Being Fed Up Is Good.

Thursday, June 04, 2009

I'm just sick and tired of my lack of self-confidence, money, and the ability to relax. I've never been the kind of person who works extremely hard to get what they want - I've been lucky enough to have a lot of things in my life come easily to me. But I'm so fed up with things right now and I'm going to change them no matter what. I'm sick and tired of being fat, sick of being broke, and exhausted from being angry all the time. I'm dealing with the fat and it's going well. I'll be dealing with the broke soon enough, and then I'll deal with the rest. I'm usually a very happy person, but lately my angst has been getting the best of me. But at the same time, it helps to bring out the best in me, motivating me to get myself out of this rut. Mark my words, I will change my life!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

COQUET 6/4/2009 4:07PM

wow, if you could bottle that motivation and sell it you'd be rich!

The sweets.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Prompt: Which area of your life is in need of moderation?

The answer: Sweets. They've always been the one thing I can't resist. I would rather cut out any other food from my diet. But I'm attempting to make room for them in my diet rather than cut them out completely.
I mostly make my own baked goods at home, which I think is better than buying them at the store because I can control what goes into them and make healthy substitutions, such as Splenda instead of sugar, and applesauce or mashed bananas instead of oil or butter.
I love baking to give as much as I love enjoying the finished product myself, so when I feel the need to bake cupcakes, I give away most of them to neighbors or co-workers so that I only have a couple left to eat myself.
I have a soft spot for really cheap store-bought cookies, though, and I can easily eat half a package by myself. I have not bought any of them since I started my diet for fear I will not be able to resist. I have instead bought berries and such, a much healthier sweet snack.
But avoiding a problem is not the same as solving a problem, so I will eventually have to learn that it's okay to buy the cookies I love, but I have to watch my portion size and moderate how many I eat, and learn to enjoy them slowly.... Eventually.

  

I am not a Camel and I cannot possibly drink 8 glasses of water in a day!

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Am I the only person on earth who thinks it is a ridiculous task to drink 8 cups of water every day? I have tried this for the past week and I just cannot do it!
First of all, it is possibly the most time-consuming part of this diet. Not only do you have to stop and take a swig of water every 10 minutes but you also have to go pee just as frequently.
Secondly, if you are not near a source of clean, filtered water (my work just has tap), you would have to carry around a half-gallon jug with you or drop serious dough on bottled water, which is also bad for the environment.
Lastly, on the days when I attempted to drink that much water, even if I was careful to spread it out throughout my entire day, I felt so bloated and waterlogged that I actually felt sick to my stomach and got a splitting headache.
Am I really the only person on earth that cannot handle so much water in my diet? Before I started coming to this site, I rarely drank more than 2 cups of water a day, one usually being in the form of a diet coke. Unless I have been very active or it is a very hot, dry day, this has been the case for most of my life. And I suffer no ill health from choosing not to gorge myself on water every day. I am making a commitment right now to drink 4 to 5 cups of water a day, which seems to be the most I can drink without feeling ill. I have a stainless steel water bottle that is a 4 cup capacity, which I have promised myself to drink dry every day, and that leaves me room for a cup of tea elsewhere. I would love to hear from people out there who have either had complete or zero success with this water thing!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

GYPSIE67 6/4/2009 4:54PM

I am able to drink 20++ glasses of water a day. (I include my green tea in there) I start my day so thirsty, i swallow 2 cups as i get up. Then i prepare my tea. I always keep a big glass of fresh water at my desk & drink one every 60-90 minutes. It keeps me fresh & energized & away from the fridge all the time. I dont drink anything else the green tea & water, except for wine on the occasion. I do visit the ladies room a bit more, but i would not have it any other way.

HAPPYKATIE27 6/1/2009 12:01AM

I like the crystal light packets - zero cal, zero carbs - it's easier for me to drink fruit punch than regular water, but for the benefits, go here - http://www.sparkpeople.com/community/ask_the_experts.asp?q=41 Good Luck!! :)

PINKCAT1980 5/31/2009 9:22PM

It was hard at first to drink the 8 8oz glasses of water per day, but after lots of practice i now drink 10 to 12 glasses without even blinking. Each full glass of water i drink (tall glass) counts as two glasses for me so I usually have 6 down before lunch (3 tall glasses). Now if i dont drink that much i can tell because i get dehydrated and start holding water in and stop losing weight

PEPCEA 5/31/2009 4:30PM

I don't do it either and it hasn't kept me from losing weight at all. I think most people need to drink it because they eat so unhealthily that you need lots of liquid to help flush all the crap out of your body. Otherwise, if you eat really healthy, lots of fruits, veggies and unprocessed foods, your body can clean itself naturally...no need for all that water. If I'm thirsty, I will drink it and you will naturally crave water if you don't drink diet drinks and stuff like that. So I just drink when I'm thirsty. It's working so far. Alex

SUNNY89 5/31/2009 3:46PM

I use to be in your boat. I have learned to really enjoy water. I actually crave it. I take a gallon cooler jug with me in the car if I know that I will be gone for a long time. I use a large glass that I like and refill it. It took me a long time to aqcuire the liking for water but now it is like second nature. Keep trying it and it will come. It may take time but it will happen. Best of luck to you.

Exercising Blows.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Dieting I can do. Exercising is not quite my forte'. Yesterday started out just fine, and I decided I would stick to doing a small set of strength training exercises every other morning. Sit ups, push ups, leg lifts, and stretching to get me started. My boyfriend and I went for a bike ride and I was using his bike, he was on his dad's, and of course since I was not used to the bike I crashed. And now I'm too sore to do anything but sit/lay around, totally negating the work I did yesterday. And since I placate myself with food, a bruised ego and entire right side equaled a trip to the bakery isle for 2 of those gigantic Safeway cookies. Exercising is out to get me.

  

Give and Take

Friday, May 22, 2009

If I try to think about losing weight in terms of restrictions it makes me not want to do it. I hate restrictions and I want to be able to do things the way I want, within reason. So I'm coming at this from a different angle: I'm going to still do things the way I always have, but I am going to do trade-offs to keep myself within the limits of a healthy lifestyle.
Take today, for instance... I knew I wanted fried chicken for dinner, because it's on sale and it sounds really good. In preparation for this, I bought sushi for lunch instead of something with more calories like my usual pizza lunch. Also, I used the food tracker on this site to figure out the portion sizes I can have without taking in too many calories for today, and I will be sure to stick to that amount of food at dinnertime. And today I'm not going to have desert, since I actually had time for breakfast this morning. It's all a bunch of trade-offs. At home I allow myself an extra cookie or two only if I get off my butt and do some chores or work in the garden. I think it's good progress.