a way that actually works!!

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A note from Paula…

A BIG thank you to Ruthie for taking the time to share so much with us all.

I know that this whole journey for Ruthie and all of us can be difficult and I KNOW that to really look inside for answers about how and why we’ve gotten to a place with our bodies and health can be a very daunting task. I deeply admire and value her for allowing me to be a part of her journey and open up in a way that I believe will help others as well.

I also thank Ruthie for the kind words and enthusiasm about the Facebook page and my book series. Truly, I hope that my journey can help you as you walk your own path…with me as I am STILL a work in progress for sure. 😉

My hope is that you would comment below with words of encouragement for Ruthie and also share a bit of your own “story” with us all.

Much love,

~ Paula

P.S. Please join us at the Facebook page – I’d love to “meet” you! 🙂