Today was our final Biggest Loser meeting at the Rec Center. The girl that won was the one that I figured would win. She lost 16 lbs total, which is awesome for 7 weeks. I can't remember what the 2nd place girl did. I came in 3rd by default because no one else was there. I lost 3 lbs and 3 inches. Rather disappointing results for seven weeks of busting my butt and working hard, but I'm not complaining.
One of my prizes was a certificate for a training plan, which I plan to "cash in" as soon as possible. They also asked if we would be interested in participating again if they should offer it, and I definitely am. They are thinking of doing it in groups of 4, but I'm not exactly sure how that would work. Still interested! Working with the trainer was a great way for me to stay accountable and to stay motivated. The only thing I said that should be changed was the lateness of the meetings. I did not care for the 7:30 p.m. meeting time as that made for a really long day. Other than that, it was a great experience and well worth the $30 I paid to participate.
In other news, I lost 0.2 lbs this week. It's a loss but so small that I'm not even really counting it. I'm not going to lie - I'm struggling mentally with this lack of results. I cannot put into words how it feels to know you've followed the eating plan to perfection, worked your butt off to the point that your body hurts all the time....and you get nothing in return, or even worse, you see a gain. I'm trying really hard to stay positive, but after 4 solid months of this struggle, it's getting really challenging to do. I keep saying I won't give up, but I am truly feeling discouraged.
Until next week,
angie
Showing posts with label Biggest Loser competition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Biggest Loser competition. Show all posts
Monday, March 31, 2014
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Happy...and a little disappointed
Ok, let's get to the good stuff first! I stepped on the scale yesterday and was delighted to be greeted with a loss of 1.5 lbs this week. Oh yeah! Hopefully my slightly dyslexic body is starting to get this whole "weight loss" idea and is finally catching on. We can only hope.
The disappointing part of my week was my meeting with Dietitian Jennifer on Wednesday. Overall she is very pleased with my food log and suggested a few changes. One of them was to think about food before I consume it and ask myself, "Is this taking me closer to my goals or further from my goals?" Good idea, now I just have to remember to actually do it and then LISTEN to the answer and not ignore it. I discovered a few tweaks that I could make to help me slowly make my way toward even healthier eating. My ultimate goal is to get rid of as much processed food as possible. I'm not sure if I want to or can COMPLETELY eliminate it, but if I keep moving in the direction I'm going, it is a strong possibility. I'm a work in progress, as we all are.
The disappointment came when we began to talk about exercise. Tomorrow night is my last Biggest Loser meeting and this is my last week with my trainer. Jennifer expressed concern about me continuing to exercise, which is logical since she doesn't know me that well and she doesn't know all of my history. I assured her that I would continue with exercising as I've been doing it pretty regularly for about 4 years. Exercise is not my problem --- it's the diet part where I fall down. As I told her, I am the poster child to demonstrate that old adage, "You can't out-exercise a bad diet." You cannot. It will not work, no matter how hard you try. Well, now that my diet is much improved, I still can't seem to lose, but that's beside the point.
I was taken aback when she advised me to continue to lift weights, but to really work on the cardio because that's where I would get the biggest fat burn. I was speechless because that way of thinking is so outdated and just plain WRONG! Weight lifting is essential to losing weight because as you build muscle, it will continue to burn calories far longer than through just cardio. Cardio will burn fat, don't get me wrong, but it's only for a short time. Weights are where it's at. And weights are what I like.
Since I am paying her to discuss food/eating and not exercise, I chose to ignore that advice and not even comment on it. I didn't want to start something and I strongly prefer to avoid confrontation. It was a "choose your battle" moment, and I chose to not engage. I know that's not her area of expertise, so I'm just going to leave it alone.
In other news, I'm excited and sad that our Biggest Loser program is ending. It seems like it just got started. We are down to 5 participants, and they are all students. I have no doubts that I will probably finish dead last, but when you put a 43 year old up against 20-somethings, that's bound to happen. I don't care about winning, because the experience and knowledge were worth it. I have very much enjoyed working with my trainer and I have learned a few things from him that I will start incorporating. If nothing else, it got me back to being comfortable in the weight room again. Can't beat that!
I will NOT miss the 7:30 p.m. meetings. Oh my goodness, my Mondays have been sooooooooooo long during this. I leave my house around 7:10 a.m. and do not get home until 9-9:30 p.m. That part has sucked. I am not complaining because it was a sacrifice I have been willing to make. I wish the meeting time could have been earlier.
What do you do for exercise? Are you incorporating weight lifting into your routine or are you just relying on cardio? If you aren't lifting weights, why not? And are you lifting HEAVY weights? I'm not talking the little 3 lb Barbie dumbbells...I mean heavy. Did you know that women are physically incapable of bulking up like men? Our bodies do not produce enough testosterone to do so. Those lady bodybuilders that have the big muscles are taking some kind of supplement or something to make their muscles do that. Plus they train and eat specifically for that.
The disappointing part of my week was my meeting with Dietitian Jennifer on Wednesday. Overall she is very pleased with my food log and suggested a few changes. One of them was to think about food before I consume it and ask myself, "Is this taking me closer to my goals or further from my goals?" Good idea, now I just have to remember to actually do it and then LISTEN to the answer and not ignore it. I discovered a few tweaks that I could make to help me slowly make my way toward even healthier eating. My ultimate goal is to get rid of as much processed food as possible. I'm not sure if I want to or can COMPLETELY eliminate it, but if I keep moving in the direction I'm going, it is a strong possibility. I'm a work in progress, as we all are.
The disappointment came when we began to talk about exercise. Tomorrow night is my last Biggest Loser meeting and this is my last week with my trainer. Jennifer expressed concern about me continuing to exercise, which is logical since she doesn't know me that well and she doesn't know all of my history. I assured her that I would continue with exercising as I've been doing it pretty regularly for about 4 years. Exercise is not my problem --- it's the diet part where I fall down. As I told her, I am the poster child to demonstrate that old adage, "You can't out-exercise a bad diet." You cannot. It will not work, no matter how hard you try. Well, now that my diet is much improved, I still can't seem to lose, but that's beside the point.
I was taken aback when she advised me to continue to lift weights, but to really work on the cardio because that's where I would get the biggest fat burn. I was speechless because that way of thinking is so outdated and just plain WRONG! Weight lifting is essential to losing weight because as you build muscle, it will continue to burn calories far longer than through just cardio. Cardio will burn fat, don't get me wrong, but it's only for a short time. Weights are where it's at. And weights are what I like.
Since I am paying her to discuss food/eating and not exercise, I chose to ignore that advice and not even comment on it. I didn't want to start something and I strongly prefer to avoid confrontation. It was a "choose your battle" moment, and I chose to not engage. I know that's not her area of expertise, so I'm just going to leave it alone.
In other news, I'm excited and sad that our Biggest Loser program is ending. It seems like it just got started. We are down to 5 participants, and they are all students. I have no doubts that I will probably finish dead last, but when you put a 43 year old up against 20-somethings, that's bound to happen. I don't care about winning, because the experience and knowledge were worth it. I have very much enjoyed working with my trainer and I have learned a few things from him that I will start incorporating. If nothing else, it got me back to being comfortable in the weight room again. Can't beat that!
I will NOT miss the 7:30 p.m. meetings. Oh my goodness, my Mondays have been sooooooooooo long during this. I leave my house around 7:10 a.m. and do not get home until 9-9:30 p.m. That part has sucked. I am not complaining because it was a sacrifice I have been willing to make. I wish the meeting time could have been earlier.
What do you do for exercise? Are you incorporating weight lifting into your routine or are you just relying on cardio? If you aren't lifting weights, why not? And are you lifting HEAVY weights? I'm not talking the little 3 lb Barbie dumbbells...I mean heavy. Did you know that women are physically incapable of bulking up like men? Our bodies do not produce enough testosterone to do so. Those lady bodybuilders that have the big muscles are taking some kind of supplement or something to make their muscles do that. Plus they train and eat specifically for that.
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Let's Play Catch Up!
I haven't posted in a couple of weeks. I had the intention but time just got away from me. To catch you all up, here we go...
Last Saturday, my weight stayed exactly the same as it has for the previous two weeks. Blah. But always better than a gain! My workouts hadn't been there because I was not able to go to the gym due to the weather and/or school closures.
I was supposed to have met with my HyVee dietitian on Wednesday, February 5, but she canceled due to the blowing/drifting snow. We rescheduled for Wednesday, February 12.
On Monday, February 10, I met with my Biggest Loser group for the first time. It was kind of hard because the meeting wasn't until 7:30p. I usually get done working out around 6:30 or so and head home, so I had to stick around for another hour, and then attend the meeting. It made for a VERY exhausting day, and I will have those for the next several weeks. BUT - I am ready to make that sacrifice. I have chosen to do so to better my health for myself and my loved ones. I'm not complaining.
Our first meeting consisted of going over the "rules" and what we could expect. Basically, if we miss a Monday meeting, we are disqualified. That kind of worries me, but hopefully the weather will cooperate and I won't have to choose between my health goals and my safety (safety will always win). We were assigned a personal trainer and will meet with him twice a week. There is also a nutrition coach that we will meet with 3x throughout the competition. I did ask her if I should suspend my HyVee meetings for the duration, but she encouraged me to continue. I didn't want conflicting info, but she said since she is still a student, she would only support what HyVee lady (Jennifer) tells me. Some Mondays we will have group exercise, sometimes we will have speakers. Whoever loses the most percentage of weight, inches, etc. will be crowned the winner, with prizes still being determined. While my competitive side wants to win, my logical side is in this more for the experience, support, and knowledge I can gain. This is set up for students, and although I AM a student, I'm sure they would prefer a full-time student wins. That doesn't mean I'm going to roll over and LET them win, though! haha
On Tuesday, I met with my trainer, Justin, for the first time for my fitness assessment. First, I had to go get weighed. Then he took my blood pressure in both arms (it was good), my resting pulse, measurements, etc. Then I did a 3 minute step test. I was worried my knee wouldn't let me do it, but it was fine. He played a beat on a metronome and I just had to step, step, step, step with each beat. Very easy, but I was a little out of breath by the end. He then took my elevated pulse. Next, I laid on a mat and had to do crunches. My fingers had to start at one piece of tape on the mat, and when I "crunched" my fingers had to touch another piece of tape. I had to do those until I couldn't any longer. I started and kept going...and going...and going...until he finally told me to stop. I had done 60. He consulted a chart was amazed/impressed. He said it only went up to 40, so I was "off the charts." I could tell he didn't expect that out of a overweight, middle-aged mom. HA!
I wasn't done surprising him, though. The final part of the assessment was doing push ups. I had to do as many as I could in 1 minute. I knew I wouldn't be so great at this because I've lost so much upper body strength. I was able to do 20. He consulted his chart and announced that that was "above average." He was pleased/surprised with that, too.
I had a couple more surprises for him though. We talked about my goals and what I liked to do in the gym. He was very excited when I told him that the deadlift was my very favorite lift in the world. He was also happy to know that I had experience with lots of different weight lifting techniques/moves, which gives him more time to WORK me, than to have to teach me how to do things. We discussed the knee issues and I promised him that if something hurt in a bad way, I would tell him and not try to play the hero. We will be meeting on Tuesdays/Thursdays for my workouts. I can't wait!
Wednesday was Lincoln's birthday and the University was closed. I didn't want to waste my day off doing nothing, so I went to Macomb any way and met with Jennifer, did a workout, and met with Emily, the nutrition coach. I turned in a 2-week food diary to Jennifer and she was overall pleased with what I'm eating. She had a few suggestions for me to try and I've done exactly what she's asked. One of them was cutting down my Diet Dew consumption. I have one in the morning and one in the evening. My other drinks are water. So we cut the evening Dew. Because I still wanted a carbonated drink, she showed me some sparkling waters. I tried them and they weren't bad. I expressed a concern about switching one chemical-laden drink for another, but she reassured me that the sparkling water was ok, and the chemicals in it were better than in Dew. Eventually, perhaps I will completely rid myself of soda. We shall see.
Another suggestion was to replace some of my whole eggs that I have for breakfast with egg substitute. I've done it, but I'm not entirely embracing it yet. We also talked about snacks and how it IS ok to have a healthy snack if I am hungry between meals. I have plenty of ammo in my desk/fridge at work, so I'm good to go there. I just need to take the time to actually EAT them.
I had also taken the time to plan out all of our evening meals this week. Something I've gotten lazy about doing. All in all, last week I worked really hard in the gym and in the kitchen. I was really excited to step on the scale yesterday morning to see how much all of this work had paid off. I was absolutely crushed to see I had gained 3 pounds. I'm not going to lie, I cried. My spirit was broken and I felt so betrayed by my body. I did what I was supposed to do and it didn't work. My inner spoiled child wanted to throw in the towel, eat whatever I wanted and gain a bunch of weight, and then go have gastric bypass (I would qualify if my BMI were a little higher - right now I do not qualify because I have no co-existing conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.). Thankfully, my inner adult did not allow that to happen. I sent a couple of rant emails to my trusted friends, and talked to my husband about it. He was as puzzled as me. We have no idea, but I'm going to continue putting one foot in front of the other and continuing on my journey. Yesterday was a dark day, I'll admit, but it's going to be ok.
I was the weight recorder for our TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group in town for 11 years, and I would always tell the people I weighed to not let that number define them or control their emotions. I needed to listen to my own advice yesterday, but it's very hard when you feel like you've done everything right and you're met with failure. And it's super frustrating knowing that there are people who can say, "I quit drinking Pepsi for a week and I lost 10 lbs!" or "I worked out for 10 minutes this week, ate at Burger King every day, and I still lost 5 lbs!" Ughhhhhh...I want to punch those people. I'm sorry, but I do! By just typing the words "Pepsi" and "Burger King" I probably gained 6 lbs.
This will be another busy week with Biggest Loser meeting tomorrow night, training on Tuesday and Thursday, plus regular workouts on the other days, and somewhere in there I need to do homework. It will be worth it in the end. I'M READY!
Last Saturday, my weight stayed exactly the same as it has for the previous two weeks. Blah. But always better than a gain! My workouts hadn't been there because I was not able to go to the gym due to the weather and/or school closures.
I was supposed to have met with my HyVee dietitian on Wednesday, February 5, but she canceled due to the blowing/drifting snow. We rescheduled for Wednesday, February 12.
On Monday, February 10, I met with my Biggest Loser group for the first time. It was kind of hard because the meeting wasn't until 7:30p. I usually get done working out around 6:30 or so and head home, so I had to stick around for another hour, and then attend the meeting. It made for a VERY exhausting day, and I will have those for the next several weeks. BUT - I am ready to make that sacrifice. I have chosen to do so to better my health for myself and my loved ones. I'm not complaining.
Our first meeting consisted of going over the "rules" and what we could expect. Basically, if we miss a Monday meeting, we are disqualified. That kind of worries me, but hopefully the weather will cooperate and I won't have to choose between my health goals and my safety (safety will always win). We were assigned a personal trainer and will meet with him twice a week. There is also a nutrition coach that we will meet with 3x throughout the competition. I did ask her if I should suspend my HyVee meetings for the duration, but she encouraged me to continue. I didn't want conflicting info, but she said since she is still a student, she would only support what HyVee lady (Jennifer) tells me. Some Mondays we will have group exercise, sometimes we will have speakers. Whoever loses the most percentage of weight, inches, etc. will be crowned the winner, with prizes still being determined. While my competitive side wants to win, my logical side is in this more for the experience, support, and knowledge I can gain. This is set up for students, and although I AM a student, I'm sure they would prefer a full-time student wins. That doesn't mean I'm going to roll over and LET them win, though! haha
On Tuesday, I met with my trainer, Justin, for the first time for my fitness assessment. First, I had to go get weighed. Then he took my blood pressure in both arms (it was good), my resting pulse, measurements, etc. Then I did a 3 minute step test. I was worried my knee wouldn't let me do it, but it was fine. He played a beat on a metronome and I just had to step, step, step, step with each beat. Very easy, but I was a little out of breath by the end. He then took my elevated pulse. Next, I laid on a mat and had to do crunches. My fingers had to start at one piece of tape on the mat, and when I "crunched" my fingers had to touch another piece of tape. I had to do those until I couldn't any longer. I started and kept going...and going...and going...until he finally told me to stop. I had done 60. He consulted a chart was amazed/impressed. He said it only went up to 40, so I was "off the charts." I could tell he didn't expect that out of a overweight, middle-aged mom. HA!
I wasn't done surprising him, though. The final part of the assessment was doing push ups. I had to do as many as I could in 1 minute. I knew I wouldn't be so great at this because I've lost so much upper body strength. I was able to do 20. He consulted his chart and announced that that was "above average." He was pleased/surprised with that, too.
I had a couple more surprises for him though. We talked about my goals and what I liked to do in the gym. He was very excited when I told him that the deadlift was my very favorite lift in the world. He was also happy to know that I had experience with lots of different weight lifting techniques/moves, which gives him more time to WORK me, than to have to teach me how to do things. We discussed the knee issues and I promised him that if something hurt in a bad way, I would tell him and not try to play the hero. We will be meeting on Tuesdays/Thursdays for my workouts. I can't wait!
Wednesday was Lincoln's birthday and the University was closed. I didn't want to waste my day off doing nothing, so I went to Macomb any way and met with Jennifer, did a workout, and met with Emily, the nutrition coach. I turned in a 2-week food diary to Jennifer and she was overall pleased with what I'm eating. She had a few suggestions for me to try and I've done exactly what she's asked. One of them was cutting down my Diet Dew consumption. I have one in the morning and one in the evening. My other drinks are water. So we cut the evening Dew. Because I still wanted a carbonated drink, she showed me some sparkling waters. I tried them and they weren't bad. I expressed a concern about switching one chemical-laden drink for another, but she reassured me that the sparkling water was ok, and the chemicals in it were better than in Dew. Eventually, perhaps I will completely rid myself of soda. We shall see.
Another suggestion was to replace some of my whole eggs that I have for breakfast with egg substitute. I've done it, but I'm not entirely embracing it yet. We also talked about snacks and how it IS ok to have a healthy snack if I am hungry between meals. I have plenty of ammo in my desk/fridge at work, so I'm good to go there. I just need to take the time to actually EAT them.
I had also taken the time to plan out all of our evening meals this week. Something I've gotten lazy about doing. All in all, last week I worked really hard in the gym and in the kitchen. I was really excited to step on the scale yesterday morning to see how much all of this work had paid off. I was absolutely crushed to see I had gained 3 pounds. I'm not going to lie, I cried. My spirit was broken and I felt so betrayed by my body. I did what I was supposed to do and it didn't work. My inner spoiled child wanted to throw in the towel, eat whatever I wanted and gain a bunch of weight, and then go have gastric bypass (I would qualify if my BMI were a little higher - right now I do not qualify because I have no co-existing conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, etc.). Thankfully, my inner adult did not allow that to happen. I sent a couple of rant emails to my trusted friends, and talked to my husband about it. He was as puzzled as me. We have no idea, but I'm going to continue putting one foot in front of the other and continuing on my journey. Yesterday was a dark day, I'll admit, but it's going to be ok.
I was the weight recorder for our TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) group in town for 11 years, and I would always tell the people I weighed to not let that number define them or control their emotions. I needed to listen to my own advice yesterday, but it's very hard when you feel like you've done everything right and you're met with failure. And it's super frustrating knowing that there are people who can say, "I quit drinking Pepsi for a week and I lost 10 lbs!" or "I worked out for 10 minutes this week, ate at Burger King every day, and I still lost 5 lbs!" Ughhhhhh...I want to punch those people. I'm sorry, but I do! By just typing the words "Pepsi" and "Burger King" I probably gained 6 lbs.
This will be another busy week with Biggest Loser meeting tomorrow night, training on Tuesday and Thursday, plus regular workouts on the other days, and somewhere in there I need to do homework. It will be worth it in the end. I'M READY!
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Dietitian Review and Weigh In
I was happy to step on the scales this morning and record a loss of 1 lb. This is really great in light of the fact that I have not set foot in the gym at all this week. On Monday, the University was closed due to ridiculous cold. Tuesday I was sick and had a doctor's appointment. Wednesday, I had my appointment with the dietitian. Thursday I was still sick (sinus infection...the pressure makes my head feel like it's going to explode), and Friday I was sent home by my office girls because it was snowing and was supposed to get bad. But I still managed to drop a pound! YAY!
On Tuesday, as I said, I had an appointment with my doctor to make sure I was clear to participate in the Biggest Loser program. He gave me two thumbs up, without question. My blood pressure was excellent and he said my heart and lungs sounded fantastic. My only issue was the stupid sinus infection, which I've kind of been fighting off and on since January 1. I've been on an antibiotic since Tuesday and I'm STILL waiting for it to kick in.
Wednesday I finally got to meet with the HyVee dietitian, Jennifer. I felt like I was talking to a friend. We spent about 20 minutes talking about what I've tried in the past, what I'm currently doing, and what I want to do. She took me around the store for about 30+ minutes and showed me some different products and gave me ideas on how to combine them for meals. I thought she would be pushing veggies, veggies, veggies, but she really didn't. She showed me some frozen meals, which really surprised me because I've always been told to stay away from the frozen meals because of the sodium content. When I questioned that, she said the particular ones she showed me met the acceptable levels for sodium. I wish I could remember which brand, but I don't. If I see them, I'll know them! When I got home, I thought that I should have taken my phone with me and taken pics of all the foods. That would have been helpful! Hindsight...
So my assignment for this week is to keep a food journal in writing. I will turn it in to her next Wednesday (unless we have the massive snow that they are predicting...) and we'll go over what I ate. She will comment on what can be improved and what is going well. And from there, we'll make small changes each week or two weeks until I'm heading down the right path. I like that. I did not want someone to hand me a list of foods and say, "Here. Eat this stuff, and don't eat anything else and you're cured." No, that does not work. I've been through that before.
Since this is the 1st of February, I should review some of my stats for January. I created a spreadsheet to track weight and miles (bike, elliptical, walking). According to said spreadsheet, I have gained 2 lbs since January 1**. That is not very impressive. I have walked/biked/ellipticaled 92.82 miles. I was really hoping to hit 100, but I'm not going to stress it. It would have easily happened had I been able to get to the gym this week.
Goals for February:
**Edited: I just checked my stats again. I did NOT gain 2 lbs in January. I stayed the same. My weight at the beginning of the month was the same as my weight this morning. Oops! I like that a little better...but not much.
On Tuesday, as I said, I had an appointment with my doctor to make sure I was clear to participate in the Biggest Loser program. He gave me two thumbs up, without question. My blood pressure was excellent and he said my heart and lungs sounded fantastic. My only issue was the stupid sinus infection, which I've kind of been fighting off and on since January 1. I've been on an antibiotic since Tuesday and I'm STILL waiting for it to kick in.
Wednesday I finally got to meet with the HyVee dietitian, Jennifer. I felt like I was talking to a friend. We spent about 20 minutes talking about what I've tried in the past, what I'm currently doing, and what I want to do. She took me around the store for about 30+ minutes and showed me some different products and gave me ideas on how to combine them for meals. I thought she would be pushing veggies, veggies, veggies, but she really didn't. She showed me some frozen meals, which really surprised me because I've always been told to stay away from the frozen meals because of the sodium content. When I questioned that, she said the particular ones she showed me met the acceptable levels for sodium. I wish I could remember which brand, but I don't. If I see them, I'll know them! When I got home, I thought that I should have taken my phone with me and taken pics of all the foods. That would have been helpful! Hindsight...
So my assignment for this week is to keep a food journal in writing. I will turn it in to her next Wednesday (unless we have the massive snow that they are predicting...) and we'll go over what I ate. She will comment on what can be improved and what is going well. And from there, we'll make small changes each week or two weeks until I'm heading down the right path. I like that. I did not want someone to hand me a list of foods and say, "Here. Eat this stuff, and don't eat anything else and you're cured." No, that does not work. I've been through that before.
Since this is the 1st of February, I should review some of my stats for January. I created a spreadsheet to track weight and miles (bike, elliptical, walking). According to said spreadsheet, I have gained 2 lbs since January 1**. That is not very impressive. I have walked/biked/ellipticaled 92.82 miles. I was really hoping to hit 100, but I'm not going to stress it. It would have easily happened had I been able to get to the gym this week.
Goals for February:
- Lose 5 lbs
- Run/Walk/Elliptical 100 miles
- Kick butt in the Biggest Loser program
- Start working on getting rid of Diet Mt Dew
- Try ONE new recipe or ONE new veggie
**Edited: I just checked my stats again. I did NOT gain 2 lbs in January. I stayed the same. My weight at the beginning of the month was the same as my weight this morning. Oops! I like that a little better...but not much.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Weekly weigh in and exciting things to come!
So the scale stayed the same as last week. At face value, that's rather disappointing, but digging a little deeper...it's actually a good thing (in my best Martha Stewart voice). Last weekend I spent some time self-sabotaging and the weight went up, up, up. I was actually up 3 MORE pounds by mid-week, so to be back where I started is ok with me.
I've been trying to surround myself with positive, motivational stuff. Whether it's a great Facebook page, an inspirational blog, or the reddit pages my little brother has shared with me (thanks Andy!). Many of them talk about "hard work," of course. I always felt I was working hard and doing what I can because I will work my butt off in the gym, and then some. The other night as I was driving home, I was thinking about "hard work" and what it meant. I came to the rather difficult realization that I'm NOT working hard...at least in a well-rounded way.
I give my all at the gym. Whether I'm lifting or doing cardio, I'm working up a sweat and giving 110%. If time were not a factor, I could easily spend a couple of hours working up a sweat at the gym. Ok, I've got the exercise part of the equation down. There is no doubt about that. Once I get this knee fixed again, I hope to crank that stuff back up again. But we'll see.
We all know the other part of the weight loss equation, and that is nutrition/food/eating. And here is where I have consistently fallen down for years. If you do not believe that weight loss is 70-80% nutrition and 20-30% exercise, message me and I can fill you in. I am the poster child for proving that is true. I. Am. A. Food. Addict. I'm not a binge eater, but I am addicted to food and there are certain ones that I just cannot resist.
Which leads to the thoughts I was having as I was driving home. Weight loss/lifestyle change/whatever you wish to label this journey...takes hard work. I'm only doing half of that work, so I'm NOT doing hard work. I'm doing half-way work. Medium work. Mediocre work.
What?!?!?!
What about all the sweat and tears I've given in the gym? What about all the pain I've put my body through with my workouts? What about the injuries? What about all the TIME I've invested at the gym?
I'm not saying that was not worth it, nor was it meaningless. My blood pressure is great and I have no real health problems. I'm way more healthy than I appear on the surface. So it was all worth it and will continue to be worth it.
But I'm not giving the full effort in the kitchen that I've been giving in the gym. Those two side of the equation have to balance or success will NOT be the answer. And by success, I mean weight loss. The food part of this journey has got to change. To do that, I'm going to have to step outside of my comfort zone and try some new foods, new spices, new methods of cooking, etc. I've had this thought in the past, but I've managed to quash it down and ignore it. It's time to bring that thought out to the open, take a good hard look at it, poke it, prod it, and figure out how to implement it. There is no other way. I've tried them all, so I know!
First step in this direction is to meet with Jennifer, the dietitian at the Macomb Hy-Vee store. I have an appointment with on Wednesday after work. I'm hoping she can give me some guidance, suggestions, and ideas on how to get my plan started. I know, from my friend's experience with her, that she will take me around the store and give me suggestions on things to do with various foods and how to bring them together to create something good.
I need that because I do not know how to combine foods. I'm ignorant when it comes to spices other than salt and pepper. But I've been AFRAID to try anything for fear of failing. I've let that fear paralyze me and keep me in this blasted rut for years! I'M TIRED OF THIS RUT AND I WANT OUT!
Another step in that direction will be research. Great recipes and food ideas are not going to fall from the heavens and land in my lap. Although I love Food Network, they do not have a show (yet) called, "Hey Angie! Let Us Cook You Some Delicious Food So You Don't Have To Think About It!" (This idea is MY property and if you steal it and pitch it to Food Network and make a trazillion dollars I will hunt you down and cut holes in your socks and I will also think bad thoughts about you.) So instead of wasting time waiting for Facebook to update, or playing Candy Crush, or any of the other timewasting methods I employ on weekends, I need to spend time scouring the internet, cookbooks, blogs, etc for food ideas. Pinterest is a wonderful place to "store" things you've found on the internet. I should put it to better use than for storing pictures of funny cats and witty quotes. Huh. Novel idea there, eh?
Ok, so I'm working on the food thing. And that's also a good thing (see 1st paragraph regarding how that should sound).
Yet another step I'm taking to move this journey along is I took a risk and applied for a spot in the Biggest Loser Competition that the Campus Rec Center is hosting. They only pick 10 applicants to work with. Well, there were only 5 applicants (so far) and I'm in. I'm sad that more people didn't apply because it's a great opportunity. There will be a weekly meeting and I'll get to work with a personal trainer (student) at least once a week for an hour workout. I'm always up for learning new things, so this excites me. I hope we get some more applicants so we have a bigger group for the weekly support meetings. But if not, I'm going to take these people down and leave them in my dust (except for my friend, KW, who Imade convinced to sign up with me). I want to WIN, dang it!
Change is hard, though, so I'm not trying to make myself do this overnight. My inclination is to do just that, but I know it will just make me mad/frustrated/irritated/upset and I'll withdraw and quit. Been there, done that! So I'm just trying to be more mindful of what I'm eating - and how much - for now. We've all heard it said: food is fuel. If I choose the foods that make my body happy, my body will do amazing things for me. I've never given it that opportunity because I've never been able to give up the junk. I'm not saying I will never, ever, ever, ever eat "junk" food again, but I am saying it's presence on my food logs needs to be greatly reduced.
I can do this. I've gone through harder changes in my life. And it will only be hard for a little while. Once we get used to new habits, they start to seem easy. I've just got to get to that point without quitting as I have before!
I've been trying to surround myself with positive, motivational stuff. Whether it's a great Facebook page, an inspirational blog, or the reddit pages my little brother has shared with me (thanks Andy!). Many of them talk about "hard work," of course. I always felt I was working hard and doing what I can because I will work my butt off in the gym, and then some. The other night as I was driving home, I was thinking about "hard work" and what it meant. I came to the rather difficult realization that I'm NOT working hard...at least in a well-rounded way.
I give my all at the gym. Whether I'm lifting or doing cardio, I'm working up a sweat and giving 110%. If time were not a factor, I could easily spend a couple of hours working up a sweat at the gym. Ok, I've got the exercise part of the equation down. There is no doubt about that. Once I get this knee fixed again, I hope to crank that stuff back up again. But we'll see.
We all know the other part of the weight loss equation, and that is nutrition/food/eating. And here is where I have consistently fallen down for years. If you do not believe that weight loss is 70-80% nutrition and 20-30% exercise, message me and I can fill you in. I am the poster child for proving that is true. I. Am. A. Food. Addict. I'm not a binge eater, but I am addicted to food and there are certain ones that I just cannot resist.
Which leads to the thoughts I was having as I was driving home. Weight loss/lifestyle change/whatever you wish to label this journey...takes hard work. I'm only doing half of that work, so I'm NOT doing hard work. I'm doing half-way work. Medium work. Mediocre work.
What?!?!?!
What about all the sweat and tears I've given in the gym? What about all the pain I've put my body through with my workouts? What about the injuries? What about all the TIME I've invested at the gym?
I'm not saying that was not worth it, nor was it meaningless. My blood pressure is great and I have no real health problems. I'm way more healthy than I appear on the surface. So it was all worth it and will continue to be worth it.
But I'm not giving the full effort in the kitchen that I've been giving in the gym. Those two side of the equation have to balance or success will NOT be the answer. And by success, I mean weight loss. The food part of this journey has got to change. To do that, I'm going to have to step outside of my comfort zone and try some new foods, new spices, new methods of cooking, etc. I've had this thought in the past, but I've managed to quash it down and ignore it. It's time to bring that thought out to the open, take a good hard look at it, poke it, prod it, and figure out how to implement it. There is no other way. I've tried them all, so I know!
First step in this direction is to meet with Jennifer, the dietitian at the Macomb Hy-Vee store. I have an appointment with on Wednesday after work. I'm hoping she can give me some guidance, suggestions, and ideas on how to get my plan started. I know, from my friend's experience with her, that she will take me around the store and give me suggestions on things to do with various foods and how to bring them together to create something good.
I need that because I do not know how to combine foods. I'm ignorant when it comes to spices other than salt and pepper. But I've been AFRAID to try anything for fear of failing. I've let that fear paralyze me and keep me in this blasted rut for years! I'M TIRED OF THIS RUT AND I WANT OUT!
Another step in that direction will be research. Great recipes and food ideas are not going to fall from the heavens and land in my lap. Although I love Food Network, they do not have a show (yet) called, "Hey Angie! Let Us Cook You Some Delicious Food So You Don't Have To Think About It!" (This idea is MY property and if you steal it and pitch it to Food Network and make a trazillion dollars I will hunt you down and cut holes in your socks and I will also think bad thoughts about you.) So instead of wasting time waiting for Facebook to update, or playing Candy Crush, or any of the other timewasting methods I employ on weekends, I need to spend time scouring the internet, cookbooks, blogs, etc for food ideas. Pinterest is a wonderful place to "store" things you've found on the internet. I should put it to better use than for storing pictures of funny cats and witty quotes. Huh. Novel idea there, eh?
Ok, so I'm working on the food thing. And that's also a good thing (see 1st paragraph regarding how that should sound).
Yet another step I'm taking to move this journey along is I took a risk and applied for a spot in the Biggest Loser Competition that the Campus Rec Center is hosting. They only pick 10 applicants to work with. Well, there were only 5 applicants (so far) and I'm in. I'm sad that more people didn't apply because it's a great opportunity. There will be a weekly meeting and I'll get to work with a personal trainer (student) at least once a week for an hour workout. I'm always up for learning new things, so this excites me. I hope we get some more applicants so we have a bigger group for the weekly support meetings. But if not, I'm going to take these people down and leave them in my dust (except for my friend, KW, who I
Change is hard, though, so I'm not trying to make myself do this overnight. My inclination is to do just that, but I know it will just make me mad/frustrated/irritated/upset and I'll withdraw and quit. Been there, done that! So I'm just trying to be more mindful of what I'm eating - and how much - for now. We've all heard it said: food is fuel. If I choose the foods that make my body happy, my body will do amazing things for me. I've never given it that opportunity because I've never been able to give up the junk. I'm not saying I will never, ever, ever, ever eat "junk" food again, but I am saying it's presence on my food logs needs to be greatly reduced.
I can do this. I've gone through harder changes in my life. And it will only be hard for a little while. Once we get used to new habits, they start to seem easy. I've just got to get to that point without quitting as I have before!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)