[Click on the Weight Loss category to read earlier posts...from Day 1 and on.]

I have not been diligent about posting. This will be the last daily/every couple of day post. It’s time to move to weekly. And I haven’t not been posting because I haven’t been doing well -  I’ve just been busy. You know, trying to make a living between writing, designing, training and teaching.

I’ve actually lost three pounds finally. Not a big deal I know, especially since I lost over 80 pounds before. But what’s important to me is that my pants are a bit looser. How can they be looser after only a three pound weight loss? Well, as of yesterday it was 20 days (minus one binge) of eating better and being more focused with exercise. 20 days is three weeks – enough to start seeing a change in body composition if not so much on the scale. So yay me!

I still had some muffin top going on in yesterday’s jeans, but I felt like I could move around in them better. I didn’t feel like I was suffocating or unable to lift my legs..and I was able to dance in them, even after eating a sizable portion of Pad Thai.

What this does is motivate me to keep going because, gosh darn it, some day I will fit back into ALL my pants. That is my ultimate goal. Not some number of the scale.

The Difficulty with Being Tired

The subhead above  reminds me of the movie, “The Importance of Being Earnest.” I haven’t seen that particular movie; I have just always been fond of the title. Long, convoluted titles have always appealed to me, though they do not appeal to search engines, so I try to avoid them. Kind of takes the fun out of writing, doesn’t it? But I digress…

I feel a very strong craving for carbs again today despite being motivated by fitting into my jeans (Levi’s 515s, my favorite, though these are a size larger than my old ones. Ahem.) I was out very late last night with some friends – a pre-birthday celebration which included dinner and dancing. My body is yelling at me now because it doesn’t like being up half the night. I am desperately wanting some warm, fluffy cornbread. There is something magical about cornbread. I coat it with honey before I bake it, and mix in real canned corn. Carb happiness happiness for the tummy.

This is often where the real trouble with weight loss lies: It’s not so much in the how to’s of losing weight (we all know how it works), but the fact that many of us eat too many of the wrong foods when we are tired. Carbs, sugars and related delights (accompanied by caffeine) provide us with instant energy and help us feel more alert to get over that “hump.” The trouble is, when you are this tired the hump lasts…and lasts…and you are forced to constantly eat high-sugar foods to keep you from that inevitable crash. Sugar needs sugar to keep going.

The Sugar Trap

So how do we counteract the sugar trap? Maybe by eating smaller meals and snacking more frequently when we are fatigued. Possibly adding some protein to the carbs and sugars we do eat. (A spoonful of peanut butter on graham crackers with a bit of Nutella seems to do the trick.) If we really must have simple carbs and sugars to stay awake, we need to limit how much we take in with each serving and balance it out with a slower-digesting food to delay the crash.

Once again it really comes down to tricking ourselves. We may be very tired and we may want some refined carb-type foods, but we can eat less of them more often throughout the day, faking ourselves into thinking we are eating more sugar than we are. It’s about surviving the moment without having too many future consequences. The food choices might not be the healthiest, but the total calories will still fall within our daily limits, and that – in the end – is what matters.*

The point that I am trying to make is that we all have to work within our own limitations and our own lives. What works for one person will not work for another. When you are exhausted, hearing, “well, just take a nap” when you have deadlines or five children isn’t going to keep you from the cookie jar. We need to learn how to align our mental wants with our physical needs, even if it means thinking outside the box or making concessions.

Real life is not an encapsulated or controlled environment like the TV show “The Biggest Loser.” We all have choices to make, and sometimes they may not be perfect but the best that we can do on any given day. Giving up our black-and-white, all-or-nothing attitudes is the only way to succeed in the weight loss game, because we live in the gray world.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

Share your thoughts. I’d like to hear from you. You can do so anonymously if you want.

How do YOU manage your eating when you are tired?

TODAY’S STATS

5 hours of sleep.

For food?

(Today was an off-schedule eating day. I was tired and confused, so I missed lunch.)

• Oatmeal with flax seeds, walnut silvers and 60% cocoa chips – breakfast
• Orange – snack
• Fat free Fudgesickle – snack
• Two low fat string cheeses – snack
• Weight Watchers Veggie Mini Pizzas – dinner
• Green beans – dinner
• Apple – snack

*(Of course, if you are a diabetic or insulin-resistance, this is a whole different ballgame and professional help is required at that level).

[Click on the Weight Loss category to read earlier posts...from Day 1 and on.]

“I’m back…back in the saddle again.” The famous line from Aerosmith’s “Back in the Saddle Again” rings through my head as I write this.

I’ve been back in the saddle since my fateful slip on Day 14. While it amazed me how much fatter I felt after just one binge, it’s equally amazing how much thinner I feel a few days later. I’ve been back in control four days now and it’s going well. I think I scared myself straight.

One of the lessons I learned this last week was that all work and no play makes Helen a very bored girl. And a bored girl left alone with a tray of really good brownies and a bag of M&Ms is apt to find a way to entertain herself.

Another valuable insight I discovered is that:

Like earthquakes, we can feel binges coming on. The stress builds – your control cracks – more stress builds – more cracks appear – then wham! Earthquake (or binge, as it were). We need to recognize the pre-shocks and find ways around them.

I am no less stressed than I was last week. I am no less tired. In fact, I am still feeling like I am fighting some virus. Usually when I am “fighting something off,” or sick, I give myself license to eat. However, I am a still a woman on a mission – to fit into my pants. They are all a size too small.

I stepped on the scale this morning and sure enough – it has not changed. Interesting for me to note that little tidbit. As someone who blasted through 82 pounds in 10 months in 2003/2004, the fact that I have lost 1.5 pounds in 18 days is kind of discouraging. However, I am not giving up.

Time to Re-Assess

Last time I embarked on a weight loss journey I was 37 years old. I am turning 44 in a week. I am discovering that my body is indeed playing dirty little tricks on me.

I need to outsmart my body because the old ways don’t work now. How will I do that? By trying different variables – seeing what works for me NOW, versus what worked for me THEN. Everything is possible – when you find the right combination.

Variable 1:
My older body is probably using sugars (like from carbs) than it was, yet I am eating the same amount of them. This week I am making a concerted effort to cut back on breads/grains (but not cut them out), especially in the evening. This is very hard for a carboholic like me. I start every morning with oatmeal. It’s the reason I get out of bed every morning, so that one stays. The others…they are negotiable.

Variable 2:
Water. I dislike drinking water because I don’t like to use the restroom all day long. My doctor told me that I need to eat some naturally saltier foods to retain some of this water. I already do that, but I am going to see if I can add something (EmergenC or 100% fruit juice splash) to my water and to try to retain any more of it. It seems like 1 cup in = 4 cups out and I am getting very irritated.

Variable 3:
More vegetables. I will eat more deeply colored veggies. Sounds like it makes sense, I know, but it’s harder than it looks. I love low fat frozen pizza, for example, and Lean Pockets. High on carbohydrates, low on vegetables. So I can take a whole grain pita pocket instead and stuff it with veggies, throw a bit of low fat cheese inside and microwave it for a bit – making a high-fiber, high-vegetable pizza pocket of my own.

Variable 4:
Move my body more. Yes, I know I teach Spinning, and it’s incredibly demanding. I lift weights, too, though I have been petering out a bit on that. The rest of the day, though, I sit in front of the computer, writing or designing, and I don’t move. That’s not a good thing. So this week my goal is to add a little bit of exercise at the opposite time of my usually structure exercise (i.e. if I teach in the morning I will need to do something moderate later in the day or in the evening). Keep my metabolism hopping. Hop, hop, like a bunny (we rarely see fat bunnies out in nature, now do we?)

That’s my plan.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

Share your thoughts. I’d like to hear from you. You can do so anonymously if you want.

Is it harder for you to lose weight now that you are older than it was when you were younger?

TODAY’S STATS

7 hours of sleep.

1 hour of Spinning.

For food?

• Oatmeal with flax seeds, walnut silvers and 60% cocoa chips – breakfast
• Mocha Frappe Light (again, loaded with chemical sweetener – ugh) – snack
• More coffee with bad-for-you nondairy creamer – snack
• Boca Burger with green beans and low fat cheese – lunch
• Apple – snack
• String cheese – snack.
• I forgot dinner. Oops.

Ouch.

I feel off the wagon yesterday. Far off the wagon, bumping along down the road as I went headfirst.

Bump.

Bump.

Right into the yummy brownies. Into the heavenly M&Ms. Into the Cheese Its (ugh. They were nasty.)

Why? Because I was tired. And probably because I took the happiness of eating away and did not replace it with something that would make me equally as happy.

All work and no play = binge. Big time.

I was feeling good and strong for awhile there as you read in previous posts. And then – then – then the demon inside me got out of its box and ate everything in sight. Hmmm. I was tired, angry and resentful at the world. The binge felt so good and freeing (at the time). I felt happy and full and warm and toasty (at the time). But today, after the high was over, I felt terrible. My face was all puffy and I was bloated and fatigued….what I imagine a hangover would feel like. So I did what any hangover survivor would do – drank lots of water and ate lighter.

Getting Back on the Horse

This morning I had a decision to make: I could be angry at myself and continue to eat or I could get right back on the horse and pretend it never happened.

In the past I used to beat myself up over slips like this. I would think, “An entire week’s worth of effort -wasted. I might as well continue to eat. Loser, loser, loser.”

I don’t do that anymore. This morning I got right back on track. Yes, physically I feel terrible and 10 pounds heavier (which of course I am not). I could literally feel my belly flapping while I was Spinning. Flap, flap, flap. All from one little binge. In reality, if it’s flapping it is from more than one binge. It’s from the 20 pound of damage I did to myself over the last two years. Flapping doesn’t materialize overnight. But it’s amazing what your mind can trick you into believing. I feel much fatter today than I did two days ago. That’s scary.

I worked my abdominals this morning for about 20 minutes and then taught my Spinning class tonight. I am not feeling well for a myriad of reasons, one of them being the binge and the other that I am probably fighting off a virus of sorts. I will head to bed early and refocus on my target.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TODAY’S STATS

7 hours of sleep.

20 minute core workout in morning, teach Spinning in evening.

For food?

• Orange – breakfast.
• Whole wheat pasta with tomatoes and low fat cottage cheese – lunch.
• Spinach and zucchini – lunch.
• Slice of chocolate cake (it was for my ex-brother-in-law’s birthday) – snack.
• Apple – snack.
• Two spoon fulls of amino acids – after Spinning.
• Egg Beaters with low fat cheese and zucchini – dinner.

>Continue reading to Day 16-18: Don’t Give Up

I’m taking the weekend off from blogging about weight loss.

On the bright side – when I got on the scale this morning I was down 1.5 pounds. Finally!

I had a few food challenges to overcome today: Pizza with family members and then a trip to the movies, which meant popcorn. Movie theater popcorn is very, very high in calories and fat.  The Center for Science in the Public Interest found that a Regal theater medium popcorn, about 20 cups, contains 1,200 calories and 60 grams of saturated fat. So although I had maybe 1/3 of a medium popcorn (sneaking handfuls from the kids), I am still looking at 400 calories and 20 grams of fat – for a snack. And this is in addition to the 1.5 slices of cheese pizza I had for lunch and the brownie I just had for dessert. My total calories today were probably around 2,000 – not low enough for weight loss but not enough to gain, considering I burned at least 500 calories at the gym this morning. It’s so hard to burn calories and so very easy to pack ‘em in.

I didn’t continue eating junk after the dessert brownie. When you finally reach this point of control – you know you are on your way to success.

It’s about looking at the week, not one particular day. Eating more today means that tomorrow will be a lighter day to compensate.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TodaywasabusydayIamgoingtogofast.

Whew!

When your day is very busy it’s hard to stick with your goals. Deadlines, sick kids, stress and life in general can take a toll on your most well-laid plans.

Today I was very busy with both children home from school. I needed to sub out my Spinnning class, much to my dismay and sadness. I tried to stay on top of my eating but remembered only one fruit and a wilted spinach salad. I was too busy to even crave carbs.

I did a briefer-than-brief upper body workout today followed by 10 minutes of punching a boxing bag. That was all I could muster before sitting back down at my desk.

Why bother with so little, you ask?

Because anything is better than nothing. Seriously. 15-20 minutes of intense, concentrated work can trump an hour-long session if you do it right. More than anything, though, any kind of exercise is good for you mentally.

There are few basic “checklist” items to I try to stick with when busy:

• Drink lots of water (fail)
• Eat a fruit
• Eat a vegetable
• Eat some protein (eh)
• Give yourself one treat

If you can remember just those few simple things you should be able to get through the day without completely sabotaging yourself. I had a moment this afternoon where I wanted enchiladas. I wanted enchiladas and five bowls of chips so badly I could taste them. If I closed my eyes I could see them, dripping with cheese and sauce. But then I got caught up in a project, so I had some sparkling water and worked until the craving finally diminished. That was the only thing I craved today interestingly enough.

Nobody’s Perfect

Not to mean that I was perfect – in fact, today was a less than stellar day nutritionally. I had four handfuls of Chex Mix somewhere in there. It wasn’t very good, but it was salty and crunchy and much-too-easily consumed. I put the bag away in disgust after I licking my fingers, vowing not to do that again. I hate it when I eat things I don’t really like, just to eat them.

One apple and that spinach and tomato salad were my only fruits and veggies today. I really need to focus on the “5-a-day” more (the 9-a-day are far out of my league). Somewhere between the carbs and the dairy I am faltering with what is most important….what comes from the earth.

Other than the Chex Mix (which was simply a dumb choice – high fat, high carb and not enjoyable), I made some strange coffee smoothie concoction to keep me awake: Coffee, Stevia, nonfat milk blended with nonfat frozen yogurt. It was my treat, was filling and kept me going.

The Workout, or Lack Thereof

I am starting to feel out of sorts since I have not taught a Spinning class since Tuesday morning. I will not be back on the bike until Saturday. That’s pure misery for a Spinning freak like me. Spinning not only burns calories and keeps my cardiovascular system in great shape, but it helps me with my head as well as my body. It releases much-needed endorphins – one of our pain killing hormones – and seems to clear the cob webs to allow for clearer thinking.

While I did not release much in the way of endorphins,  I performed a brief bout of strength training. I worked my upper back/shoulder area/triceps with my Gravity Bar (which is similar to the TRX Suspension system. I love both of these systems). I proceeded to do isolated kettlebell pressups for shoulders, then push ups (modified) with my Perfect Pushup until repetition failure (which means I couldn’t get back up). I can only do modified push ups (except for maybe 5 or 6 full) with the Perfect Pushup because it is so hard. Somehow the rotating handles seem to challenge the muscles more. I can usually do 25 full push ups on the floor. Now I alternate between some days using the Perfect Pushup and some days doing the full floor push ups. I finished off with kettlebell bicep curls (this time adding my lower body), then cycled through one more set. That was it. I moved from exercise to exercise, with no rest, working hard and steady. That was all I could do, but I was able hit everything in my upper body – in record time.

No Gain, No Loss

No, there were probably no strength gains today, but the goal was no strength losses. Whenever we go on any kind of “diet” (and I use that term loosely), we lose muscle along with fat.

My goal is to try to maintain what I have for muscle and lose some of what I have of fat.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TODAY’S STATS

6.5 hours of sleep.

For food?

• Plain oatmeal with flax seeds, nonfat milk, walnuts pieces and chocolate chips (60% cocoa – a must) – breakfast.
• Green apple – snack.
• Lean Cuisine Roasted Vegetables Pizza – lunch.
• Four big handfuls of Chex Mix – snack.
• Coffee smoothie with nonfat milk and nonfat frozen yogurt – snack.
• Wilted spinach salad – dinner.
• World’s tiniest slice of pumpkin pie that my son baked. Awww. – dessert.

>Continue reading Days 12/13

I’ve never tasted Miracle Whip until today.

My daughter asked me to buy it on our last shopping trip, and as I was making her a sandwich I wiped the knife with my finger and had a taste. Boy, did I want some. This was Miracle Whip Light mind you, so it only had 1.5 grams of fat per serving. I had no reason to eat it, unless I slathered it on something yummy and carb-y, so I didn’t even bother. I bet it would have tasted wonderful on French bread topped with Provolone.

Sweet, Salt or…Carbs?

I think it’s the saltiness that drew me to the Miracle Whip. I’ve been thinking about salt all day. I had three potato chips in the car and I’ve been fantasizing about popcorn. I even ate some dill pickles (I learned my lesson with those higher calorie sweet pickles. Read the pickle incident here.). Salt, sweet, salt, sweet – I crave both and I am so confused.

I am keeping my eye on the final prize (fitting into my jeans that are now about 3″ from closing – 3″ might as well be 3′ as far as those pants go. It’s not even muffin top – it’s like a Play-Doh mushroom).

My eating is slipping a little bit again. Not so much in terms of binging (I am no longer polishing off an entire tray of cookies followed by a pint of ice cream), but  overall I am eating more and more carbs, more and more frequently. This definitely has something to do with my monthly cycle.

The trick is, how do I pull back without becoming tired? How do I eat more fruit and veggies, for example, when what I really crave are breads? I need a certain amount of carbs to survive my Spinning schedule. I live in fear of running out of energy when I teach. It’s one thing to peter out on the bike when you are the student – it’s a whole other thing to peter out when you are leading an entire class. I know the sugars stored in my muscles will get me through most anything, which is why I start every day with oatmeal – and chocolate chips.

Overall, I am a big believer in eating carbs. I lost more than 80 pounds in the past consuming them. The trick is to eat more of the good kind, less of the refined.

Carb Crazy

If you’ve followed my quest you will see that bread and other carbs are a large part of my life. Personally, I feel that I am “hardwired” for carbohydrates, but I’ve been told by someone who knows me much too well that I have been conditioned to eat this way from a young age. Perhaps he is right. Perhaps carbs helped ease my loneliness and provided a sense of comfort back then that I have come to rely on  as a crutch – much like the story of the magic ballet slippers (for those of you without daughters, stay tuned for another post about the slippers).

Carbs make me happy and give me a sense of well-being. I feel nurtured and relaxed. To me, it almost feels like I get a mental lift (not a high, but an actual mood lift) from them, particularly baked goods. It starts with the smell and the anticipation, and then the tasting and the…oh my. Let me turn on the fan for a moment.

OK, I’m back.

My carb-fetish doesn’t revolve around sugars per say. Sugar itself does nothing for me. I don’t like soda and I don’t care for candy with the exception of Tootsie Rolls, Starburst and Panda Black licorice. Of course I love ice cream, brownies, cakes, cookies and anything baked with cocoa powder. But it’s my fascination with bread and grains that I can’t seem to break. It doesn’t matter what it is – whole grain, white bread, oats, white or brown rice, pasta – if it’s a grain of some form, I want it. Now.

Cutting Back

I will try to slowly reduce my intake of the non-fruit and veggie carbs in the coming week. I will also try to limit how much of them I eat later in the day to see if that helps budge the scale.

I will still eat them and I will still enjoy them. The trick is to find the balance between weight loss and having a life. As always, that’s the most complicated part of the puzzle. If I was promised an eternal size 4 in exchange for giving up carbs forever I would say, “Nevermind.”

As Zombieland Rule #32 states, “Enjoy the Little Things.” I enjoy my little carbs…but maybe I should just enjoy fewer of them?

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

Do you have a carb craving?

Do they make you happy the same way they do me?

Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TODAY’S STATS

6 hours of sleep.

No exercise(!). (Unplanned day of rest but client deadlines and sick children got the best of me.)

For food?

• Plain oatmeal with flax seeds, nonfat milk, walnuts pieces and chocolate chips (60% cocoa – a must) – breakfast.
• Coffee with non-dairy creamer (ewww).
• Orange – snack.
• Weight Watchers Spinach and Mushroom Pizza – lunch.
• A bunch of raw baby carrots – snack.
• More coffee, this time sugar-free vanilla latte with soy milk – snack.
• A very minor chip infraction (3 BBQ-flavored chips stolen from my daughter’s bag) – snack.
• Low fat string cheese – snack.
• Double fiber minestrone soup with added green beans and low fat cheese drizzled on top  – dinner.
• Yogurt – snack.

>Continue reading to Day 11: Fitting It In

When well-laid out plans go awry, you just hang on to the seat of your cycling shorts and try for the best. This is a short post by my wordy standards.

A day that started with a sick child who was up half the night (and mommy with her), a Spinning class, and deadlines for design clients, ended with an evening business event, homework fights, dinner and then – collapse and cry. Even a superwoman has her limits.

It took all I had today not to binge. I ate a bit too much, but overall it’s not a deal breaker. I was proud of myself for that. Had a fairly big bowl of low fat yogurt after dinner with some light whipping cream on top and felt better after. Then I made an executive decision: No more work tonight. Get the kids ready for bed and hit the sack. Clients can wait. I will start fresh tomorrow.

Sometimes we need to recognize our limits…and respect them. I could have consoled myself with massive overeating like I have been doing the last couple of years. Sometimes the weight on my shoulders can momentarily be lightened by heavenly brownies. It may be only a moment, but it’s a good moment. Instead, today I focused on getting through the day hour-by-hour, project-by-project. A few extra carbs here and there kept me going. Compromise is what keeps me sane.

Today’s advice: Exhaustion. Don’t let yourself go there.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

How did you do today? Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TODAY’S STATS

? hours of sleep.

Taught one Spinning class, did no weight training.

For food?

• Plain oatmeal with flax seeds, nonfat milk, walnuts pieces and chocolate chips (60% cocoa – a must) – breakfast.
• Coffee with non-dairy creamer (ugh) – after Spinning.
• Orange – snack.
• Weight Watchers Mini Cheese Pizzas – lunch.
• Black beans with spinach and a dash of low fat cheese – lunch.
• Coffee with non-fat milk, Stevia and light whipped cream.
• Apple – snack.
• Lean Pocket cheese pizza – dinner.
• Green beans with feta cheese – dinner.
• Non-fat frozen yogurt – dessert.

>Continue reading to Day 10: Craving carbs

My day of rest yesterday was much needed because this week I have a challenging first few days: Teaching two Spinning classes today and one tomorrow morning. That’s three hard Spinning classes in 24 hours. For me, this is difficult because I give 100% in each class, and there’s not much time to recharge in between. I need a lot of recharging. I usually don’t teach “2-in-a-day” classes because it is pointless to exercise that much, and if I do that too often I stop enjoying it. Right now I enjoy teaching.

Another instructor needed a sub and I was glad to help out. She has a good crowd and I know I can handle it – I’ve done many “2-in-a-days” in the past. Since I also know that this is a week where I normally crave a lot of carbs (wore my pink “PMS” cycling socks this morning), the extra class helps me justify my unnecessary “carb-loading” and helps me stay focused on losing weight. Somehow my food willpower seems stronger when I exercise. I think the endorphins from exercise take the place of food when I need a little stress relief.

So far, so good. I was able to put in a respectable performance in both classes today, though my thighs feel like they weigh 400 pounds each. I almost called out for a sub for tomorrow, but knew I would regret it. I feel pretty strong right now, and I will credit this to my attempt at eating better over the past week. I may not have lost anything measurable, but I feel healthier overall.

It’s hard for me to grasp the concept of crap food in = tired, cranky instructor, and quality food in = happy, energetic instructor, but I am working on that, too. I think Cheetos should be the food of champions, but apparently they are not.

Anticipating Temptation

Anticipating what’s coming up in my week both exercise-wise, work-wise, stress-wise and event-wise is a way for me to keep on track. If I am going somewhere where I will be tempted with delicious but unhealthy foods I can “calorie-down” a few days before, which will allow me my inevitable slip into momentary bliss without the onslaught of guilt. I may be determined, but I am human, after all, and have a hard time keeping my hand out of a peanut M&M jar. Or off of a cookie plate. It is what it is, I am who I am, and I use my knowledge of myself to anticipate and adjust.

Thinking about what is coming up also allows me to schedule more days of rest if I will need them, or more weight training if I have been teaching too many cardio classes.  Today I knew there would be nothing more than some brief abdominal exercises in terms of strength training. My body needed all of its available energy to pull through those classes without tearing myself down. Again, it’s about balance. I no longer exercise compulsively on certain days because I think I have to – even though I feel bloated and fat like today. I have learned to be flexible and to listen to my body, not the voices in my head. Anticipating my week helps  keep a sense of balance.

I already burned out once. I am not going to let that happen again.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

How did you do today? Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TODAY’S STATS

7 hours of sleep.

Taught two strength-style Spinning classes (lots of hills – yay.) 15 minutes of abdominals.

For food?

• Plain oatmeal with flax seeds, nonfat milk, walnuts pieces and chocolate chips (60% cocoa – a must) – breakfast.
• Coffee with nonfat milk and Stevia – after Spinning.
• Orange – snack.
• Weight Watchers Mini Cheese Pizzas – lunch.
• Raw baby carrots and handful of baked Lays- lunch.
• Double-fiber bagel with reduced fat peanut butter – before Spinning (again).
• Egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes and low fat cheese – dinner.
• 1 slice of Jarlsberg Lite – dinner.
• Chocolate yogurt – snack.
• 1 spoonful of organic Mac and Cheese (no butter) – snack.

>Continue reading to Day 9: Exhaustion

One day a week I take a complete break from exercise. No Spinning, no strength training, not even any stretching. It’s one day for my body to go, “Ahhhhh,” and just kick back. Usually this day is Sunday.

A few years back, when I was at my fittest, things were different. I used to get up early and ride my bike on Sundays. In the summer my friends and I would meet at 6 a.m. before it got warm (and while the kids were sleeping) and take long, strenuous  rides. We’d push mile after mile, hill after hill, challenge after challenge, returning home exhausted and sweaty as our families began to stir. In the winter we’d head out with long cycling tights, gloves and windbreakers, cold and miserable the whole way.

An early, very chilly morning (an Easter Sunday in fact) I got stuck returning down the side of a mountain that I’d ridden up. It was raining, sleeting and we had ice in our hair. No one else was on the road, we had no cell phone reception, and my friend and I had to pull off to the side, shivering uncontrollably, wondering if we’d ever make it down alive. Another Sunday morning I was following a group of experienced cyclists through some canyons. They were far ahead of me, out of sight, and I was trying to catch up. I put everything I had into each pedal stroke, and barreled over the crest, missing my turn and almost toppling off the cliff. Those were my Sundays.

One day, while getting ready to head out on a cold early-morning Sunday ride by myself, I discovered I had a flat tire. I looked at the tire. Pondered. Then I removed my cycling gear, headed back upstairs and jumped into my warm, toasty bed. I haven’t gotten up early to ride on a Sunday since.

Now, every Sunday morning is “quiet time.” I drink warm tea, take my time with breakfast and read a book or watch the news for a few minutes. Sometimes the kids and I go out for donuts in our pajamas (they eat the donuts – I drink the coffee). It’s the one day where we don’t have to rush, and the day I don’t exercise.

Rest days are important to keep us working hard. I lost track of that and wore myself out.  Just like when performing intervals, we can’t give 100% if we don’t know when our recoveries (rest days) are. And we stop enjoying what we do.

Critical Mass

Scheduled days of rest also give you a chance to renew your motivation. Day in and day out of exercise can wear you down and wear you out. You stop working out as hard – start cutting your workout time – stop lifting as heavy or running as far. The more you start to “slack off,” the more depressed you become, because what once was a passion has now become just a chore that you dread. Why? Because you didn’t allow yourself rest time…time to physically and mentally recover. Having that one day to look forward to as an exercise “rest day” allows you to work harder during the week and keeps you focused.

Don’t believe me? Try it. While most people are looking for excuses not to work out, if you are exercising regularly, look at your calendar and pencil in a specific day where you do not work out at all. Write it down. Make it part of your schedule. You may find you are more motivated with your workouts, knowing that you are drawing closer and closer to your “rest day.” Again, it’s “faking yourself out.” You might be more willing to try that Zumba class or perform an extra set of push ups, safe in the knowledge that your recovery is on the horizon.

Balancing Act

I haven’t ridden my bike in a year and I am not ashamed to admit it. My bicycle is part of who I used to be: A woman on a quest to prove to herself just how strong she was, and just how much she could take. I’m a different woman now. Older, wiser, and a lot more happy with myself. Working out seven days a week may have proven to me that I was the strongest in the land (GI Jane-style), but it didn’t move me forward with my future or accomplish much of anything else than give me a body fat percentage of 19. I wasn’t any happier with my life. In fact, I was very unhappy. I felt pressure to keep moving more, keep Spinning harder, keep riding stronger, keep lifting heavier – more and more and more. Then I hit the wall. Fell back. Gained 20 pounds.

It took me two years to get to this point where exercise is good again and I am not obsessing.  I am even considering starting to ride on the open road again. I enjoy Spinning once more, and I really enjoy my day of rest. Sometimes, when I am busy, deadlines force an unscheduled day of rest during the workweek and I am OK with that, too.

It’s all about balance now. Balancing exercise – food – life. No excesses in either direction (except the work part. I am still working on that). Give yourself that day off…and find your balance.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

How did you do today? Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TODAY’S STATS

7 hours of sleep.

No exercise. Day of rest!

For food?

• Plain oatmeal with flax seeds, nonfat milk, walnuts pieces and chocolate chips (60% cocoa – a must) – breakfast.
• Apple – snack.
• Low fat cottage cheese, and black beans with spinach and a dash of low fat cheese – lunch.
• Banana – snack.
• Protein bar – snack.
• Lean Pocket Broccoli and Cheese – dinner.
• Nonfat hot cocoa (plain cocoa powder and Stevia) – before bedtime.

>Continue reading to Day 8: Anticipate

Cloudy Weather  Snack-a-Thon

Cloudy days and cold weather always inspire me to eat. I think it’s a “hibernation” thing. Today, I just wanted to eat, snuggle under the covers and sleep all day.

To counteract doing something detrimental to my progress I made sure that I ate every two hours or so – tricking myself into thinking I was snacking. After breakfast and teaching a Spinning class, I had a small sugar-free* Vanilla Latte with soy milk, then an hour later ordered a warm and filling Buddha’s Feast with tofu from Pick Up Stix. It’s hard to tell from the nutritional information on their web site what it actually was that I was eating. I wanted the Wok Smart entrée (under 500 calories), but received small containers of brown rice and Buddha’s Feast instead. I had to just work with that.

I ate only 1/3 of the meal at lunch because I wasn’t very hungry (the latte had filled me up). Throughout the day, I snacked on the remainder of the food – in about 1/3 increments. It helped me feel constantly full, feel like I was eating a lot – fulfilling my desire to snack – and still kept me within a reasonable daily calorie count. It gave me a nice serving of vegetables and fiber, too.

It’s good sometimes to “fake yourself out.” The constant small eating helped me feel like I was eating a lot – just what the dreary day ordered.

Stiff and Sore – Oh Yay

I’m a little stiff and sore today. The kettlebells I’ve added to my workout have fried my thighs and butt, and since I challenged my core a bit more my abdominals were tender, an area usually hard for me to feel anything in. My shoulders are feel the  workout I did at the gym after class. I used mostly free weights today, with a “pyramid up” structure, i.e. starting with a lower weight set first, mid-weight second set and heavier weight last set. Then I played with a Humansport machine and decided I liked the independent pulleys and the way the cables move with me, yet independent of each other. Though I prefer bodyweight, kettlebells and free weights, I like machines that work like the human body does, and doesn’t “lock you into” a particular position. The more variety in workouts the better, I say. Keeps my body on its toes.

Feeling Stronger

I was definitely feeling stronger mentally and physically today. That urge to binge is actually gone. I’m surprised this early in the game. But it will come back again. This I know. It’s all about outlasting and outsmarting cravings.

This is a short day, blogging-wise. I have deadlines looming.

Onward and forward.

Until tomorrow.

How did you do today? Share your thoughts. You can do so anonymously. I’d like to hear from you.

TODAY’S STATS

6.5 hours of sleep.

1 hour Spinning class, followed by 30 minutes of upper body weight training at the gym.

For food?

• Plain oatmeal with flax seeds, nonfat milk, walnuts pieces and chocolate chips (60% cocoa – a must) – breakfast.
• *Sugar-free vanilla latte (usually I stay away from artificial sweeteners. I use Stevia, mostly, but today I went with whatever the coffee shop had – the chemical sucralose.
• Buddha’s Fest with brown rice and tofu – lunch.
• Low fat frozen yogurt with walnuts and a few 60% chocolate chips – snack.
• More Buddha’s Fest with brown rice and tofu- snack.
• More Buddha’s Fest with brown rice and tofu – dinner.
• Strawberries and blueberries – snack.
• Tangelo – bedtime snack.

>Continue reading to Day 7: Rest