Life After Hurricane Sandy: The Tri-State Rebuilds

Welcome to WABC TV’s Reset Your Life: A Healthier You blog! It follows the popular show "Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition" with host Chris Powell on ABC as well as other timely health issues as they come up in the headlines. As a bonus, you will also find meal plans, exercise routines and music playlists throughout the different posts to help get you motivated to reset your life! I wanted to start this blog, because like thousands of women in the tri-state, I too have struggles and triumphs with weight.

I have had major weight losses and gains in the last 11 years. The highs and lows on the scale correspond with the highs and lows I've experienced through school and college, work and the challenges of adult life. I am on my own new journey once again to get healthy. People are beginning to notice my new look and give me amazing compliments!  It definitely helps and keeps me going as I continue my journey!  THANK YOU!

It's been a month since Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of New York and New Jersey and I have struggled until now to write about it and how it has affected all of us.I hope you and your family are doing well.  It was horrible and the process of recovering and rebuilding will be long and exhausting. There's a new estimate the storm will cost close to $42-billion for New York and $37-billion for New Jersey to rebuild, restore and prepare for the next storm. I am fortunate I never lost power and had heat through the storm and the days following.  Still, I've been overcome by the heart-breaking images across our area. There are lots of people in some very bad situations.  There hasn't been a day when we haven't shared a story of someone who lost everything. Thousands of people managed through mass transit issues, gas rationing and power problems. After all of that, hundreds of people are still not back on their feet and mass transit isn't fully restored and won't be for awhile.  There have also been some amazing heart-warming stories of kindness and giving through it all.  No matter what, the tri-state will overcome.  New Yorkers and New Jerseyans are fighters and resilient, but it's a tough one this time.  

It's been a very tense time for us all.  For the first two weeks, I was either at work or at home watching all of our coverage and news conferences by Governor Chris Christie, Governor Chris Cuomo, Governor Dannel Malloy and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. When I had time to get my head above the chaos of breaking news and think about what really happened to thousands of people, I ended up getting very emotional. I also found myself stress-eating in the process. Some of my friends shared with me they did the same thing.  It was just easier to eat a box of cookies than think about what really just happened. 

I've shared with you the deaths in my family over the last year and how I let it lead to my stress overeating.  I gained weight over the loss of my cat in January and my Uncle Tommy in April. I did not let myself fall into the trap of overeating, though, when my Aunt Jackie passed away in August. I told myself there will always be disappointments in life and I cannot let it be my trigger to get unhealthy.  Then, at the end of October, I let myself go again with Hurricane Sandy.  I ate pizza, burgers, tacos and BBQ over a period of five days. I also snacked on candy, donuts and chips left around the newsroom, all in the vein of trying to get through it and find comfort. 

I had a previously-scheduled doctor's appointment the first week of November as part of my regular accountability checkup.  She said she was happy with my progress in my journey and both my BMI and Body Fat Percentage decreased compared to last month. I'm actually surprised the scale didn't show a setback.  It definitely felt like it should.  And there's this thought-- how much more success would I have had over the last month if I didn't fall into the emotional eating??!!

Now comes the process of jumping out of this cycle.  I've found once we let ourselves begin eating things we shouldn't, it gets more difficult to go back to finding joy in healthier habits.  The same thing happens in reverse when we get healthy and work out.  We feel so good, it's hard to go back to unhealthy habits, right? 

If you are a displaced victim of Hurricane Sandy, I can't even imagine how difficult it must be to stay on your path of healthy eating.  I know you're just thankful to have a plate of warm food, no matter the calorie count. I definitely give you a pass in this situation, but hope you can get back on track as the tri-state heads back toward normalcy. 

If you would like to help victims of Hurricane Sandy, call 1-800-Red-Cross or go to redcross.org/abc.  You can also text ABC to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

Follow me on Twitter! @carminmarie

I'll see you here soon with more encouraging weight loss stories and health news.

**This program is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with your doctor for treatment of any medical condition and before beginning any diet or exercise regimen.**

 

Comments

[how to get motivated to lift weights]

Hurricane sandy really affects the health of the people.. all suffers to the sudden change in the health and really it becomes a serious problem for the health.. hope everything will be better soon..

[Transform You]

In any disaster recovery, health becomes a top concern. People scrounge for whatever food they can come by. In the instances where they are able to leave the disaster areas fast food and unhealthy choices quickly climb the list. Keep up your motivation it is your best weapon to meet success!

[Debbie]

I pray for everybody affected by the hurricane. It is an emotional time for all of us. I love the advice from Carmiin reminding us to try and stay with our healthier eating habits. It will keep us stronger emotionally and physically when continue with our healthy eating patterns.

[Sherry Schultz]

In the circumstances where they are able to keep the problems places ready made meals and harmful options quickly go up the list.

[Kimberly Smith]

It will keep us more powerful actually and psychologically when continue with our healthy eating styles.

[Molly Stevens]

Luckily my family, friends and employees are all doing well. When preparing for the Hurricane my business was pretty much guaranteed to get some sort of damage but we really had no idea it would be as bad as it was. The cost of bringing our business back to life has been much more than we expected so I'm sure everyone affected is hurting in the same way. Between fixing the exterior of the building, the flooding and the money we spent on disaster recovery services it was definitely hard on us. Luckily we are back up and running and hopefully everyone else is on their way back to normal as well.