Journal Entry: Change Needed

May 15, 2024

I’ve been contemplative for years about finally getting a handle on my health, but now is the time. Earlier 2023 my doctor diagnosed me with Diabetes. Though, my Pre-diabetic diagnosis should have led me to make changes... Sugar and sweets have been my ongoing weakness. I don’t eat too badly, but I do enjoy sauces and sweet treats, especially chocolate. Those have been my primary downfall with the admittance that my body type does not allow me the luxury to be lazy. As I’ve aged, I have to workout. When I don’t, I easily put on weight.

The past few months have been an experience - because all I do is eat out. It doesn’t help that I spend money every single day at work for lunch. I don’t monitor any of my sodium or sugar intake. With the way I’ve been living, anyone would think that I didn’t care. In the background of my mind, I knew I needed to make changes, but I didn’t want to lose out on the enjoyment of life through what I ate. 

I’ve gotten healthy through other workout regimens in the past. The last time I committed to a  fitness routine was in 2019 when I lost more than 20 pounds relying mostly on cardio. My strict diet consisted of no sweets, and I only consumed vegetables and protein. That plan worked for almost 6 months until I got a promotion and my job moved to another area with no gym within the immediate vicinity. Before the promotion, I worked in Stone Mountain and went to the gym about 2 to 3 times a week after the end of my shift. My new job was about the same mileage away from my home, but in Marietta. I live within the city of Atlanta just to give you an idea of proximity. At the time, there weren’t many affordable gyms in the Marietta area, which slowly began to change about 2 years into this management position. The promotion left me with no physical outlet with little time to actually go to the gym because most of my time was spent traveling to and from work or studying for certification that pertained to my job. The traffic was horrible at the end of my day in Marietta. I have to admit that this job was much more stressful and left me with no motivation to even want to work out. I’m always a high performer and my goal at the time was to prove to myself that I could do that job to the best of my ability. That left fitness and health at the bottom of my list.

I’ve since left that job and started with a new company last March (2023). My job and change in employment has allowed for my leisure time to be freed up a bit. Now, I’m able to prioritize things that I want. Though, time management has been my current struggle. Today is the day when I want to begin changing my eating habits and totally let go of sweets. I want to go cold turkey for about a month, and then maybe re-incorporate dark chocolate in a lower capacity to offshoot some of my sweet cravings. 

Let’s see how this goes!