I’m writing this blog because I expect the process of losing weight will take a long time and I want a way to track what worked and what didn’t. So, I was just re-reading a couple of my posts and I noticed a theme of honesty, that is, my current attempts to be honest with myself. This got me thinking about a “get to know your friends” questionnaire that my sister emailed me last week. You know the kind; it’s an email with a bunch of questions about your life, preferences, likes and dislikes. You’re supposed to answer the questions and return it to your friend as well as forward it to other friends who you want to learn more about.
Well, one of the questions was, “What characteristic do you despise?” and I didn’t even have to think about this one. I despise dishonesty. I try to keep it real… no it’s more than that. I think I’m honest to a fault sometimes, one of the character flaws that I’ve put a conscious effort into changing over the years. Anyway, re-reading my blog got me thinking that, though I find dishonesty in others detestable, and take pride in being an honest person myself, I’ve had no problem being dishonest with myself over the years, at least when it came to my weight-loss attempts. Why is it that I can be honest with everyone else but not with myself. Hmmm… I really don’t know. I need to think about that one.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
This time is different
I’ve been on many diets in the passed, most of them unsuccessful, and this is about the time I would normally be giving up on it. I’ve changed my eating habits, stopped drinking (more on this later) and have been working out, but only lost ~ 5 pounds during the first 2 weeks. Now, intellectually I know that 5 pounds in 2 weeks is pretty good, but like most people I wish the weight was coming off faster.
Regardless of my wishes for speedy weight-loss, this time is different. I’m not on a diet. I’m changing my lifestyle. I had always heard that the best way to achieve and maintain a weight-loss is not a diet but a lifestyle change. Though I understood what “lifestyle change” meant, I don’t think I was really ready for that before.
Change my lifestyle? You mean eat healthier? But I don’t like health food. I’ll just eat less, cut-out lunch for example. Be more active? But I’m so busy already. I’m a graduate student you know. I spend 12 or more hours a day in the lab. How am I supposed to fit a workout into my schedule?
Well, now things are different. I’m learning that I can eat healthier without turning into a granola-head (not that there’s anything wrong with granola, I love it personally). And, not having enough time to exercise in grad school was a crock. There was plenty of down-time between experiments, and I’m nowhere near as busy now as I was then. So that excuse is, and really never was a valid one.
If I’m being honest with myself, I just was not ready to make a lifestyle change. I was younger and just wanted to have fun. At the time, eating fattening food and drinking alcohol was fun. Shoot, it is fun. But now I’m trying to be conscious of the bigger picture. I’m going to be 40 years old in a couple months. It’s time for me to grow up and stop lying to myself about what I can and cannot do. It’s time for me to see what’s really important in life, my health is more important than that fried food and bottle of wine. It’s time for me to WORK for what I really want in the long-term, health, fitness, looking and feeling good about myself and being a person that I can be proud of. And it’s time to stop living in the freakin moment.
Regardless of my wishes for speedy weight-loss, this time is different. I’m not on a diet. I’m changing my lifestyle. I had always heard that the best way to achieve and maintain a weight-loss is not a diet but a lifestyle change. Though I understood what “lifestyle change” meant, I don’t think I was really ready for that before.
Change my lifestyle? You mean eat healthier? But I don’t like health food. I’ll just eat less, cut-out lunch for example. Be more active? But I’m so busy already. I’m a graduate student you know. I spend 12 or more hours a day in the lab. How am I supposed to fit a workout into my schedule?
Well, now things are different. I’m learning that I can eat healthier without turning into a granola-head (not that there’s anything wrong with granola, I love it personally). And, not having enough time to exercise in grad school was a crock. There was plenty of down-time between experiments, and I’m nowhere near as busy now as I was then. So that excuse is, and really never was a valid one.
If I’m being honest with myself, I just was not ready to make a lifestyle change. I was younger and just wanted to have fun. At the time, eating fattening food and drinking alcohol was fun. Shoot, it is fun. But now I’m trying to be conscious of the bigger picture. I’m going to be 40 years old in a couple months. It’s time for me to grow up and stop lying to myself about what I can and cannot do. It’s time for me to see what’s really important in life, my health is more important than that fried food and bottle of wine. It’s time for me to WORK for what I really want in the long-term, health, fitness, looking and feeling good about myself and being a person that I can be proud of. And it’s time to stop living in the freakin moment.
Week 2 Sunday wrap-up
I’m changing my wrap-up day to Sunday for a couple of reasons. 1) My computer was in the repair shop from Wednesday until yesterday, which was Monday. So I was unable to update my blog. 2) At Fitness Ridge the weigh-ins will be on Sundays anyway, so why not just start now? And 3) if I’m being completely honest with myself, the biggest reason is that by Friday I was only down 0.4 pounds for the week. Ughhhh! But by Sunday it was 1.4 pounds, which is much more acceptable.
My eating for the week was pretty good. I tried out a few new recipes; some great, some need a little tweaking. And though my husband still wants, “a side of steak” with a couple of them, I think he’s adjusting. If he gets hungry at night he’ll have a bowl of cereal.
My exercise was also okay last week. I did my week 1 running program 2 of the 3 suggested days, 60 minutes on the elliptical 3 days and one day of weights. I feel like I need to step it up, but I’ll be at Fitness Ridge in less than a week and will have no choice but to “step it up”.
My eating for the week was pretty good. I tried out a few new recipes; some great, some need a little tweaking. And though my husband still wants, “a side of steak” with a couple of them, I think he’s adjusting. If he gets hungry at night he’ll have a bowl of cereal.
My exercise was also okay last week. I did my week 1 running program 2 of the 3 suggested days, 60 minutes on the elliptical 3 days and one day of weights. I feel like I need to step it up, but I’ll be at Fitness Ridge in less than a week and will have no choice but to “step it up”.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Running for Beginners Week 1
This week is week one of my 8 week Running for Beginners program. Since I know nothing about running, I searched online for information on training for a 10K and found this program on about.com. This is what I’m supposed to do week one.
Week one: Walk for 6 minutes, then jog at an easy pace for 1 minute. Repeat 3 times. Aim for three sessions with that same sequence for week one.
Run for one minute. No problem right? I mean one minute, that so easy! Yeah right!!! I hadn’t run in years, and I was feeling it. It felt like I weighed a ton and like things were jiggling and jangling that shouldn’t be. I was at the gym, and though it was pretty empty I was still embarrassed that anyone was there to see this horrid sight. After the first minute of running I actually thought that I couldn’t do this and that I need to lose some weight before I attempt this again and that I’m too heavy to be running. Pathetic!!! But I’m not pathetic. I was determined to get through it, and I did. That is, I did day one on Monday. I’ll be repeating the whole thing on Wednesday and Friday. Also, I did the walk/run after an hour on the elliptical. Maybe I should’ve done the walk/run first, but I really like the elliptical and don’t want to skimp on that, so I am choosing to do that first.
Week one: Walk for 6 minutes, then jog at an easy pace for 1 minute. Repeat 3 times. Aim for three sessions with that same sequence for week one.
Run for one minute. No problem right? I mean one minute, that so easy! Yeah right!!! I hadn’t run in years, and I was feeling it. It felt like I weighed a ton and like things were jiggling and jangling that shouldn’t be. I was at the gym, and though it was pretty empty I was still embarrassed that anyone was there to see this horrid sight. After the first minute of running I actually thought that I couldn’t do this and that I need to lose some weight before I attempt this again and that I’m too heavy to be running. Pathetic!!! But I’m not pathetic. I was determined to get through it, and I did. That is, I did day one on Monday. I’ll be repeating the whole thing on Wednesday and Friday. Also, I did the walk/run after an hour on the elliptical. Maybe I should’ve done the walk/run first, but I really like the elliptical and don’t want to skimp on that, so I am choosing to do that first.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Shoes
I was reading Dee Dee's Weight Loss Journey blog last night and she suggested that FR attendees buy their hiking shoes early enough to break them in before getting up there. So I dashed out to Any Mountain and found these little beauties. Yes they’re cute, but I did try on at least 7 or 8 different pairs and these were the best fit. I have to say that the sales person who helped me was a gem! He was super patient, bringing out pair after pair with a smile on his face.
On another note, I don’t know how it happened but I’ve gotten myself into something that I’ll probably live to regret. I was on Facebook chatting with a couple of old buds from high school (actually one of them goes all the way back to junior high) about fitness and exercise. When I wasn’t looking I somehow agreed to set a goal of running a 10K. It’s the Wharf To Wharf in Santa Cruz CA on or around July 26th 2010. That sounds like a long way off, but I CAN’T RUN!!!
So, on top of the exercise goals I have already set for myself, I am going to start training for a 10K. :-? ::Shaking head:: There’s a lot of great information online about how to start training for these things. My program will be a three step process beginning this coming Monday, January 11th. I would have started already but I need to go out and buy another pair of shoes, this time I need a good pair of running shoes.
My running program:
Step 1:
An 8 week Get Started With Running program
Step 2:
An 8 week Train for Your First 5K program
Step 3:
An 8 week Train for Your First 10K program
I'm not sure how I'll keep up with these programs during the 4 weeks that I'm at Fitness Ridge, but I'll work it out.
On another note, I don’t know how it happened but I’ve gotten myself into something that I’ll probably live to regret. I was on Facebook chatting with a couple of old buds from high school (actually one of them goes all the way back to junior high) about fitness and exercise. When I wasn’t looking I somehow agreed to set a goal of running a 10K. It’s the Wharf To Wharf in Santa Cruz CA on or around July 26th 2010. That sounds like a long way off, but I CAN’T RUN!!!
So, on top of the exercise goals I have already set for myself, I am going to start training for a 10K. :-? ::Shaking head:: There’s a lot of great information online about how to start training for these things. My program will be a three step process beginning this coming Monday, January 11th. I would have started already but I need to go out and buy another pair of shoes, this time I need a good pair of running shoes.
My running program:
Step 1:
An 8 week Get Started With Running program
Step 2:
An 8 week Train for Your First 5K program
Step 3:
An 8 week Train for Your First 10K program
I'm not sure how I'll keep up with these programs during the 4 weeks that I'm at Fitness Ridge, but I'll work it out.
Week 1 Friday wrap-up
This week I did okay exercising, not excellent and not terrible, just okay. I did 60 minutes on the elliptical Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. What about Wednesday you ask. Well, I let the scale get me down a little on Wednesday. I know I probably shouldn’t get on the scale everyday but I can’t help it. It’s just sitting there in the bathroom asking for me to step on it every morning, so I do. As long as I see a drop, even if it’s only a fraction of a pound I’m okay. But on Wednesday I saw a small increase in the numbers which sapped my motivation to workout that day. It was only later that I realized the increase was probably due to the fact that it was that TOM this week.
That leads to the second part of the Friday wrap-up. I lost 3.4 pounds this week. That’s also not great but considering the above, I guess it could be worse. I don’t know if I retain water during TOM but it’s a good excuse for not losing more weight, don’t you think? :-?
My eating has been okay. I’m sticking to my assigned points, and haven’t spent much time hungry. I finally figured out how to find recipes on the WW site and have cooked a couple of new ones this week for dinner. I made a delicious chili, which I’ve never done before. The taste was wonderful but it’s a high-points recipe for a relatively small portion. So, to make the meal filling I served it over a large bed of lettuce and called it chili salad. I’d never served my husband a salad for dinner and he was a little put-off by it. All through dinner he kept giving me dirty looks, and asked for “a side of steak with that.” Hahaha!!! Please don't get the wrong idea about him. He's very supportive. He was only kidding. We joke around a lot.
That leads to the second part of the Friday wrap-up. I lost 3.4 pounds this week. That’s also not great but considering the above, I guess it could be worse. I don’t know if I retain water during TOM but it’s a good excuse for not losing more weight, don’t you think? :-?
My eating has been okay. I’m sticking to my assigned points, and haven’t spent much time hungry. I finally figured out how to find recipes on the WW site and have cooked a couple of new ones this week for dinner. I made a delicious chili, which I’ve never done before. The taste was wonderful but it’s a high-points recipe for a relatively small portion. So, to make the meal filling I served it over a large bed of lettuce and called it chili salad. I’d never served my husband a salad for dinner and he was a little put-off by it. All through dinner he kept giving me dirty looks, and asked for “a side of steak with that.” Hahaha!!! Please don't get the wrong idea about him. He's very supportive. He was only kidding. We joke around a lot.
Monday, January 4, 2010
I don't mind cliché
I know it’s a cliché, but I decided to start my weight loss program on January 1st. I joined Weight Watchers but am finding their online program a little tough. Part of the reason I have weight issues is that I don’t know how to cook healthy food. I need some healthy recipes to follow, to build up a repertoire of healthy options. Well, I’ve been unable to figure out how to access recipes. Plus, they didn’t actually give me a menu to follow! WTF? What kind of diet is that? The thing that they made super easy was counting points. I’ve been tracking my points, and doing really well with that. So, I’ve been looking for recipes on my own, online then imputing the information into the Points Tracker. So far I haven’t felt too hungry, so I guess so far so good.
As for my exercise, well I’m going to start with my elliptical, 60 minutes Monday through Friday. Also I’ve been reading a woman’s blog who loves The Firm Body Sculpting System DVDs. So, I ordered a bunch of those and will incorporate them into my workouts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I hope that will suffice for the weight/resistance portion of my workouts for now.
I’ll weigh-in on Fridays and will be sure to post at least weekly until I leave for Fitness Ridge. Once I’m at FR I’ll try to post daily, though I may be too tired sometimes.
As for my exercise, well I’m going to start with my elliptical, 60 minutes Monday through Friday. Also I’ve been reading a woman’s blog who loves The Firm Body Sculpting System DVDs. So, I ordered a bunch of those and will incorporate them into my workouts on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I hope that will suffice for the weight/resistance portion of my workouts for now.
I’ll weigh-in on Fridays and will be sure to post at least weekly until I leave for Fitness Ridge. Once I’m at FR I’ll try to post daily, though I may be too tired sometimes.
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