Fit Friday - You Gotta Have A Plan!

I'm learning that it's not enough to say "I'll lose weight" or "I'll exercise more."  Those are great resolutions, but with no execution of the resolution you've got no solution.  Enter - a plan!

More than half Most Almost all of what I write here is encouragement for me.  I'm certainly not in a position to be speaking from a place of knowledge.  Having said that, a plan is in order - for me or whoever wants to be successful in getting healthier.

It takes 3 weeks or more to develop a habit.  Until then, you probably need a strong routine.  For exercising, it means scheduling a specific time each day during the upcoming week when you will exercise.  In fact, you should also plan exactly what exercise you will do.  Hopefully, after the 3 weeks of the routine, you will be in a place where you will know when and how to exercise regularly.  I'm still waiting for that to happen.

With weight loss for me, it's all about accountability.  I need to weigh myself every day at the same time.  I know many people strongly discourage that, but for me, if I don't do it every day I won't understand and recognize that the extra helping of mashed potatoes I ate yesterday resulted in the extra pound today.  It can also go the other way - that hour on the treadmill resulted in a bonus pound loss.

Most importantly, you need goals.  The long term goal of 30 pounds by next November is great, but how do you get from Point A to Point B?  How do you know if you're on track?  I recently sat down with a calendar and determined how much weight I wanted to lose.  I don't have a particular timeline - a class reunion, a wedding, whatever, so I don't have a specific date that I need the weight gone.  I do know that I wanted to take a slow, sensible approach (especially after a stint on HcG).  I figured that for the first half of my weight loss I could do a rate of 2 pounds per week (which is pretty ambitious over time), but the second half I would do at 1 pound per week.  I figured out how long it would take me and marked the ultimate deadline on my calendar.  Then, I wrote the goal weight for each week on the calendar.  Now instead of thinking that 6 months is a long way off, I know I need to lose 2 pounds before next Tuesday.  Every "Tuesday" I plan to mark down my actual weight under the goal weight for that week.  If I'm ahead (I lost 3 pounds instead of 2 this week), I just got a cushion!

The same is true with exercise.  (I'm really paying attention to my own advice here.)  Identify the days this week you will go to the gym and the time.  Initially don't worry about what you do there or how long - just GET THERE.  Later you can set the goal for time and exercises you will do each time.  Finally, you can just identify the number of hours per week you need to exercise - how much cardio and how much strength training.

Wow, I have a lot of work to do.  Get out that calendar and get a plan!

Don't forget to check out the Fit Club every Monday for more inspiration.

cindy

Fit Friday - Find Your Thing

While we've been here in Hawaii, I saw this add on TV.  It describes me to a "T" and I love her final choice for exercise.  I think it's mine too.  The rest of the commercial speaks for itself.  Maybe it will speak to you too.  (You will probably need to buffer this video and make it full screen to get the best view.)

Don't forget to find your motivation at the Fit Club every Monday.

cindy

Fit Friday - Why Am I Doing This Anyway?

Yesterday, I wore a suit I haven't worn in 9 years.  That's exciting and I'm pretty happy about it.  Thing is, no one else noticed.  I remember thinking someone would say something, but no one did.  Did that make it less than exciting for me?  Maybe.

One of the biggest problems of losing weight is the idea that it will make you a different person.  If I get to a certain size or wear different clothes, will people think more of me?  Will it change my personality?  Will my problems go away?  Will I stop battling with my weight?  Nope.

I'm at a place now where I have to keep my focus on why I'm doing this.  It's easy to say the only reason I'm doing this is for my health, but that wouldn't be true.  I'm doing it because I want to wear "normal" sizes and shop in any store for clothes.  I want people to see the real me without my weight getting in the way.

Right there - that's it.  I want people to see me differently because I don't like what they see now.

That thought process is a VERY dangerous path.  There's a great article from Sparkpeople about this issue, "The Secret to Loving Your Body Isn't Losing Weight"  In the article the author says the only way she became happy was by accepting herself, fat or thin.  Instead of weight loss being the point of pride, she takes more satisfaction in exercise.  Hmmm.  Maybe I should give that a try.

I hope you're exercising and I hope you're loving yourself wherever you are.

cindy

Fit Friday - One Day at a Time

I'm in an intentional holding pattern right now, just trying to maintain what I've lost for a while before I continue on down the road.  I should be talking more about exercising, but I'm still stuck on food.  I've had a couple days now where I haven't been eating as I should and I have gained a couple of pounds.  (This is why I weigh myself every day so it doesn't get out of hand.)

A friend of mine who has lost about 100 pounds recently put about 40 back on.  It's hard to watch that, especially when I remember how she worked out like a fiend to get that weight off.  She's getting back on the wagon, though, so I think she's a great example.  I have this success/failure mindset - if I haven't completely succeeded, I've totally failed.  This is a dangerous game in weight loss.  I'm trying to address this head on and stay positive.  As I told my friend, this weight gain is not a failure, just a temporary setback.  That sounds so much better.

With Valentine's Day and my husband's birthday, it's been tough not to eat lots of sugar (my cryptonite).  If it's there, I eat it and I feel compelled to eat it so it won't be there anymore.  Hmmm, two problems with this:  (1) I have an issue with "wasting" food; and (2) I have made myself the human garbage disposal.  So many of us grew up with the "clean your plate" mentality, it's just painful to throw things away until they turn green in the refrigerator (although I've never seen sweets do that at my house).  Those poor children in Bangladesh may be starving, but they definitely won't be eating that leftover cake in my refrigerator!  The first problem leads to the next - eat it so it will go away.  This causes binge eating for me - not good.  I think I need to practice throwing away sweet things and then escort them out of the house into the curbside garbage can.

This is all part of the process for me - understanding why I do what I do and addressing it - one day at a time.  After all, there are no failures, only setbacks.

Have a great week and be healthy!  I'm linked up at Fit Club.  Visit there on Mondays to read all of our stories.

cindy

Fit Friday - Be Prepared

Remember that old scouting motto?  I'm starting to think it might be one of the keys to stabilizing my weight.  I have had a lot of success on any number of diets, and I'm convinced that the reason is that if someone is telling me exactly what to eat, I can do it.  (I'm also convinced that is why Weight Watchers works for so many people - you learn to make your own educated decisions about what to eat.)

I'm a busy person.  My days are not well planned and planning what I eat is very low on the priority list.  Ideally, I would carefully plan each day's meals in advance, carefully counting the calories and the fat content, but that's just not realistic.  The other thing about me is when I get hungry or tired, I will eat anything I can find, especially easy comfort food.

I am trying to work around all that.  I have come up with a short list of "meals" I enjoy for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Some of them are fast on-the-go meals (even some "fast food") and others are things that are served in places I frequent (like the work cafeteria or favorite restaurant).  By having that short list, I can go into autopilot when I'm in a hurry, tired or hungry and eat something that's not going to sabotage my day.  The short list can even be tailored to suit any restaurant, with the exception of Mexican food which is very hard to eat reasonably.  

Strangely enough, my most difficult place to eat is not "out" but at home.  When I get home from work, I'm immediately foraging for food, even when I know what I am going to eat for dinner.  That's something I have to work on.  I'm thinking about coming up with a specific "snacks" I can turn to when I get home.

A little planning now might pay off in a big way.

Come see more tips at Fit Club - just click on the link to the right --->

cindy

Fit Friday - Crossing the Gorge

It's been a very busy week and I'm sad to say there has been no exercising going on here.  I started round two of the HcG diet on Monday.  The protocol requires that the first two days of the diet you take the HcG shot but you have to GORGE yourself.  That's right, eat as much as you can for two days.  Sounds like a dream, but is a bit gross and exhausting.  So here's lunch on Tuesday:

Boy, that was good, but I hope to never consume that much food in one sitting ever again!  As a contrast, starting Wednesday through the next three weeks I will be eating 500 calories a day.  On Wednesday for lunch, I ate raw spinach with a little bit of balsamic dressing, 100 grams of skinless chicken and an apple.  I wanted a picture, but probably consumed it so fast I couldn't.  I've lost 5 pounds in 2 days.  The results are great, but this is a down and dirty diet not for the faint-hearted.

I plan on doing some limited exercise during the next 3 weeks and finish the 500 calorie thing on my birthday in three weeks.

Wish me luck!

cindy

Fit Fridays - Tracking

This is my first Fit Friday, which is my way of offering an update of where I'm at in my efforts to have a healthier life, as well as some little advice I can offer from my previous experiences.  Today I'm offering the best advice I can give as a start.  You have to keep track.  You have to track what you eat, how much you drink, how much you exercise and how much you weigh.  It sounds easy, but I've found it to be one of the hardest things I have learned to do.  Kim from The Fit Club has already written a post on a phone application she uses to help her.  You can read about it here.  I use a website and mobile app called Sparkpeople.  Back in November, I wrote a post about Sparkpeople.  Please check it out here - there are 10 good reasons why you should try Sparkpeople.

Good luck - be well!

cindy

It's a Fit Life

Anyone who reads my blog knows that I have been in a weight loss journey since October.  I am just finishing the stabilization phase after my first round of HcG shots.  I'm a little over where I should be, but I have been maintaining a fixed weight.  Next week I start round two.  I wasn't sure I was going to do another round, but knowing I could lose up to 20 pounds in less than a month (if I'm strict) is too enticing, especially because I would see a weight I haven't seen in more than 10 years.
In the meantime, Kim from "It's a Crafty Life" has started Fit Club so bloggers can offer support and suggestions for each other to get healthier in 2012.  I'm excited to be part of her effort.  There's still plenty of room on this bandwagon for anyone else who wants to join.  I'm going to be doing "Fit Fridays" to show my progress (even if it's only to myself) every week.  If you want to see more suggestions and maybe inspirations, come on over!




cindy