Consistency and a Challenge

Glancing at the workout calendar on my fridge, I noticed more frowney faces than smiley ones.  Looking back on January's calendar, one week I've hit my targets then the next week, only 2 of 6.  I've been constantly struggling with this since mid-January.

I delved into the Angry Trainer's archives and found a little post Why Your Workout Isn't Working: Consistency. Everything he says here applies to me.

No matter how clean and compliant my food intake is, it just can't make up for not being active on a regular basis.

Exercise is a habit that is not yet ingrained in me. It should  be by now. I know that if I'm sluggish and don't get any activity, it builds and builds into total inaction day after day. This is a cycle I want to break. Before I start gaining weight and going back to the way I was.

Looking back at what works for me.... with eating anyway... it was the Whole30 that changed what I eat and the way I eat. Simply, I feel better.  And what the reason I tried the Whole30 in the first place? It was that it came to the point where I needed a big swift kick in the ass to change my ways. I felt myself backsliding mentally into my old ways, exactly like I do now. 

 

For the next 30 days, during weekdays I am challenging myself to wake up a half hour earlier, at 6:30am to walk briskly outside rain or shine.  Well, here where I live,  it'll be in either a snowstorm or icy cold, or maybe both. On weekends, this will be the first thing I do when I wake up.  The only way for me to get into this habit is to make a firm commitment starting today.

Wednesday's Weigh-In, Body Signals, and BL

Posting this a day late, oopsie! Had a nice evening with my man last night and decided to focus on us instead of hopping on line.

Well the damage I did on Sunday has almost gone away, I'm at 191lbs.  I'm back on track with food portions but having a hard time getting water in.  Just not remembering to drink. I'm averaging about 1.5 litres or about 50floz, so that's not enough. I don't drink much else other than water, a morning cup of coffee and maybe tea or juice or almond milk once in a while.

Have stayed up late a couple of nights this week so getting 5 hours sleep out of a usual 7 or 8 really has an impact on my day, fuzzy-brained thinking at work is so not good. But this was my choice to stay up late. Will get to bed at a reasonable time.

I thought that changing my diet would have an impact of my natural feelings of hunger and feeling full. But it hasn't yet. I usually don't eat anything after 8 or 9pm but I rarely feel hungry in the morning. I aim for nothing after supper.  I've had a few times lately when I've felt hungry an hour or two after waking up but otherwise, I just fuel-up with a healthy breakfast and get on with my day. After meals I feel okay but unless I know how much I've eaten, I don't feel full, even though I am. I will sometimes feel way too full, but that is rare as I'm keeping an eye on portions. From what I've read, obesity screws with hormones and  proteins like leptin, ghrelin, ect) in  a big way. The solution wont magically come overnight but over time by sticking with my plan and losing this fat.

So a lot of folks are talking about the Biggest Loser these days. I stopped watching a while back, when the product placements seemed to me to be taking over the show. The sit-down talks the trainers had with contestants were about some energy bar, breakfast cereal or sandwich place. There have been plenty of contestants in the past who've appeared gaunt and were under a healthy weight at the finale, like Helen, a blonde lady, is one that stands out. I think it's most likely the buck$ at the end of the day that make those three or four contestants lose their muscles as well as fat to become "Biggest Loser".  Time will tell if Rachael gains back her healthy and fit form. 

Have to say that I find the TV shows that follow people of the course of a year or more as they lose weight (successfully or partially) and show the typical daily struggles people have in real life to be the most inspiring. Much like the bloggers around here :)

Not a Good Day

Thought my man and I were going to a healthy Superbowl party, but there was not much healthy to eat there. My man was very much misinformed. It would have been easier to deal with if the party was held in the city, I could have stepped out and bought a tray, of veggies but it was at a cottage 1.5hrs away in the middle of Nowheresville. I did rummage through the kitchen  and refrigerator but there was no sign of fruit or veggies. One of the ladies there said "Well this is our day to skip the diets!" I held out as long as I could but I hadn't eaten anything beforehand, so I was feeling very hungry. I tried to stick with a few chicken wings, but... yeah, I caved. 

I have wicked heartburn from nachos and chips and other manufactured crap that I usually don't eat. I can't remember the last time it was this bad. Well lesson learned. Before any party, I'll be eating a healthy meal at home.

Quickie Weigh-In

This week, I'm at 190.3lbs  As long as that number keeps going down, I'm happy. I don't mind the small losses... for now LOL

I'm going to bed early to tend to my aching head with a couple of Ibuprofen. Good night all :)

Simplify and Unclutter

Since it's still so freaking cold outdoors, I've been looking at the indoors and not liking what I'm seeing. Stuff not put away, disorganization and in a couple of nooks and crannies - chaos. There's a good site called the Unclutterer that inspried me to get off my butt. 

No, I'm not a hoarder, I swear, and my house would only need a half-hour to look presentable to guests. It's just that I'm a former pack-rat and every so often, if I'm not vigilant, things can get out of hand quickly... especially when they burst out of the closet.

I've divided the tasks but I started with easier ones first. Organizing, trashing and recycling stuff from my bureau to my purse to the bathroom and powder room:

-Medicine Cabinet: I have really no use for expired Tylenols from five years ago. Lots of old stuff gone. 

-Lotions: Twelve body moisturizers! I really only need three: normal, extra-strength for dry winter thighs and shins and super-extra-strength for summer sandal feets.

-Potions: For my facial skin care routine, I seemed to have about twenty different treatments, from zit cream to wrinkle cream. I'm down to five including a good sunscreen.

Shampoos, conditioners, hair care products, brushes, mascaras, eye shadows, lip balms, foundations, powders, soaps, nail care products, nail polishes have all been pared down to the essentials. Now it's much easier to find what I need, especially in the morning when I need to get out the door quickly.

Next up, not so fun: Bills and organizing other important records. Blah, Yuck and Double Yuck. I'd been chucking everything into a big plastic storage box so there's a lot of work to do there to make sense of the chaos. Have found my shredder at least!

Clothes will be after that, then electronic files and e-mail, and then will finish up with some fun stuff: DVDs, books and photos. This will keep me busy and out of trouble for many an evening until the Spring LOL   

I'm taking better care of my body so why not take better care of my life?

Course correction and Wednesday Weigh-in

For the past week or so, I've been struggling with getting a good night's sleep all the way through the night. It's an issue that crops up from time to time and I've the tools and the meds to deal with it. Hopefully by next week, things will be better and back to normal.  With less quality and quantity sleep, I've been sleeping through my alarms (all three of them!) waking up an hour or so later than I should, then rushing to shower, grab breakfast, and get my ass out the door. Yep, I've been a little late for work or like yesterday, waaaaaay late. 

It's a domino effect, without a decent breakfast, my day is totally off-kilter. I'm hungrier through the day and then ravenous by five o'clock. Not good! Since Thursday (except for the weekend), I've been eating larger portions at supper. So not good at all!  Tonight, I'm feeling too full. So I've decided to prep my breakfast for tomorrow and for Friday, so I don't have to worry and there won't be repeat of today! On the breakfast menu: Omelettes with mushrooms, onions, baby kale, green and red peppers. If I don't have time to eat at home in the morning it's ready to pack in my bag or work.

Since we're in another deep-freeze, walking outside for an extended period is out of the question due to frostbite warnings. I'm happy to say my exercise equipment in the basement is not getting dusty!  My man and I have been working out together as his work schedule changed for a few weeks. It's a nice change from being on my own.

Weigh-in this morning: 192lbs.  Not surprised. Even though I am down from last week's bloat, I know lately I've not done a good job controlling my food intake. I am going to do better next week.

When your partner in crime is struggling

This weekend was good and bad. I'd rather get the bad out first... so my man has some weight to lose too, probably about 30-40lbs or so. While I've been making my changes towards a healthy and more fit way of living, he still has many of his old habits, especially when it comes to food, mainly he eats extra large portions. On Saturday he brought "treats" into the house. Cookies, ice cream and candy. My cardinal rule is that if you really really want a treat, you go out for it, get a small portion and it doesn't cross the threshold. 

He said that he bought the stuff to eat while watching the football games and  because he went into the grocery store hungry and wanted to eat everything in there... Hmmmm.... Let's just say I had to call him out on that one so we sat down for a couple of hours and talked about what is really going on. He tends to keep a lot of emotions bottled up, but we eventually got down to the nitty gritty: it was an issue at work and had some fears cropping up. I was able to offer some possible solutions and he was able to tell me what he needed from me.  This is what people mean when they say the key to a long-lasting relationship is hard work and lots of communication! 

The good was on Sunday, when it was still mild enough for us to take a long walk before the deep freeze. We wanted to do a healthy outdoors activity together and when it started to snow we acted like a couple of kids and made  some snow angels... Awwwww! LOL  Then we tackled some indoor house organizing, the usual chores, and prepping meals for the week... yep back to reality.

Wednesday Weigh-in

My good old friend has arrived for the monthly visit and I'm retaining water like nobody's business. Up to 193lbs. This go-round hit me harder than usual. Was so so tired and slept for 12 hours and I had to call in sick to work because the cramps were pretty strong. I just stayed in bed for the rest of the morning with my hot water bottle and watched old movies on the laptop. By the afternoon I was feeling well enough to do some yoga. Ah well, I don't mind so much really... just glad it doesn't happen more than once a month!

The weather is still wacky here, warmer now but melting snow is making more icy surfaces. I've been able to do a couple of brisk walks through my neighbourhood but was interrupted a few times to get out of the path of cars since there isn't any sidewalk here.

I've been listening to more podcasts on the iPod lately, especially on the bus to and from work and before going to bed. There's a good one called Balanced Bites They not only focus on food, but also other issues concerning health and being active. I found it through the cookbook I've had since last year called 'Practical Paleo' by Diane Sanfilippo, who is also the host of the podcast. I've also been catching up on episodes of Savage Love... but that's another story folks ;)