Thank you, for the encouragement and positive words. I feel much better after a weekend of not stressing or obsessing about exercise, weight, food or scales. Not that I went off the deep end with my eating - I've actually done pretty well. But, I haven't tracked everything I'm eating. I'm realizing this may not be the best way for me to go.
For dinner tonight, I roasted a bag of cut broccoli, carrots and cauliflower with a little bit of celery salt, garlic salt and a spray of olive oil. I then dipped them in light sour cream. They were SO good! I got the idea from a cookbook I borrowed from the library. Not the sour cream part, tho, that just occurred to me while I was taking the pan out of the oven because the veggies looked dried out and I wanted something wet but not overly high in fat/calories to dip them in. It was perfect - I'm looking forward to having them that way again! I also had one corn tortilla and half a cup of fat-free refried beans. I feel so full and I know I got quite a lot of fiber with very little fat. I'm pleased and can easily eat that for dinner a couple nights a week.
The best part of my weekend was this morning. I had planned on doing a hike along the river today, since it was nice and sunny and I've been planning on doing this for weeks but today was the first decent day. However, my daughter had a teen writer's meeting to attend and the baby wasn't feeling well. So, I decided to do one of my forgotten exercise DVD's and then do a shorter walk at the park later in the afternoon, after the meeting. I decided to do "Cardio Inferno" thinking I would do as much as I could and then do a yoga DVD as a follow-up. Well, not only did I do the entire workout, I was easily able to keep up, didn't feel like I was going to pass up and it felt GREAT! I am in so much better shape than the last time I'd done a cardio DVD, it was actually FUN to do the workout. Its amazing what being in a little better shape can do. I never realized before just how painful it is do be active when you're out of shape compared with being in better shape. Now I can understand why people who are active stay active by choice and call hiking/swimming/etc. a hobby and fun rather than "exercise." Its not such a chore when it isn't as painful to do.
I still followed up with the Yoga video and felt WONDERFUL for it.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Easing Up
I'm easing up on myself today. I'm going to do housework instead of a workout. I'm going to eat what I want today, within the boundaries of my kitchen (which, fortunately, doesn't offer much in the way of junk food). I'm still going to journal what I eat, but if I go up to 2000 calories today, so be it.
The scale didn't budge at all this morning. I even tried NOT having a diet soda and just drinking water last night, thinking the sodium in the diet soda was causing me to retain water. No go. But, that's okay. Well, not okay, it's still disappointing, but okay in that it doesn't really matter in the long run and I know that. One of the reasons I am giving myself the day off is to force myself to stop obsessing about it. And, yes, I did finally throw my scale up into the closet :). We'll see where I am next Thursday, but I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing, with exercising most days of the week and tracking my food intake. It'll work, I just have to be patient.
The scale didn't budge at all this morning. I even tried NOT having a diet soda and just drinking water last night, thinking the sodium in the diet soda was causing me to retain water. No go. But, that's okay. Well, not okay, it's still disappointing, but okay in that it doesn't really matter in the long run and I know that. One of the reasons I am giving myself the day off is to force myself to stop obsessing about it. And, yes, I did finally throw my scale up into the closet :). We'll see where I am next Thursday, but I'm just going to keep doing what I've been doing, with exercising most days of the week and tracking my food intake. It'll work, I just have to be patient.
Weigh-In
So, my official weigh-in weight is 170.8. That's up more than a pound from last week. This doesn't make sense - I have eaten between 1500 and 1520 calories for the past week. I have exercised all but one day, twice burning more than 1000 calories. How am I gaining weight? I guess I could be retaining water. I know muscles carry more water than fat... I just would have thought that I'd be burning more fat than building muscle right now. Frustrating. I know I need to ignore it and move on, but it is disheartening.
Nevermind, I'll still go to the gym today. There was a moment, while brushing my teeth this morning, that I wanted to give up and not go to the gym and not worry about what I eat and not care if I gain or lose, but that was short lived. I've worked too hard to give up now. I don't like the fact that I weigh more now than I did 2 months ago. I don't like that I seem to be getting absolutely no where with this despite my efforts. But, if I give up now I definitely won't see a turnaround, whereas if I keep going, there is bound to be some changes. Its scientific, right? Its impossible to eat less than you burn off and not eventually lose weight, right?
Besides all that, I need to concentrate on the real value of exercise, which is feeling better physically, being stronger, burning off negative energy and being overall healthier. They say moderate exercise over time can improve your life expectancy and your quality of life. I wholeheartedly believe that. So, why am I hung up on some numbers on a scale? What means more, feeling good or weighing a certain number? I walked 8 miles yesterday. I couldn't say that a year ago. I couldn't even say I walked 4 miles a year ago. And I know that eventually I will walk the 10 miles I wanted to walk. In fact, I'll try again in a couple weeks to see if I can make it to 10 miles. That's much more important than whether I weigh 170 or 168.
Nevermind, I'll still go to the gym today. There was a moment, while brushing my teeth this morning, that I wanted to give up and not go to the gym and not worry about what I eat and not care if I gain or lose, but that was short lived. I've worked too hard to give up now. I don't like the fact that I weigh more now than I did 2 months ago. I don't like that I seem to be getting absolutely no where with this despite my efforts. But, if I give up now I definitely won't see a turnaround, whereas if I keep going, there is bound to be some changes. Its scientific, right? Its impossible to eat less than you burn off and not eventually lose weight, right?
Besides all that, I need to concentrate on the real value of exercise, which is feeling better physically, being stronger, burning off negative energy and being overall healthier. They say moderate exercise over time can improve your life expectancy and your quality of life. I wholeheartedly believe that. So, why am I hung up on some numbers on a scale? What means more, feeling good or weighing a certain number? I walked 8 miles yesterday. I couldn't say that a year ago. I couldn't even say I walked 4 miles a year ago. And I know that eventually I will walk the 10 miles I wanted to walk. In fact, I'll try again in a couple weeks to see if I can make it to 10 miles. That's much more important than whether I weigh 170 or 168.
Only 8
Alas, I only made it to just over 8 miles. It was much harder than I had thought it would be. It took me just shy of 3 hours to get that far and by then I had blisters on both feet and my calf musles were cramping up. I still feel sore. I could barely walk across the house afterward. I also burned 1110 calories, according to the machine. I even did some upper body work while I was walking.
I ate a little extra after dinner to make up for the calories but I still only ate 1500 calories today. I feel exhausted, but happy with my efforts despite not making it to the 10 mile marker. I will try again in another month or so.
I think I'll just do some stationary bike work at the gym tomorrow, to give myself a bit of a break and save my poor feet from any additional blisters.
I really hope I see some movement on the scale soon. I realized yesterday that I first got to 169 in November - 3 months! I haven't made any real progress in 3 months. That's annoying. Although, I guess I have to admit that I may not have had progress on the scale, but I'm in much better shape since January. And much, much better shape than when we lived in So Cal last year. I remember when we first moved here we went for a hike and I could barely do a mile. I've come so far! That's what I have to hold on to and remember; what the scale says means nothing next to how strong and healthy I feel.
I ate a little extra after dinner to make up for the calories but I still only ate 1500 calories today. I feel exhausted, but happy with my efforts despite not making it to the 10 mile marker. I will try again in another month or so.
I think I'll just do some stationary bike work at the gym tomorrow, to give myself a bit of a break and save my poor feet from any additional blisters.
I really hope I see some movement on the scale soon. I realized yesterday that I first got to 169 in November - 3 months! I haven't made any real progress in 3 months. That's annoying. Although, I guess I have to admit that I may not have had progress on the scale, but I'm in much better shape since January. And much, much better shape than when we lived in So Cal last year. I remember when we first moved here we went for a hike and I could barely do a mile. I've come so far! That's what I have to hold on to and remember; what the scale says means nothing next to how strong and healthy I feel.
Update
I did 3 miles at lunchtime. Just need to go another 7! That'll probably take just over 2 hours since it took me an hour to get the first 3 miles. Fortunately, I downloaded an interesting book on my Ipod, which is keeping me distracted. Oh, must drink water...
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
10 Miles
I'm going to post this now so I feel accountable to completing the mission.
Alas, again I can't make it to the gym today. I have 2 sick kids at home today, besides the baby, and can't exactly drop sick kids off at the daycare. I was both disappointed and relieved. So, to make up for it, I am challenging myself to completing 10 miles on the treadmill today. Not all at once, just by the time I go to bed. In fact, I'm going to jump on it in a little bit to get things started. At least this way I know I will get a decent workout despite not going to the gym.
I jumped on the scale again this morning (I know, bad!) and the numbers still haven't budged. I really need to throw the thing up in the closet out of reach.
Alas, again I can't make it to the gym today. I have 2 sick kids at home today, besides the baby, and can't exactly drop sick kids off at the daycare. I was both disappointed and relieved. So, to make up for it, I am challenging myself to completing 10 miles on the treadmill today. Not all at once, just by the time I go to bed. In fact, I'm going to jump on it in a little bit to get things started. At least this way I know I will get a decent workout despite not going to the gym.
I jumped on the scale again this morning (I know, bad!) and the numbers still haven't budged. I really need to throw the thing up in the closet out of reach.
Still no results...
This morning the scale remained the same. Oh well. I'm still working out and watching my food intake and know that the weight will come off eventually.
So far today, I've eaten:
1 cup coffee w/ 1% milk & 2 tsp sugar
2 servings light beef/veggie soup (100 cal per serving)
1 nectarine
1 small avocado w/ salt
1 6oz light yogurt
Dinner will be Tomato Bisque soup and 1 piece of bread w/ light butter.
I slept through b-fast (bad morning) and couldn't go to the gym because of starting work late. I did 20 min on the treadmill in the garage at lunch, including a 10 min jog, and 40 min on the treadmill after work, with the machine set at full incline for the full 40 min. I burned 400 calories.
Hubby left today for OR and WA for the week and weekend and I'm bummed about that. I think that's one of the reasons I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I just felt lazy and discontented. I hope to do much better tomorrow. Maybe I should take one sleeping pill early on tonight. I always have trouble sleeping when hubby is gone.
I've booked the baby into the gym for tomorrow, so I need to go. Plus, I have to do 3 days a week and there's only 3 days left of this week that I would be able to go since the daycare only runs for Saturday morning and is always booked up.
So far today, I've eaten:
1 cup coffee w/ 1% milk & 2 tsp sugar
2 servings light beef/veggie soup (100 cal per serving)
1 nectarine
1 small avocado w/ salt
1 6oz light yogurt
Dinner will be Tomato Bisque soup and 1 piece of bread w/ light butter.
I slept through b-fast (bad morning) and couldn't go to the gym because of starting work late. I did 20 min on the treadmill in the garage at lunch, including a 10 min jog, and 40 min on the treadmill after work, with the machine set at full incline for the full 40 min. I burned 400 calories.
Hubby left today for OR and WA for the week and weekend and I'm bummed about that. I think that's one of the reasons I didn't want to get out of bed this morning. I just felt lazy and discontented. I hope to do much better tomorrow. Maybe I should take one sleeping pill early on tonight. I always have trouble sleeping when hubby is gone.
I've booked the baby into the gym for tomorrow, so I need to go. Plus, I have to do 3 days a week and there's only 3 days left of this week that I would be able to go since the daycare only runs for Saturday morning and is always booked up.
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