It is SO EASY not to Exercise!!!

Tuesday, May 08, 2012

Life happens. Work gets crazy, kids activities take over, throw in a little big of digestive distress and there you have it. Very little action on my part in the past month or so.

The logic goes something like this:
Fit me: "I should get up early and exercise."
Lazy me: "I need the sleep more. I promise I'll exercise after work."
Fit me: "It's after work. You said..."
Lazy me: "Yeah, I know, but I've got to take the daughter to dance, and then there's supper to fix..."
Fit me: "It's after supper. Let's go for a walk."
Lazy me."Ugh -- I feel horribly bloated after supper. It might not be a good idea to walk right now. Tomorrow morning. I promise."

Rinse and repeat the above for the past four weeks, and you've got it. Inertia is a powerful thing. When I'm not exercising, I feel like crap and I forget how good it makes me feel. The cycle gets worse and worse until I'm up up five pounds.

Tonight I went to the gym after work, and walked/jogged 18 laps around the indoor track (the equivalent of 2.25 miles). I jogged a total of 4 laps jogged, which is half a mile. I was pumped that I was able to jog a full lap, which is 2 minutes. At least I haven't backslid completely.

I did a few weights, which I was happy about.

I restarted my 10k step streak, and my 90 minutes exercise per week streak. I'm going to work it this week and see how long I can keep over 10k a day up.

So, if you're caught in a cycle of no exercise and bad eating, join me in recomitting. What can you lose?

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Fighting my Way Back

Thursday, April 19, 2012

I'm burned out and I just had a vacation. But it was an EXHAUSTING vacation - what else would you call six Disney parks in six days? I came back to a desk piled with work that no one does when I'm not here, with more coming that has due dates of April 30/May 1. The end of the school year is gearing up in full force, which means dance recitals and awards days, and a trip to GA to see my niece's graduation from high school. Another exhausting trip coming up the first week of June. To top it all off I'm trying desperately to finish my novel.

So I've put off grocery shopping and eaten out. I've put off housework. I've put off everything that wasn't work or book related. My life is like one of those old-fashioned scales. There's only so much time to go around. If I put more time in into the book, my walks suffer.

Everyone else has this problem. So I'm fighting my way back.

Well, last night I finally went to the grocery store and I'll cook tonight. I plan to walk before dinner. One step at a time, one day at a time.

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Non-Scale Victories: Disney Trip

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Although I track my weight religiously to keep myself accountable by weighing every morning and recording it in an Excel graph, this has never been about the weight for me. So here are a few things that I learned on my Disney trip last week.

In 2009, our last trip to Disney, I was five pounds heavier and hovering between a size 18/20. I completely avoided clothes that had buttons, and favored anything with an elastic waist. I had been walking, and had lost about 10 pounds from my heaviest non-pregnant weight. In addition, I had been what I considered "in training" for the Disney trip, knowing it would be a lot of walking.

A month before the trip, I had acquired a case of plantar fasciitis, and my heels hurt A LOT. (I say acquired because who knows how you even get it, but I stumbled into it) Even though I wore athletic shoes, my feet were in tremendous pain. I couldn't keep up with my husband and our friends, constantly lagging 20 or 30 feet behind. It was hot, I was out of breath. and my face stayed red. Our friends encouraged me to rent one of those electric scooters, but I refused. I felt that would be giving up. I was miserable.

Flash forward to now: I'm in a 16, flirting with a 14, and I can walk. I might not can jog very far or do a lot of dance aerobics with twists and turns because they hurt my knees, but I can walk.

In our 6 day trip, we logged over 100k steps. A strong week for me is 70k or 75k, so I am really proud to have crossed 100k in a week. While I was tired, I kept up with our friends, and I didn't feel the bone-crushing exhaustion that I had on our last trip.

Now that I'm back -- and I didn't gain any weight on the trip -- I'm recommitting myself to weight training which I really despise. Normally, even if I don't gain weight during a vacation, my weight will pop up the week after. I think it comes from being more active on vacation, then returning to a desk where I sit for a minimum of 6 hours a day. This week I'm going to be critical of my food, and try to up the intensity of my exercise. I can do this. That is going to be the key for me to move forward.

But, even though I weigh daily, it's not about the weight. It's about becoming stronger, having more stamina, and being able to do fun things with my kids. Thanks for all of your love and support. Together we can do this!!!

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What are we calling Boyfriends/Girlfriends now?

Friday, March 16, 2012

I am writing a romance novel, and thought I would ask my sparkers who are single or have single friends ...

What are we calling boyfriends/girlfriends now? In the early stage, before any rings or jewelry, before moving in together, but after intercourse has happened (don't be upset with me if you believe in abstinence outside of marriage - it's a romance novel, remember)
Or do couples avoid talking about it at all ? I've been happily married fro 13 years now and I don't want to come across as dated.

This is targeted for the US market, so if you aren't hailing from the US, let me know that in your response (and non-US responses are welcome)

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Two Years on Spark: What I've Learned

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Well, I had my two year anniversary sometime last week, and it's taken me this long to find the time to talk about it.

Here are few of the things that I've learned in two trips around the sun:

* We are not on an island. Weight loss and a healthy lifestyle are not solitary sports. If I share on those days that I'm on fire and meeting targets, then I just may lift up my sparkfriend who is struggling with demons that day. Likewise, if I put out a call for help, I get it. And that, my friends, is what sets this site apart from any other. Often when I've had a month where I'm not doing many fitness minutes, and I see another friend cross that 500 minute mark on the 10th, I think -- hey, I've gotta get moving here!

* It's not all about the weight. While losing weight helps with your joints and certainly cutting body fat percentage is good, I know that I'm walking faster and farther than I did two years ago. I'm in a size 16 instead of a 20. When I started Spark in March 2010, I was at 209, down from 213 that January. Now I'm hovering around 206/205, but that's after a recent gain. I did make it down to 200 last spring.

* Goals require constant reinforcement and analysis. Some of you may be fortunate enough to start your weight loss journey and lose weight every week until you hit goal. Others of us lose, then gain, then lose, then gain.... but you know what, I don't call that yo-yo'ing, at least not when I'm staying in the same pants size or decreasing. I call it life. One painful lesson I've learned this past few months is if you're in a gain cycle, you have to take some hard looks at what you are doing and make changes. Your metabolism may have shifted. You may have started back eating sugar or carbs that you had cut back on. Without sitting down and really studying it, achieving your goals will be more difficult.

* Move Move Move. Enough said. My goal right now is 1000 minutes a month. I made it in February, and I'm on target for March.

* Weigh and hold yourself accountable. There are different thoughts on spark about how often you should weigh. I am a firm believer in weighing daily and recording it. I then put my average weekly weight on sparkpeople. I've done this since 2008 -- and as you can see the months during the second half of 2008 and the second half of 2009 when I stopped are when I gained the most weight back.



So if you are struggling today, hang in there. Look at the long picture. What you weigh today is nothing but a blip on a graph. Do the things today to bring that number down and become healthier. Don't worry about what you did yesterday.

I'm keeping the faith. Right now, as you can see from my graph, I had a drop, and now I'm cycling up again. The story there is a two day trip out of town where I ate more carbs than I should have. I had cut way back, and now I'm trying to learn how to add them back slowly without a gain. I also need to push water more. When I was in two days of a seminar, I didn't drink enough water. I knew after an almost 6 pounds drop in two weeks that I would bounce back, and that's okay too. I'm in this for the long-term.

Stay with me, my friends. Remember that we are all in this together. I'm doing this for me, so I can be active with my family and enjoy life. This is a picture of us from last summer.

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