I Confess! I’m Embarrassed! I Need to Lose A Few Pounds — Sitting on My Butt Too Much Writing My Book SUGAR SHOCK!

Maybe this is what I get for waking up much earlier than before, but I’m feeling in a confessional, blog-writing mood!

Look, I’m not proud of the situation I’m in, but I have a problem, and it is this: I need to go on a diet and lose a few pounds!

I’m finally facing the the facts — now that I, at long last, have finished my book SUGAR SHOCK! and now that my hugely stressful deadlines have passed. (Well, there’s still TONS to do on the book but the hardest part is over.)

Now don’t jump to conclusions about my weight gone awry:

• I’m NOT really overweight. (Just in my mind. But, I’m not nearly as slim and fit as I used to be. Though actually, I did get a really nice compliment last night on my figure! (‘Course all I could think is, "What is this person thinking?") But seriously, where are those turning heads when I walk by? LOL! (Anyhow, while most think I look fine, maybe somewhat slim and shapely, I don’t, because I really did used to be slim about 6 to 9 months back.)
• …And NO, I do NOT eat sugar — never, ever, ever. But, well, shall we say, perhaps I didn’t handle the past 6 months or so of major book stress as well as I could have. Hey, I’m human, right?

Part of my dilemma is that I’ve had about 4 injuries in three years. First, I severely injured my back about 3 years ago (while sitting too much, working on my book — we’re talking some 15 hours a day! Alas, I still need to be careful of my back, because all this sitting working on the book for hours on end (even if I get up often) tends to make it hurt. (Ugh, years ago, I was in incredible agony, getting shots, physical therapy, etc. So that made working out hard.)

Then, I nicely recovered, got back in shape, more trim until a couple of years ago, I badly injured my knee — tearing the ligament. Really painful! Then, I underwent months of physical therapy and it just didn’t heal as quickly as it should have. (There went my regular exercise routine.)

As if that wasn’t enough, just as my knee was healing and I was back to physical activity galore and getting more trim and fit, I sprained my ankle — on a pothole in Manhattan, no less! (So exercise again had to take a back seat to physical therapy and biking even bothered either the knee or ankle.)

Finally, while on severe book deadlines a few months ago, I injured my shoulder and elbow — believe it or not just from a keyboard! Yeah, I wore out the old keyboard; got a new one; and the keystrokes required more pumping on the keys. That triggered immense pain, which my acupuncturist helped me rid of. A new keyboard helped, too. But, let’s face it, all this typing and using my mouse just isn’t good for my shoulder. (We won’t even discuss my years-ago history with carpal tunnel syndrome and tendenitis when I was a daily newspaper reporter.)

So, I’m now doing what I tell others to do — sugary soul searching — except sugar really isn’t the issue for me — well, unless we count the fruit I eat, which at times, has been too much. Here are some more reasons why I gained weight:

• Working out less: I had to stop working out with a fitness trainer due to all the injuries. Then all the book work kept me from seeing a trainer. So I wasn’t in as good a shape.
• Not enough sleep and too late to bed: Shame on me, but I just didn’t get enough sleep while working on deadlines. What’s more, I didn’t go to bed early enough. (I’m a night oil and love working late into the night.)
• Stress & Cortisol: I’ve been under huge stress so who knows what the heck happened to my cortisol levels. No one should go through the stress I’ve been through with this book for nearly 5 years.
• Late-Night Snacking: Speaking of late at night, ugh, well, sometimes, when on deadlines, etc., I did late-night eating — say, I’d have a large organic apple with almond nut butter; goat’s milk yogurt with an apple, cinnamon and some chopped nuts. Ah heck, if truth be told, there were times I just ate too much for a bedtime snack. Not good to do before you go to bed.
• Too Much Fruit & Fruit-y, Sugar-Free Snacks: Another confession. A few months back, I experimented with some snacks that, well, I just had no business eating. For instance, I tried dried fruits (which are darn hard to put down). Before that, these brown rice cakes hooked me. And lately, these interesting, nutty, probably-calorie-filled, sugarfree snacks have beckoned to me from their shelves in health food stores. Shame on me.
• My Hypoglycemia & Need to Snack Frequently: Oops. Totally forgot to post this earlier. The other challenge I face is that I need to eat every three to four hours, because if I don’t, I get headachy, dizzy and lightheaded. So I have to make my snacks even smaller now to lose weight.

So those were my dietary and lifestyle sins — late-night eating, stress eating, not enough sleep, too much fruit, no-no eating, and not enough exercise and strength training due to injuries and getting out of the habit! Phew!

Well, I’m determined to lose the 8 pounds, starting today. Yeah, that’s how much I feel I need to lose — which shocks me — since it’s been years (in college?) that I’ve been this high weight-wise. Actually, I probably only really need to lose about 4, but I want to be slim and fit AGAIN.

So what exactly are the numbers I’m talking about? Oh no, more embarrassment. OK, I’m 5′ 6 1/2" and I’m all the way up to 132 pounds! Gulp! I need to be back to at least 124 pounds.

Oops. I weigh one pound more today — I promised myself not to get on the scale this morning, because I did another naughty, late-night snack — had a lot of fresh, organic strawberries (some frozen) and frozen blueberries, blended in with goat’s milk yogurt, some cinnamon, and some sliced almonds.)

Now you know my dirty little, book-stress-induced secret! I need to lose weight. I need to go on a diet pronto!

Anyhow, I guess if I shout out to the world my dilemma (on my very public blog!), I bet I’ll be downright embarrassed not to do something about it — and PRONTO!

So, you see, yours truly — who’s dedicated to helping others kick their sugar habit — can have her own food issues as well.

Wow, I feel better. I’ve actually been sort of hiding this up until now, but now the world knows, Connie, the kick-sugar coach and holistic health counselor, needs to lose a few pounds herself!

Feel free to cheer me on!

Go ahead and send advice, tips and words of encouragement — especially if you’re a nutritionist or doctor.

Julia Havey, help me, please. Jimmy Moore, send your inspirational words. Fellow holistic health counselors, spread your messages.

But, I’m serious. No more complaining will you hear from me! Hey, I even started an informal dieting/ weight-loss support group with people from school (Institute for Integrative Nutrition), where I just graduated.

I will do it. I will lose the 8-9 pounds within 1 to 2months! You have my word. After all, I’m supposed to set an example, right, as I have for eight years! (Can you believe I’ve been mostly off sugar that long?)

Again, remember, while I do need (OK, want) to lose weight, I still do set an example to you. I choose healthy foods (organic, whenever possible) and I do NOT eat processed sugar — just fruit — and I’m thinking about cutting that out for a few weeks to kickstart this weight loss.

Anyhow, I’m excited, determined and committed to lose the weight and to get back in shape again. I can see myself slim again and fitting into my favorite jeans, which used to be loose!

I’m also really thrilled that I’m now back to working out twice a week with my fitness trainer. Yeah, I’m starting to get back in shape again, despite my former knee, ankle and shoulder woes. I’m planning on taking a dance class once or twice a week. I’m getting new sneakers so I can go longer on the ellyptical trainer (I have to ease into it, because still more than 10 minutes hurts my knee). And I’m even getting ready to play tennis again. I’m gonna start yoga if I can, given my back situation. Oh, and I’m planning on going water skiing soon, too.

Feel free to join me on this fun, weight loss adventure! Yeah, I plan to have fun and to enjoy my nutritious, health food in very, very polite portions so I can peel off the pounds.