I have been nearly an ANGEL this week!! I think that I am, thankfully, getting my mojo back! I decided that this week I needed to be a priority - and that I really needed to get serious about not only working out again, but getting into the habit of running if I'm going to be crazy enough to do a marathon in a year!
I have tracked nearly everything that I ate (with the exception of Sunday, but I didn't eat much that day period). And I have gotten my butt back to moving and shaking! Not only did I go to the gym several times this week, but I actually got up at 6:00am on Wednesday, and again this morning, to get to the gym before work! And...I went on Saturday afternoon in the middle of a college football game...now, if that isn't dedication, I don't know what is?!
Seriously, though, it's taking me a little bit to get used to running on a treadmill instead of outside, but it's getting easier. I found that it was difficult when I first started because I always listen to music when I run and I realized that I have a tendency to run to the beat of the music. That's cool, but not really doable on a treadmill that keeps going at the same pace and doesn't care what music you're playing. So, I've had to get myself used to running to the treadmill and just using the music beat as motivation to keep up the tempo instead of actually pacing myself to it. I ran twice this week and both times I ran about 2 1/2 miles in roughly half an hour. Part of the difficulty of using the gym, too, is that there is technically a 20 minute limit to the cardio machines. Now...at 6:30am when there were 3 people (including myself) using the approximately 20 available treadmills, I didn't really have any qualms about just restarting the machine (it has a 20 minute timer on it). However, after work they are a bit more in demand...so if I want to keep up using the treadmills there, that means lots of early morning trips to the gym so that I can keep up my "longer than technically allowed" routine.
I also started using the rowing machine while I'm there. It doesn't earn me a whole lot of activity points, but it's kind of a whole body workout. The legs are going moving the seat back-and-forth, the arms/shoulders are pulling the chain, and the back and core get used the whole time keeping you upright. I also love the hip abductor/adductor machine! I have some serious leg muscle, but my thighs/hips are still a little chunkier than I would like. I used that machine on Saturday afternoon and I am still sore! Woo!
Lastly, as you all know, I love my Just Dance game...but after 9 months of doing it over and over again, it's gotten a little old! Lucky for me, the new one came out last week!! I had it preordered so I got it as soon as it was released and I already ADORE it! It's been so great to switch things up and get some new songs and new moves! It even changed up the "Just Sweat" application so that you aren't just doing the same songs over and over again, but you have to challenge yourself to keep up a certain pace to earn extra points. And...some of the songs have an "extreme" version that you can earn...and boy are they tough!! I am going to use the new game in between gym days so that I'm not getting burned out on either one. Plus, I also picked up Just Dance Disney after my meeting tonight!
I'd also like to mention that I did all of these things while having a head/chest cold! I wasn't sleeping super well because I was all stuffy, but thanks to my allergy meds I think it didn't last as long as it has with other people. It still didn't make things very easy, but I pushed through it and did what I could when I could.
And it totally paid off!!
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 41:-2.4
Total weight loss: -54.6
Current weight: 202.6
I can't end this post without a quick note of thanks to everyone for their support and especially a big thanks to God for the kick-in-the-butt I needed to start this journey. This past summer, a childhood friend of mine died from a heat stroke and I found out on Monday morning that someone I'd known since kindergarten died from a heart attack. They were 31/32 years old. It's been quite a wake-up call that I'm not getting any younger and that the older I get the harder it is to break these bad habits. So, thank you all for helping me to do it now while I can.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
Lost and Found
It's no secret that the last two months have been a struggle - I have lost and gained the same three pounds over and over again. Plateau's are normal, though...and, frankly, August is just TOUGH for me. But, I feel like I have lost my mojo. It's been quite difficult to get myself back in the swing of things - I have found myself wondering on numerous occasions how I had time to work out so much in the spring. Even after the work world settled down, I still couldn't get in the exercise like I used to. So what was different?
For one thing, I am. It was a cold realization the day recently that I discovered I wasn't earning as many activity points as I used to..now, it's not changed by much, but I forgot that the less you weigh, the less activity points you get! It doesn't take as much energy to get the body moving, so you have to do more to keep earning the same amount of points. Well, heck, I've been struggling to even keep up with what I'd been doing!
For another thing, I've gotten myself a life! Year to year, there is always turnover with my coworkers - that happens when you have a fixed term contract. The last couple of years I kind of flew under the radar - wasn't super social. That probably was some due to my unrealized unhappiness, and a lot due to my realized laziness. My closest friends from my first few years here had all gone on to bigger things or to other schools, and I really didn't feel like putting in much effort to make new close friends. I don't know if this year I actually put in more of an effort, or if my rekindled sparkling personality just became a magnet for new friends ;-) , but I realized that part of my difficulty finding time to work out has been because I've actually been spending time with other people! It's not like I've gone back to spending my evenings on the couch watching tv/playing games on the computer, I've actually been out socializing! I've made some great new friends - and I love actually being a little bit more of a social butterfly again. But, I really need to get this workout thing back.
I was a little surprised that nobody has called me out on my lack of posting for the last few weeks - until one of my students did this past Wednesday. Truthfully, the first week I just ran out of time...it seems to be flying by this semester! The second week, I didn't get to go to my meeting because I had to work late, so there was no real update. What I should have written about, though, is that I was kind of glad I didn't go that week. I had a really strange week and ended up taking a bit of a vacation from my "diet." I was literally hungry almost all of the time! I would, no joke, eat a whole meal...feel comfortably full...and then half an hour later I would feel like I hadn't eaten in 5 hours. I wanted to eat everything in sight! I had such comfort food cravings - desperately wanting foods I hadn't eaten since I started this journey. So, I decided that for the week I was going to take a "break". Clearly, my body was rebeling and trying to tell me something, so I said that I would listen for the week and just accept the consequences. I think that I didn't do as bad as I would have at this time last year, but it was still not a good week and I really didn't want to see what that scale was going to tell me...so I wasn't exactly sad that I had to have a work meeting and couldn't make it to my WW meeting.
The next week I wasn't exactly an angel, but I was much more focused on eating better choices. And, it turns out, that my break kind of helped! I didn't have the cravings anymore - I can now sit with a jar of candy on my desk and not be tempted to eat it - and after each meal I felt full again until it was actually time to eat another meal. But, I wasn't quite able to shake off all of the damage that I had done the week before. This past Tuesday, I didn't want to go to my meeting...and I tried coming up with all kinds of excuses to not go...and I failed every time. I told myself that I would just go weigh in the next morning...well, the only weigh-in was at 9:30 and I had a meeting with the super super big boss at 9:00. Then I told myself that it was okay if I didn't go because I was really exhausted (I could tell that a cold was coming on) - so I would just go home and take a nap instead because I really needed it...and then my coworker emailed out to remind everyone that there was a fire drill around 5:30...right when I would have been trying to nap. So, I took it as a sign that I had to go...and even though I knew it still wasn't going to be pretty, I went. I had gained a little, but it wasn't as bad as what it probably would've been the week before if I'd been able to go, so I still considered it a victory.
But, this week, I'm working to get my mojo back. I'm still having friend time, but I'm having me time too...I need to get off this plateau and back on the downward slope.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 38: +0.2 (not bad)
Week 39: no weigh-in
Week 40: +1.6
Total weight loss: -52.2
Current weight: 205
For one thing, I am. It was a cold realization the day recently that I discovered I wasn't earning as many activity points as I used to..now, it's not changed by much, but I forgot that the less you weigh, the less activity points you get! It doesn't take as much energy to get the body moving, so you have to do more to keep earning the same amount of points. Well, heck, I've been struggling to even keep up with what I'd been doing!
For another thing, I've gotten myself a life! Year to year, there is always turnover with my coworkers - that happens when you have a fixed term contract. The last couple of years I kind of flew under the radar - wasn't super social. That probably was some due to my unrealized unhappiness, and a lot due to my realized laziness. My closest friends from my first few years here had all gone on to bigger things or to other schools, and I really didn't feel like putting in much effort to make new close friends. I don't know if this year I actually put in more of an effort, or if my rekindled sparkling personality just became a magnet for new friends ;-) , but I realized that part of my difficulty finding time to work out has been because I've actually been spending time with other people! It's not like I've gone back to spending my evenings on the couch watching tv/playing games on the computer, I've actually been out socializing! I've made some great new friends - and I love actually being a little bit more of a social butterfly again. But, I really need to get this workout thing back.
I was a little surprised that nobody has called me out on my lack of posting for the last few weeks - until one of my students did this past Wednesday. Truthfully, the first week I just ran out of time...it seems to be flying by this semester! The second week, I didn't get to go to my meeting because I had to work late, so there was no real update. What I should have written about, though, is that I was kind of glad I didn't go that week. I had a really strange week and ended up taking a bit of a vacation from my "diet." I was literally hungry almost all of the time! I would, no joke, eat a whole meal...feel comfortably full...and then half an hour later I would feel like I hadn't eaten in 5 hours. I wanted to eat everything in sight! I had such comfort food cravings - desperately wanting foods I hadn't eaten since I started this journey. So, I decided that for the week I was going to take a "break". Clearly, my body was rebeling and trying to tell me something, so I said that I would listen for the week and just accept the consequences. I think that I didn't do as bad as I would have at this time last year, but it was still not a good week and I really didn't want to see what that scale was going to tell me...so I wasn't exactly sad that I had to have a work meeting and couldn't make it to my WW meeting.
The next week I wasn't exactly an angel, but I was much more focused on eating better choices. And, it turns out, that my break kind of helped! I didn't have the cravings anymore - I can now sit with a jar of candy on my desk and not be tempted to eat it - and after each meal I felt full again until it was actually time to eat another meal. But, I wasn't quite able to shake off all of the damage that I had done the week before. This past Tuesday, I didn't want to go to my meeting...and I tried coming up with all kinds of excuses to not go...and I failed every time. I told myself that I would just go weigh in the next morning...well, the only weigh-in was at 9:30 and I had a meeting with the super super big boss at 9:00. Then I told myself that it was okay if I didn't go because I was really exhausted (I could tell that a cold was coming on) - so I would just go home and take a nap instead because I really needed it...and then my coworker emailed out to remind everyone that there was a fire drill around 5:30...right when I would have been trying to nap. So, I took it as a sign that I had to go...and even though I knew it still wasn't going to be pretty, I went. I had gained a little, but it wasn't as bad as what it probably would've been the week before if I'd been able to go, so I still considered it a victory.
But, this week, I'm working to get my mojo back. I'm still having friend time, but I'm having me time too...I need to get off this plateau and back on the downward slope.
Initial weight: 257.2
Week 38: +0.2 (not bad)
Week 39: no weigh-in
Week 40: +1.6
Total weight loss: -52.2
Current weight: 205
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