Fitness Fatigue

I have not done a Monday fitness update for a couple of weeks I think, mainly because I haven’t had anything good to say. I have been officially “on a diet” for 4 weeks and I’ve gained 3 pounds. I don’t think that is the way it is supposed to work. I have tracked my weight faithfully for a month yet, when it comes time to make a decision about eating, I basically say “fuck it” and eat whatever I want.

It’s totally self-defeating and I know it at the time I make the decision and again the next morning when I do my weigh-n. I went for a week without chocolate which is good, but that followed a week of too much chocolate. I go to the gym 5 to 6 times a week yet, but then eat an apple fritter at the grocery store.

Some of my pants still fit, most of them do, but one pair which was always a bit snug, is a bit snugger. (That might not be grammatically incorrect, but it is the truth.) There are a couple of pairs of pants that I use to measure the real change. I don’t know how much I should care, it is so frustrating that I can’t get my head around eating right. This morning, no last night, I made myself a very healthy lunch then proceeded to ignore it and got a grilled turkey and Swiss sandwich with potato salad and half of my boss’s French fries.

These are not the decisions of a person who wants to lose weight. They are the decisions of a person who just wants to have more sex, look better naked, and enjoy things a bit more. I know that if I don’t stress about my weight I will be happier, but if I gain weight I will be unhappy with myself and I will run slower which makes me upset even more.

My race is in one month. I need to get down to at least 208, that is only 6 pounds which is pathetic, but I’ve been bouncing around the 213 mark for a month and have not budged except upward.

I went for a five-mile run this morning and while I finished it only a minute and a half out of first place, I was a minute out of 3^rdplace. (This last sentence did not make much sense as I was not in a race this morning. It is more likely explained by the fact that I am sitting at my desk with my feet up, my headphones on for voice dictation, and I am very sleepy.)

I went for a five-mile run this morning. It was supposed to be 6 but I had to stop at Starbucks to use the bathroom. This is too much information, but there is a conflict when you realize you have to use the restroom when you are running. You want to run faster to get to the bathroom sooner, but the faster you run the more you bounce and the more, well, everything wants to get out. Luckily, I made it, but it wasn’t pretty.

I’m not making any grand commitments in this post, I am going to get back to logging all that I eat, and trying to make a few decisions that actually help me drop weight, but I’m not promising anything.

 

On a positive note, I sent a picture to a friend of mine and she said I was looking good, so that made me smile for a long time, and I'll try to build on that.

Be healthy my friends!

xoxo

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Fitness Update - Jan 7

Fitness Update, January 7, 2013

I will be the first to admit that it takes me a while to get going on a new fitness plan. And when I say fitness, I really mean eating. This year is no different and it might be the same for you. We set good goals of the beginning of the year and get discouraged quickly when we can stick to our lofty ideals. No chocolate.

No dairy. No cheese, no sweets, no sugar, no fat, no fun, no food.

We all set goals that we will not meet. We set goals we can never meet. So what do we do when the 7^th rolls around and we’ve had ice cream, we ate an extra cookie, we decimated a bag of Hershey’s chocolates, and the scale hasn’t budged.

I will tell you what we do, we keep going. There are 365 days in a year and I will not be deterred because the first seven of them did not go well. Have I made a great choices? No. Have I abandoned the bad habits that ruled my life between Halloween and New Year’s Eve day? No. Have I done any of the things that I said I would do? Not really.

So what? Do not be discouraged because the first week was not the perfect week. It never is. To be perfect is unrealistic; to be perfect is to buy a discouragement, to shoot for perfection is to guarantee failure, discouragement, and misery.

No, the goal is not perfection.  The goal is consistency of improvement. If you did not do well this week do better next week, if you ate too much today eat less tomorrow. If there is a half-eaten bag of chocolate candy in your drawer at work put it in the kitchen where others will eat it for you. If you can’t get skinnier, make others look fatter and you look better by comparison. Do what it takes to get a little bit better every week.

I know I will succeed on a eating plan when I don’t have to think about it too much. If I say no cookies and my daughter makes three batches for her friends and two for us, what am I going to do? I am going to eat a cookie, or two. Does that mean I need to sit down with a glass of milk a TV show and go through eight cookies? No it means I enjoy the cookies and then I brush my teeth and I’m done.

There is a myth about New Year’s resolutions that we are failures if we cannot keep them. This leads to the stereotypical jokes about making them only to have them fail. If we know that goals have built-in failure dates why do we make them? We make them because we know we should do things differently.

So let’s do things differently. I challenge everyone who is reading this post to add one of their goals to the comment section. Make it a goal you want others to know about. A good example would be, “I want to go to the gym three days a week.” Or, I will have two servings of vegetables on my plate and every dinner.” A bad example of a public goal would be, “I will stop embezzling from my company by Friday.” Or, “I will stop smoking so much pot as I fly my passengers across the Atlantic during the winter.” Some goals should be dealt with in private. Please deal with them, but don’t make my travel plans change because of your confession.

In fitness there are many things we can do that have nothing to do with the weight on the scale. Here are a few ideas.

I will drink more water

I will drink less soda (if something is less, it needs to be measured, so write it down)

I will eat less red meat

I will only use butter when necessary

If I cannot taste the cheese in a recipe I will remove it.

I do not need milk with every meal; I will replace it with water, green tea, or a healthy juice.

I will eat higher quality protein

I will eat at fast food restaurants no more than twice a week

Every time I eat fast food I will total all of the calories and the money I spent. (This alone will help change your habits)

I will buy by more fresh fruit.

I will buy less processed food.

I will not eat bologna for breakfast

I will walk more.

I will take the stairs instead of the elevator.

I will buy new walking/running/jogging/cycling shoes to keep my feet healthy.

I will challenge a friend to go to the gym with me.

I will tell my husband/lover/boyfriend/girlfriend/roommate about my goals and ask them to hold me accountable.

I will not get angry when they do it.

I will try a new exercise class.

I will sign up for an activity through my city parks and recreation department.

I will cut back on my alcohol consumption.

I will stop smoking.

I will stop smoking pot.

I will have more sex.

I will not eat meals standing up.

I will not eat in front of the television.

If somebody compliments me about my looks I will smile, and say “thank you.” I will not argue with them or debate the validity of the complement.

You should be able to do something on this list, or add your own; I hope these Monday posts can be helpful.

When I asked you to put a goal in the comment section I want you to feel publicly accountable for making change. Change can be big or small. A dear friend of mine purchased a pedometer and has committed to wearing it throughout the day. She does not need to have a goal as to the number of steps she 3takes; except that she should take more of them next week then she does this week. It is cold where she lives so along with the pedometer I suggest gloves and hat and good walking shoes. Can you walk to work or the grocery store instead of driving? Can I walk around the building before going in?

Small consistent changes are more effective than large changes that fail.

Come change with me and we will make 2013 a healthier and happier year. In the spirit of full disclosure, below you will see a picture or why I will not lose weight today.

On a side note, I did go for a nice long mountain trail run on Saturday.  6 miles in just over an hour, but I’m counting it as under an hour because I stopped to tie my shoe and take pictures.  I also went dancing that night at a friend’s birthday party, so that counts, and I was SORE on Sunday morning.  I’m not sure if it was the running or the dancing, but it felt good to be tired.

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Fitness Challenge – Week 2 – Well, that was awful.

OK, so here’s the short version.  I was bad, very very bad……

So there is my goals.

1 – Get to the Gym 4 days during the week and run on Saturday. - Complete

2 – Take my lunch 3 of 5 working days (save $$ and calories) – Not Complete.  I made my lunch 3 days, but forgot it and then went out out with ‘the group” and got a curry.

3 – Stay under my calorie allotment as calculated onwww.loseit.com 5 days a week not even close.  I was under 3 days, maybe, and on the days I was over, I was way over..

4 – Be in bed by 11:00 PM Sunday – Wednesday Complete (Does 11:05 count?)

How did you do?  Did you reach 1, 2, all your goals?  Did you meet any of them? 

If yes, GREAT!!!  Reward yourself with a new album from iTunes, a book for your Kindle, or some quiet time with a loved one, or your family, either one.

If not (like me), then what?  We have 7 weeks left, that’s almost two months of trying hard, getting better, learning discipline, and making progress.  So what if I’m up 5 pounds in the last month, that changes today.  I know what puts the weight on and I know what takes it off.

Do we quit? –NO

Do we get discouraged – HELL NO!

Do we wallow in self-pity/  - OH HELL NO!!!

What do we do? 

We make one change today.  And we make it now. 

We get up off the couch and go for a walk.  I don’t care if it’s noon or midnight, you get your sunscreen or your flashlight and you get out.  You bundle up and go.  Just 20 minutes, but you do something.  ANYTHING to get the blood flowing a little (and no, THAT) doesn't count.

Do something today.  Order a salad instead of a burger, buy non-fat instead of 2% milk, buy 5 extra apples and take one a day to work.  We are not going to change everything overnight, but we can change one thing now. 

Report in if you’d like or link us to your own post about your success and your struggle.

7 weeks till race day and we can do it, we can change, one decision at a time.

And, I'm sticking with my goals for another week.  Today is Day 31 all over again.

Next week we discuss Diet Rebellion or, "How I know better but keep eating anyway."

Here's a painfully detailed account of my week, it's not exciting, mostly just for me, but read if you like

Monday – not a bad day, 108 calories under budget, and a 40 min run

Tuesday –Forgot to log my dinner calories, I’m sure I was over.  I was “under” enough to have a Golden Spoon yogurt (so so so yummy), but then I got home to surprise birthday cake and ice cream.  I couldn’t refuse, seriously, I couldn’t.

Wednesday –Not horrible, but another yogurt, but another 40 min run

 Thursday – OK, this is where is seriously begins to fall apart.  I had a 1500 calorie breakfast.  OMGOSH!!!  I can’t believe I let her talk me into the peanut butter French toast with Bacon and a scrambled egg, and orange juice.  Add this to a “regular” lunch which I forgot to write down, 10   pieces of chocolate (dang that Halloween candy) and a follow-up slice of cake and ice cream and I was over my daily allotment before I even got home for dinner.  Even with my run in the morning.  Without that, yikes.

Friday – A team meeting hosted by me, so I had to get in to the office early, no run, no swim, nothing.  Breakfast for the team was fruit (good) muffins (iffy), and extra biscotti for me while picking up muffins (bad), a couple of cookies as I got the afternoon plate ready, and Chinese food for lunch, and another cookie or two in the afternoon.  A total disaster nutritionally and THEN I want to a Halloween party thrown by the “Church Friend” and had too much incredible chicken pasta, 1 strawberry filled cupcake, several pumpkin bars, some nuts, and well, I’m just ashamed at that point.

Saturday –  OK, I redeemed myself with a 10 mile run on Saturday, but that can only undo so much.  And the candy at the youth dance didn’t help matters much.

Sunday – Light breakfast, cheese and crackers snacks at choir practice, and an extra helping of home-made lasagna and 2 slices of pie, NONE of which was written down, put me at the end of the week UP 3 pounds.  

Crap.

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