Walking Away

This morning I woke up earlier than normal. I got dressed in black stretchy pants, brushed my teeth and woke up my husband. Then, I put on my walking shoes and hit the pavement outside of the neighborhood. We walked three miles. Not much by many standards, but for me, it might as well have been a marathon. I was huffing and puffing and begging my husband to run home and bring the van around to pick me up. He refused. I completed my three miles, with sweat dripping and feet aching. And mind you, this is flat pavement. Totally flat. A sidewalk actually. We aren’t talking about strenuous hiking trails or any uphill climbs. And still, my feet were ablaze by the time I heaved myself onto the porch and through the front door. I wanted to collapse in the blast of cold air conditioner. I refrained, mainly because Isaiah was standing there in the foyer and I didn’t want to scare him…although I’m sure the mere sight of me was enough to do just that. When I took off my shoes, I discovered that I have an enormous water blister on the side of my right pinky toe. I think I need better shoes. A shopping trip is in order.

You see, here is the situation. I am a couch potato. When asked to describe my activity level, I have to regretfully check the box that reads “sedentary.” I hate to admit it, but that’s the one that describes me. Case in point, Albert and I have been the proud owners of the P90X series since Christmas. To date, we’ve watched it once. And that was the instructional DVD. The only weights I’ve ever lifted, is schlepping the infant car seat back and forth when our children are babies- though I submit the argument that when babies near the one year mark, the weight of their bodies in those seats should totally count as a workout.

I’ve always been chunky but for most of my adult life, it’s been under at least decent control. I mean, I was never going to be asked to appear in any fitness magazines but I could still buy cute clothes in regular women’s sizes and looked okay, so I was fine with that. I have gained and lost and gained and lost but my weight has been reasonable, at least. Until now. Now, its pretty much out of hand. Being pregnant every year since 2005 and having six babies in five years has really taken its toll. I’ve been meaning to eat right and exercise, but at the end of the day when I lay the last little kid down to bed, I’m exhausted and there are a million things that seem like they should be higher on the priority list then exercising. And waking up early to fit in a work-out before the kids wake up? Are you smoking crack? Sleep is hard enough to come by in this house. Who in the hell would voluntarily surrender some of it? Well, it turns out…me. Because something has to change.
Albert was diagnosed with diabetes last year. And until now, we’ve done nothing, at least nothing lasting, to improve the way that we eat or to help either of us lose any weight. At his last check-up, our doctor actually told him that the levels of his blood sugar were “not compatible with a long life.” That was scary to hear. And yet the rib grilling, McDonald’s eating continued. Both of our weights are totally out of control right now. And frankly, the little kids keep asking both of us if there are any new babies in our bellies. That’s no fun (especially for Albert). He’s on two medications and still his diabetes is not under control. We have ten children. Four daughters who are counting on their Dad to walk them down the aisle one day. Boys who are counting on him to do all the things Dads do. Like wait in line for seven hours at the American Idol audition sign-ups in a thunderstorm, or stand just outside the end-zone yelling and screaming at your little league football game. And high-school. And hopefully college.
It’s not fair to them, to our kids, to not get this disease under control. It’s not fair to them to basically tell them that ribs and burgers were more important than being around to see them grow and to see them become parents and to watch their children grow. It’s not fair to them not to get healthy and lose this weight.

Diabetes runs in both our families. Since Albert has it now, and the doctor is telling him that his sugars are not compatible with a long life…who is next in line to get it if we don’t make some major changes? As parents, we can’t live with that. If we make the decision not to do something about it, its condemning our children to a far greater likelihood of the same fate. And that’s not okay.



On a purely superficial but very real note, when I visit my sisters in Tennessee, I’m totally the fat sister. The sister who looks completely different than the other two, who can wear short shorts, cropped shirts and tiny dresses. One of my sisters actually went out dressed in what appeared to be a pair of bloomers. And got compliments. Okay, so our mom was the one paying the bloomer compliment, but you get the point. I, the Fat Sister, had to wear a long dress, down to my ankles…one that was supposed to ‘float away” from the body but when your ass looks like mine, there is no floating away happening. My amazing husband told me I looked beautiful all night long, and bless his heart, even made “My Wife Is Beautiful,” his face book status. Of course, an hour later my sister sneaked his phone away and added “but my sister-in law is hot!” to his post, but I digress…

Yesterday we walked four miles. Not at one time. We did half in the morning and half at night. Today so far we have walked three. We also went grocery shopping and filled up our house with healthy foods. This meant walking right past all the potato chips and junk. We now have a fridge full of veggies, fruit, yogurt and chicken breasts for grilling.

Also today, my shins are killing me, and the blisters on my feet are ridiculous. But we’re keeping at it. This is day two. The goal here is that Albert will be able to wean off his diabetes medications as he hopefully will not need them anymore. And hopefully we’ll both loose a decent amount of weight along the way. Because I want us to be healthy…and to be here for our children for a long time….and cute clothes for fall.