Thursday, September 26, 2013

Still Getting Started {Weekly Summary}

Weight: 223
Weekly Change: -1
Overall Change: -2
Next goal weight: 220
BMI: 32.5 (obese) (using this calculator)
Waist Circumference: 40 inches, I think...still haven't measured
Disease Risk: Very High (according to this chart)
Jeans Size: 20
Total Workouts: 4
Total Walks: 4
Total Other Workouts: 0
Progress on Training Plan(s): Not working on any sort of training plan yet, but considering starting one for core strengthening.
Injury Report: All is well at the moment. Recovering from a minor cold, but it's nothing that would stop me from exercising.
Next Event Goal: Same report as last week: "None on the horizon at the moment. I'm focusing on establishing exercise as a routine, and healthier eating habits, and making fitness a priority even within my insanely busy schedule. Additionally, money is really tight right now and race fees are a luxury I can do without."
Last Week's Goal(s): Failed at all three. To be honest, I did not even remember what they were! This is all the more reason for me to keep up with this blog -- so I will have frequent access to my weekly goals!
This Week's Goals: Repeating last week's goals: (1) Do one exercise other than walking. (2) Work on more blog posts (even if they're not completed). (3) Measure my waist.

Analysis: Based on the way the last week has gone, I'm very grateful for my new commute. I've been working OT and fighting off a cold, but most days I still had to walk to and from the train. It's nice having that built-in exercise right now. It won't be enough to get me to my long-term goals, but it's a great way to get started. I'm exhausted and don't have much more to say about this week. Maybe next week will be more interesting!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Nothing to See Here {Weekly Summary}

Weight: 224
Weekly Change: None
Overall Change: -1 from my new "starting weight" of 225 a few weeks ago
Next goal weight: 220
BMI: 32.6 (obese) (using this calculator)
Waist Circumference: 40 inches, I think...haven't measured in a while
Disease Risk: Very High (according to this chart)
Jeans Size: 20
Total Workouts: 5
Total Walks: 5
Total Other Workouts: 0
Progress on Training Plan(s): Not working on any sort of training plan at the moment.
Injury Report: The toe healed nicely after the ingrown nail was cut out. There is still pain, but that is from a toenail fungus (ew!) that I can't yet afford to treat. I want to do the laser treatment rather than the topical products that don't really work or the drugs that have scary side effects. Unfortunately, the laser treatment is considered cosmetic and not covered by insurance, so it might be a while until I can save up for it. Meanwhile I'll just tough it out whenever the toe hurts.
Next Event Goal: None on the horizon at the moment. I'm focusing on establishing exercise as a routine, and healthier eating habits, and making fitness a priority even within my insanely busy schedule. Additionally, money is really tight right now and race fees are a luxury I can do without.
Last Week's Goal(s): Didn't really set any.
This Week's Goals: (1) Do one exercise other than walking. (2) Work on more blog posts (even if they're not completed). (3) Measure my waist.

Analysis: A lot has changed since the last time I did one of these weekly update posts. Once my toe healed, I was in a long period of transition in which I went back to work and my kids returned to school and fall activities. Now our busy schedule is in full swing, but fortunately I am able to exercise! We faced some major car trouble (both cars broken down at once -- that was a bit of a nightmare, but we lived through it!) that forced me to try out a train commute to work. It was a blessing in disguise, because I absolutely love taking the train! It's so much less stressful than driving, and even though it takes longer, part of that time is built-in exercise when I walk about a mile from the station to my office building. Eventually I do want to add in more/other exercise, but this is a great start and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. As my last post indicated, I'm also starting to put the brakes on my runaway train of bad eating habits. I'm doing reasonably well with that so far, in my humble opinion. Hopefully soon I'll start to see some gradual results on the scale and in how my clothes fit. I'm setting my goals pretty small and vague for this coming week. It's been a long time since I've had much success with the goals I've set here, so I want to build my confidence up before pushing myself too hard. We'll see if it works!

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Talking to Myself About Food

WE INTERRUPT THIS BAG OF FRITOS TO BRING YOU MY CURRENT THOUGHTS ON NUTRITION

I haven't been blogging much lately. I haven't had much progress to report, and I haven't had the time to flesh out any of my thoughts into posts "worthy" of a blog following.

Is it just me, or does it seem like more and more blogs have been going viral lately? Everyone is talking to someone -- a letter to my daughter, a conversation with my son, a note to other people's daughters, an address to the lady who wrote to other people's daughters, and so on and so on. Meanwhile, here I am in my own little corner, munching on my Fritos and talking to myself. Is anything I say worth posting in the world of viral blogs?

Get over yourself, me. You're being silly. Very little of what you write here would be interesting to anyone beyond the handful of friends and family who have followed you thus far, and that was the point of this blog in the first place. You are tracking your progress and making meaningful connections, and therefore your posts are worth sharing here even if they are short and uninspired and not designed to be reposted by strangers. So keep writing and stop worrying if your blog is "worthy."

WHEW. Okay, I got that out of my system. Now back to my struggle--er, ah...journey. I'm back to work full-time now and stuck in the same conundrum I experienced after my last baby -- just not enough hours in the day to work, nurse my baby, spend time with the rest of the family, AND exercise. The difference this time around is that I'm not beating myself up over it. I knew it would be this way for a while, so I'm just going to be patient and do what I can.

Meanwhile, I do still need to do something to start losing weight, because my plus-size wardrobe is in sad shape and I'm too broke to do anything about it. So, it's time to focus on nutrition!

I've said before that I don't diet -- I just don't like the psychology of it, and I haven't seen people make positive lifestyle changes while caught in that psychology. I just go through periods of my life when I'm making mostly healthy eating choices, and periods when I'm not even trying to make healthy choices at all. Pregnancy always ends up in the latter category, and then afterwards it's a struggle to change my mindset back again. Most of it is an issue of habit. When I'm in the habit of eating junk, then it's easy to stay in that habit. Once I get back in the habit of making good choices, it will be easy to continue doing so.

Here are the "rules" of my plan*:
1. No food is completely off-limits. That goes along with the psychology of dieting, and I don't think it's healthy. It just sets you up to play mind games with yourself and ultimately you will lose. Being healthy means being aware of what you're eating and what it does to your body, and having the good sense and self-control to eat less of the things that are bad for you and more of the things that are good for you. If you ban various foods, you will not be able to develop that sense fully. Also, I simply refuse to give up cake, and if THAT'S not off-limits, why on earth should anything else be? :)
2. Eat when hungry. Your body lets you know when it needs fuel. You don't refuse to gas up your car when the needle is on E. A body is not designed to run well on fumes.
3. Stop when full. This is a tricky one for me. I hate to leave food on my plate or my kids' plates, because then it's being wasted, and I hate waste. However, if your body already has all the calories it needs to function at the moment, the food is being wasted even if you eat it. If it can't be tossed in the fridge and saved for later, then it's wasted whether it's going into your mouth or into the trash. At least the trash bag can be taken out when it gets too big. My pants can't.
4. Don't eat when not hungry. This is the natural companion to #2 and #3, and has a lot to do with habit. Don't eat something just because it's there. Don't snack at a certain time just because you usually snack then. If you're not hungry (and don't have some other compelling reason to eat now rather than later), don't eat.
5. Start eating more whole, natural foods. I love me some processed crap, believe me. And please see rule #1. But in order for the crap not to affect my health negatively, there needs to be less of it. I'm not going to follow any particular fad diet, but I would like to start making small changes here and there to the foods we feed our family. I'm sure our current diet is not the worst one around, but there is definitely room for improvement. Now's as good a time as any.

*I use the word "rules" pretty loosely. They're really more like guidelines to keep in mind. "Rules" that can be broken, resulting in "cheating" and guilt over that cheating are all part of that dieting psychology that I find so unhealthy. If I have seconds on a particularly tasty dinner one night when I know good and well that I don't need to eat any more, I won't be doing anything wrong, just making an unhealthy choice. There will be no guilt and no punishment, just awareness and increased effort not to make that sort of choice the prevailing habit!

So that's it. It's pretty simple, but if I follow it earnestly, I believe it will serve me well. It's really just a matter of shifting from mostly bad choices to mostly good choices, most of the time. This has worked for me before so I'm confident that it will work again. However, if it really doesn't work, then I will re-think the whole thing, because that's how you learn and grow in life.

Very soon I hope to resume my weekly updates, and add in additional posts when I have time. You don't have to share them with everyone you know. My blog doesn't have to be the.most.exciting.thing.EVER in order to be "worthy" of existing. :)

And now back to my reasonably-sized bag of Fritos that is helping to satisfy my current hunger...crunch crunch crunch...