“If you are not willing to learn, no one can help you. If you are determined to learn, no one can stop you.” – Zig Ziglar
Man this journey of going from a college athlete to a VERY active 20-30 year old, playing any sport I could, to having surgeries, changing careers and putting on weight throughout the process has really been a tough transition.
Growing up, I never worried about my weight. Are you kidding? All I did was play. When I was younger my family was always active. I played t-ball when I was old enough. I was always riding my bike or swimming or even at the river just being a river rat playing on the tubes and floating down the river. I’m sure there was down-time but that’s not what I remember.
When I was in about 3rd grade I started playing basketball with the boys (4 boys on the floor and one girl was required in that league). Next up I got in to traveling volleyball in 5th grade and then summer league softball and it just escalated from there. I was always playing something. My parents must have just been overwhelmed with my schedule. I guess I never thought much of it growing up. It was just what I did. By the time I went to college to play volleyball, I was just an athlete – a jock if I might. One day my volleyball team was talking about what kind of “butts” everyone had. A couple of them laughed and said they had “bubble butts”. I ask them what kind of butt I had and they said I had a “muscly butt”. That was just how I was built.
After college I still played volleyball – a lot of time in the sand. Then I found a basketball league. I subbed on a softball team and I even found a flag football league. I was never worried about putting on weight. I had never had to worry about it before and so long as I was active, I never had to worry about it.
Then I started having surgeries to repair sports-related injuries and I put on a little weight. I was still able to play sports though and once I was back active the weight (mostly) just melted right off. We will say I went from a 4-6 to a 6-8 and I wasn’t mad about it. Eventually though, my pain was too intense and I had a couple more surgeries, I got a boyfriend and did a career change. This was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. I put on a little bit of weight, then a little more and then I felt helpless as I continued to put on more and more weight.
You see, growing up, nobody ever told me WHY you drink so much water. They never told me you need water to break down fat. Nobody ever told WHY you shouldn’t eat so much sugar. They never told me your insulin spikes when you eat sugary foods and stops breaking down fat while it is breaking down the sugary foods. These are all things I came upon in my research about what I should and shouldn’t be eating.
Don’t get me wrong, I tried Weight Watchers and found that they gave more value to whole foods and less to sugary and processed foods. I have known there is value in certain foods that there isn’t in other foods for a long time. That said, I didn’t realize what happened when you ate the different kinds of foods. I always thought it was calories in vs calories out. It was only recently that I came up on a TikTok’r who was doing research on what foods cause sugar spikes. Only then did I Google “What effect do sugar spikes have on burning fat?”. Then I learned about the insulin and what effect it had on burning fat.
Now, I’m not an expert and I’m still learning. I’m sure some day I will look back at this blog and be like, “Oooo, I was so close to the truth.” What I do know is that since I’ve learned about sugar spikes and paid more attention to minimalizing the sugar I’ve been eating, my weight has dropped some. My clothes fit better within the 2-3 week period I’ve been paying attention to this one little thing. I also know that it hasn’t even been that difficult. I still eat quite a bit of food. It’s just whole foods. When I’m done I’m usually full. Sometimes I find myself craving something sweet and I have still been eating a sweet thing here and there. I’m just choosing what time of day to eat it.
The one other thing I have been trying to do, and it may not seem like a big deal to some people because they don’t do it often, is stop drinking alcohol. It’s so easy to get into the habit of drinking every night. Once I have a drink I find myself wanting another and then I’m hungry or wanting to soak up the alcohol so I eat something and it’s a whole, unhealthy, high-calorie habit. I honestly think this has been the best thing I have done for weight-loss yet. Some day, when I reach my goals, hopefully I will be able to have a drink when I go out with my friends, recover and still maintain my goal. For now I need to avoid the alcohol in order to reach my goal.
Mostly I’m trying to keep learning. As I learn I will pass along the information to anybody who will listen and hopefully learn more along the way from people who have been doing the same thing I have.