Weigh-In Wednesday
Today marks the 3rd week of my diet(for the rest of my life). Every Wednesday is my weigh-in day and as such I’m starting a new segment to document my journey and hopefully pass along some useful info. It’s exciting and stressful at the same time, seeing if a week’s worth of work paid off. This week it didn’t-at least in numbers. I had been consistently losing a pound or so every week, until today. I’m hoping that it’s my increased exercise which is building muscle, but either way it’s disappointing.
Let’s talk a little about how this new lifestyle change took place. In short, I let some obstacles take center stage for too long. I mentioned previously that a series of events led me to start neglecting my health. Little things started adding up fast: cutting down gym trips after an injury, eating more with family, losing my job, and starting foodblogging were the main culprits. Basically, it was my lack of discipline that led to changes in my eating and fitness habits which led me here.
I suppose I’m lucky that I stopped myself here and didn’t wait until I had to cut off my pant tops and sew in elastic bands. I’ve always had a tortoise metabolism and my love of computers and reading as a child probably didn’t help foster any appreciation for long distance running or weight training.
I’ll be honest, the first 48 hours sucked. Hard core. Food is sort of addiction for me, no doubt. There are certain foods that trigger emotions and also comfort foods I seek when I’m distraught. In those first 2 days, I was incredibly hungry and cranky. It was similar to the times I weened myself off daily coffee consumption or sugar(screw you, Atkins!) in the chemical malaise, but also worse because I had to wait patiently for my stomach to shrink while it screamed for more food.
Now realizing that there’s no way to cheat the body(at least naturally), I know that a weekly weigh-in is the only way to keep me aware of what my weight is and to catch any variances before it starts adding up. I’m not about to get all crazy and start posting photos of myself online as some sort of documentary. But as a way to keep me in check, yes, I am holding myself publicly accountable and like my math teacher always says, “A little shame never hurt anyone”.
The 3 main areas that I know I have a lot to work on are:
1. Eating when I’m not hungry
- While watching movies
- When a friend/family offers food(thankfully I don’t have to worry about those birthday cakes at the office right now)
2. Exercising daily
- Getting in a routine so I have time to work out
- Finding good places to exercise(can’t afford a gym membership)
- Learning new exercises so I don’t get bored
- Building muscle(I want to be able to lift Honda trannies!)
3. Choosing better foods
- Eating whole grains instead of white bread, rice, and noodles
- More veggies!
- Drinking more water
If you have any insight, feel free to pass it along as I can use all the help you can give right now. And with that, I leave you Crying, While Eating.
water is important, as you mentioned. If you find you are having trouble with portion control, you can use water to help! take a bite of food, chew it slowly (savoring every last bit of flavor). Set down your fork/chopsticks/trencher. after swallowing the bite, take a drink of water. This slows down your intake of the meal, giving your stomach time to tell your brain you’re full. (it takes a crazy amount of time for that to happen, something like 10 minutes between the time your stomach is full and your brain knows it).
Don’t get discouraged! Your recanted experience is actually getting me a little motivated. I especially like that part about cutting off the tops of your pants and sewing elastic waistbands. I dunno why I never thought of that. = )
I don’t have any advice for you, but I think as long as you have a system that you can stay the course on, you’ll do great.
Kevin, I definitely have a problem with eating too quickly. I somehow always find myself inhaling my food. Thanks for the tip on slowing it down with water.
Alex, actually walking my friend’s dogs have helped get me active again. They are a great encouragement because they don’t tire easily(or complain about walking up hills like people do).
Good luck! I need to motivate myself to go to the gym regularly. I go in fits and starts. I don’t actually even eat that much, but coupled with no exercise, is just no good. Maybe making yourself accountable on the blog will help? Or at least serve as a diary for you to look at what works and does work from week to week?
I can definitely understand the lack of motivation to go to the gym regularly. And you’re right, I’m hoping that by tracking what I eat both on and offline I’ll be able to hold myself accountable.
Good on ya. I’m glad to hear others are doing this too. I’ve started at the beginning of the year (almost), training for a 1/2 marathon in May. Now in my sixth week, and it’s starting to show. Diet has just consisted of smaller portions and trying to eliminate sugar. That’s the hard part, I’ve stopped drinking soda all together. I also feel that sugar was one of my weaknesses, so it’s been tough to go without my energy drinks. All in all though, I know it’s for the best, and just keep in mind your end results any time you get hungry. I’ve thought about publicly blogging my journey thru this as well. Maybe I’ll actually get started now that I’ve read yours.
I had a sneaking suspicion that you were modifying your eating/exercise habits when last I saw you. That’s really admirable that you’re training for a half marathon. Truth be told I’m a wuss when it comes to running as my asthma makes the experience less than pleasurable.
I hear you on the sugar thing. I gave up drinking soda(diet or otherwise) almost 10 years ago and have given up energy drinks except for die-hard cross-state roadtrips. ;) It will get easier! I’ve found that taking a daily vitamin and paying attention to my hunger signals helps me with my energy levels a great deal too. Thanks for the encouragement and I hope you DO write about your journey as well!
Ok, I did it. I’m starting to journal my journey. You can follow me here
http://azsol.wordpress.com/
Thanks for the link, Jim. Inspire me!