It just hit me when I typed “172” in the title of this post that 172 weeks is well over three years! It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long since I got serious about losing my 2018 weight gain. A little over a week ago marked two years since becoming vegan. And a week from tomorrow will mark three years since I quit drinking alcohol. It kind of stuns me that it’s been this long!
After Eli woke up during his oral surgery in December, I was kind of desperate for answers. I don’t want him to be afraid of anesthesia for the rest of his life (right now, he says he’ll never even go to a dentist again, let alone a surgeon). I’ve always suspected that I metabolize drugs faster than normal, but I didn’t know there was a DNA test for it. And I figured if I am a rapid or ultra rapid metabolizer, there is a good chance my kids could be, too. (I didn’t know if it would affect the anesthesia drugs, but it was a start.)
I’d been wanting to get tested for the breast cancer gene and especially the Alzheimer’s gene for a long time, but was always too scared. Anyway, the point is, I ordered a 23 & Me genetic test–it looks at your genes for a ton of different conditions, diseases, carrier statuses, etc, among things like ancestry and physical characteristics.
I haven’t decided how much I want to share yet, but one thing that I found interesting was my genetic weight:
It said that my genes predispose me to weigh about 3% more than average. According to 23 & Me, the average weight of a 5’4″ woman of European descent is 151 pounds (3% higher would be about 155.5).
I was at 142.4, which is only down 0.6 pounds from last week. My clothes are looser and I don’t feel puffy, so I thought I’d see a bigger loss. But I’m not going to quit doing what I’m doing. I know, as much as anybody, that you can do all the right things one week and lose five pounds, then do the exact same things another week and not lose anything.
I do feel a million times better since eating healthier, though. I’ve even been sleeping better and running feels easier! Maybe it’s just in my head, but I think I see a difference in the mirror, too. A lot of my clothes are still on the tight side, but that’s because they fit really well at 130-135 pounds–for a while there, I was really worried I might have to buy bigger clothes. Considering how I feel right now, I really don’t want to screw it up for a few Oreos or something; I’m going to keep on doing what I’m doing and hope that everything takes care of itself.
Last week, I said I was going to increase my daily run from one block (0.4 miles) to two blocks (0.5 miles). Physically, it was no big deal; mentally, though, I was loving the “just one time around the block” rule. I wanted to give it a week and then decide that I could go back to one block if I wanted.
I ran two blocks every day this week and now, I don’t think Joey will be very understanding if we cut back, haha. He’s so used to our routine every morning. I can already picture the disappointment in his eyes if we cut out the extra block 😉 So, we’ll continue with the half-mile daily runs.
I can’t wait for it to warm up outside. Right now, with all the layers I wear, it takes me longer to get ready to run than it does to actually complete the it!
