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*AMBER512's Recent Blog Entries
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Wednesday, February 06, 2008
So I've been bouncing back and forth between high and low cardio days. So on my low cardio day, I did about an hour of strength training. It felt really good!
Then yesterday I did a high cardio day including a brand new class. They turned my hour long kickboxing class in to a 30 minute cardio express and a 30 minute ab lab.
So for the cardio half we basically did a step class. I have never done step aerobics before and while it didn't feel that hard, I am SO freagin' sore today!
I've been stretching out my arms and legs and trying to convince my body to relax. What really stinks is that my mind is completely ready to go work out. My mind is sitting here thinking "Come on! Let's go to the gym! It'll be fun!" And I stand up to go get something and my legs scream "no, no more moving. EVER!"
Friday, February 01, 2008
So here is an excerpt from The Obesity Myth by Paul Campos that I was reading today from the chapter The Last 10 Pounds.
"In America today, dieters who are looking to lose anything like 10 pounds are most invariably attempting to conform to a cultural ideal that is inimical to having a healthy body. A woman who weighs 10 pounds more than the current cultural ideal in all likelihood already weighs 10-30 pounds less than she would if she ate normally and exercised moderately. For such a woman, an ideally healthy weight would be precisely that: the weight she would maintain more or less naturally, by avoiding a neurotic attitude towards food, while engaging in moderate levels of physical activity."
This got me thinking...when selecting a goal weight I don't want to look for a specific number. I put down a number just to keep a goal in mind, but my end weight won't be one I predetermined. I want it to be a weight that I can maintain. Maybe not all of the time easily, but I don't want it to be a weight I have to work like a maniac to maintain.
I want to be able to go out with friends, have a couple of drinks, and not have to immediately run to the gym the next day in hopes that I can shimmy it all off of me.
I don't want to get to a place where I can't enjoy food and I feel like I must exercise for at least 2 hours a day, every day. I'm not that person and I don't want to be that person.
I want to be able to breathe, run, jump, and be happy! Yes, I want to lose weight, but I more so want to be healthy AND happy. Is that too much to ask?
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
I've been reading a lot lately! In fact, I probably spend at least an hour a day reading now. So, I’ve been going to the library a lot and I found this book called The Obesity Myth.
I'm only about a quarter into it, but it's basically about how as a society Americans are being told that there is this obesity "epidemic." He's saying that while there are a lot of overweight and obese Americans (well, duh) that it is in no way an "epidemic."
He delves into scientific study after scientific study where obesity researchers come to the conclusion that fat people should get skinny because that'd be healthier for them, when that's not what their studies are showing them. While it is better to be active and healthy, he says that we shouldn't automatically look to the overweight person and tell them that they are unhealthy and that the way to become healthy is to lose weight. Changing their lifestyle? Yes, but not necessarily shedding massive amounts of pounds.
He focuses on the fact that we should be encouraging EVERYONE to eat better and become more active. Not assuming that the person of "normal" weight is healthier than an "overweight" person. When the actual number on the scale does not, in and of itself, determine how healthy one is.
In fact, studies have found that moderately active, overweight people are healthier than sedentary thin people. But obesity researchers don't like that conclusion. Especially since they are partnered with numerous diet and pharmaceutical companies. They want "obesity" to be this big, bad disease that needs to be cured. They want to sell their diet pills; they want people to keep buying the next new "diet fad."
What worries the author (sorry I don't have the book in front of me, I can't remember his name) is that people are constantly being told that losing weight is the only way they can become healthier. Which leads most people (not us, here on Spark!) to use unhealthy diet measures just to change the number on the scale. Then they’ve “beat” the disease. The number of the scale is down and their doctor can give them a nice pat on the back. That is, until the constant deprivation leads them to "cheat" and binge. This "weight cycling" as he calls it, is detrimental to our health. In fact, studies have shown that remaining overweight is HEALTHIER than yo-yo dieting.
When I first began to read this I thought, well that can't be right, but it makes perfect sense if you think about it. Going on a cycle of eating too little, eating too much, eating too little, eating too much, is not the way to live your life! If my only options were to yo-yo diet or to be overweight, I'd very much like to remain overweight please!
Right now I’m in a section about fat culture. I don’t know about other countries, but I know that in America, “average” people look at overweight people as though they have some sort of disease. How people think to themselves “geez, just eat less.” As though it were something as simple as that.
I’ll probably write a blog once I’ve finished the book to determine what I think about the whole thing. What I do know is that he is right in saying that we should be focusing on being active and eating right. Not necessarily trying to make a certain number show up on the scale, or to fit into a certain pant size.
Here are Sparkpeople we are learning every day how to become healthier people. Which leaves me with almost a sense of accomplishment that I know how to do something in a healthy way that can last a lifetime. No yo-yo dieting for me!
Monday, January 21, 2008
So in the February issue of Self there is a way to calculate your "happy weight." It says "Stop aiming for an unrealistic goal and use this formula to get your ideal digits."
So I go through the calculations waiting for the exciting answer to my "what's my happy weight?" question. So what is it? My "happy weight" is apparently 128, which is 17 pounds lower than my goal weight! They had a whole article where the women said what their goal weights are and then the expert saying what their happy weight SHOULD be. Their happy weights were all higher than their goal weights!
It basically just made me feel sad that they want me to lose even more weight than I planned! For reference here is what you're supposed to do.
Multiply your height by itself. (since I'm 5'4'' I multiply 64*64). Then you multiply it by .031
If you have a small frame you multiply your result by .95 or by 1.05 if you have a large frame. (if you have a medium frame, like me, leave the number alone)
Add 1 pound if a sibling or parent is obese.
Add 2 pounds for each decade you are over age 20. (since I'm almost 25 I added one pound)
Add 5 pounds if you've had any children.
Subtract 2 pounds if you exercise and weight train once a week, subtract 2 pounds if you do it three times a week, or subtract 3 pounds for five or more times a week.
Add 4 pounds if you smoked at least a pack a day for a year or more and have since quit.
Add 1 pound if you allow yourself a treat now and then.
My result after all of these calculations, was again 128. I might have weighed that in middle school. I know I didn't weigh that in high school. The problem is I have no frame of reference for me at that weight, so I'm not sure how realistic it is!
I've decided that my "happy weight" will be what they said it was in the beginning. A healthy number "that would enable them to live well (dessert!), look great, and maintain peace of mind." Whatever that number is when I get there, I will be happy!
Friday, January 11, 2008
So I was thinking about my pictures recently. I don't know why, but they don't seem to be showing as much progress as I thought I'd been making. Then I started looking at some of my really old pictures.
Let me just say WOW! What the heck was I thinking? They show a LOT of progress! It's almost like my mind isn't ready to start thinking of myself as a skinnier person.
I saw the particular wedding picture of myself and thought "geez, who is that person? What the heck is wrong with her?"
I never realized how much of a mental game this weight loss thing was. I'm amazed every day by how much it takes to be successful, and yet how little all at the same time.
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