staying the course

Nearly six weeks ago, I commited to getting at least 30 minutes of continuous exercise a minimum of 5 days a week. I have managed to honor that goal and I am really proud of myself. The goal is about changing my lifestyle and getting healthier. It is also about trying to lose all the weight I put on over the past ten years of neglect and riding the diet roller coaster. Trying to do this with a positive non-diet approach. I have lost about 5 pound since I started but yesterday I made the mistake of getting on the scale at the gym and it told me I haven't lost any more weight in the past two weeks. Of course it sunk my mood and pulled me right back into that diet mentality of exercising only to meet a goal. It dampened my commitment a bit and made me feel a little hopeless which is objectively ridiculous but nonetheless true.

Here is the thing about my current commitment to fitness and trying to lose weight. I am about to start IVF after 5 attempts through natural IUI (intrauterine insemination) my fertility doctor has decided we should move on to IVF now. I am lucky enough to live in a state that encourages health insurance companies to cover fertility treatment so ironically the IVF will be covered while the IUI was not. The thinking on my doctor's part is that I am 40 and while my fertility hormone levels are all excellent, insurance companies have their actuarial tables and at some point they would probably cut me off because of my age. And of course my numbers will eventually change. So she encouraged me to seize the opportunity to do it now. Pregnancy suddenly became even more real than it had been and I realized that I was risking a very hard pregnancy and everything else if I didn't try to lose some weight and get into better shape.