FitDay

I added a new website link today to a page called FitDay. I used it one day and was not very happy with what I discovered about my calorie intake & exercise level for total calories taken in and expended each day, but it was nice to do. I am not sure if I will use it daily since I have to keep the food journal anyway. However, it is something to consider when I hit a plateau, which is bound to happen at some point. It even happens on The Biggest Loser.

Adam, I think you are right that the hollow feeling is simply habit. I am trying to break that habit, so drinking tea or water to ‘fill’ my stomach up since I shouldn’t actually be hungry after two hours.

Staying on track with eating. Need to rev up the exercise. Wish there were a bike path to the university. However, if wishes were horses, then I wouldn’t need to ride the bike to the university and I would be thin anyway. Wouldn’t that be a great thing!

Excuse or Thoughts

Descriptions/thoughts and excuses are two different things. When I say I am going to make something a habit, that is not an excuse–it is just what I am thinking at the time. What you call an excuse is my statement of what I plan to do or am doing at the time. Nimnull…of course, I am going to say that I plan and what I fear in a blog. That is part of what makes blogging useful. It is fine with me if you want to call it making excuses. What you call it and what I think about it are two different things.

Am I punching a punching bag? No. Your comment didn’t make me mad enough. Be careful with that though…I am still on eating as my refuge from frustration and anger, so making me mad might make me eat (that is an excuse). I am having enough trouble controlling that part of my life anyway. Doing good though!!!

I am trying to decide when I am really hungry and when I am bored or frustrated.  I am actually finding that more difficult to do than I thought it would be. I “feel like” I am hungry about two hours after I eat, but I KNOW that cannot be right because I eat enough at my meals so that I shouldn’t be hungry. The feeling is like a hollow/empty place in my stomach, but no growling–”feed me now” sounds. If I wait for “feed me now” sounds, then I have waited too long and want to eat much more than I need. So, skinny people out there, how do you know when you are hungry? This is a very perplexing question for me of the larger variety.

My journey to health will take time, which I plan on taking. This is a lifetime journey and not a quick fix that will change as soon as the weight is off (and then back on again).

Retreat, Advance

Well, I had two days of uncontrolled snacking this week and only one day of exercise. That does not work if I want to get fit. The good thing is that I was only uncontrolled for two days and then jumped back on the fitness/health bandwagon. So, retreat, advance…that is how this is going to go, but I am aiming for more advance days than the retreat days. I will train myself that healthy eating is good eating and not a diet. I have got to get over this snacking trauma I have. AARRGGHH!!!

Did my weight training today. I am going to have to join a gym in Knoxville also though. I don’t get to Nashville soon enough on Friday to get enough exercise in. I know, I know, I can go out and walk around the neighborhood, but at this point I think that is just deadly dull. I need to work myself up to the point where exercise is at least a habit and not just a chore. THAT is going to take time, but I’m plugging along.

Adam, no body fat, etc. measurements. Can I do that for myself? I’ll check it out on google, but you may be able to give me tips on what sites to look at for the best info.

Persistence

One word, so important.

” I know the price of success: dedication, hard work, and an unremitting devotion to the things you want to see happen.”           Frank Lloyd Wright

“Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity. “           Louis Pasteur

No one who knows me has ever said that I did not have bulldog-like persistence. So, now I just need to make sure I turn that persistence to getting healthy. One week down (using persistence), many more to go. Habits are formed in 6 weeks, I know I can be persistent for six weeks with eating right, keeping the food journal, and exercising. Come on HABIT!

Let’s really hope the exercise habit keeps in. It is still a pain in the neck.

Iron Man Triathlon

Well, I watched part of the Iron Man triathlon on Saturday. Watching those people just struggle to finish (some of them 77+ years old) made me realize that if you really want something, you can do it.

So, I am going to pretend I like to exercise and hope that it will turn into a real like of exercise.

Adam, do you want to do the Iron Man with me in 6 or so years? I will just aim to finish…you can try to be in the top — (whatever your goal is).

Food Diary: One Week Down…xxx to go

Well, shocking though it is to report, I managed to keep the bloody food diary all week. I was surprised, but I figure what is the point of seeing a nutritionist if you have to make up things you ate during the week. So, what have I noticed?

1. I actually felt hungry this week-a shocking experience for someone who snacks constantly.
2. I have lost weight and my prednisone-induced “moonface” is gone. YEAH!!!
3. I cannot let myself get hungry or I snack before a meal. I have eaten healthy snacks, but still…
4. I love Pepperidge Farm goldfish…I may have to give them up because I am not sure I can control my urge to eat them (on a regular basis).
5. Lowfat yoghurt and berries are to die for if you need something sweet.
6. I would croak without diet hot chocolate (will have to watch the marshmallows though).
7. Hershey’s has a kisses five-pack now for my once-a-week chocolate fix (190 calories for five and sometimes it is just worth it!)
8. Apples with peanut butter are good!!
9. Applesauce with peanut butter ain’t bad and it holds you for awhile.

Exercise: still don’t like it, but park further out and walk. Weight training isn’t bad and I wasn’t as sore the second day this time. Will do weight training again tomorrow and walk or ride the bicycle. Dolph got me an iPod shuffle for Valentine’s Day and I play that to alleviate the tedium of walking on a treadmill or riding a stationary bike….I am just going to keep plugging along.

Hanging in there

Hangin’ in There!

Yeah! Keeping my food diary, walking more (but not enough yet), and eating healthy. I feel better already, and I have just gotten started.

Meeting with the nutritionist every week is really, really helpful. I have moments when I want to cave in, but I am building willpower as well as self-determination. In fact, I passed up homemade chocolate cake with raspberry sauce today even though the smell was soooo enticing. I was very proud of myself. Instead of chocolate cake, I had low-cal hot chocolate with a few marshmallows–it was a good chocolate fix.

My arms and shoulders hurt for two days from my weight training, but I am back to normal now. I will go back again either Friday or Saturday and then again on Monday (provided I don’t hurt for two days again). I have to get the stretching and aerobics back in place also.

All in good time!

Nutrition Counseling

Saw the nutritionist yesterday and really liked her. I’ve been on so many diets in my life that I knew what she was saying, but it was nice to have my own personal nutritionist instead of listening to the Weight Watchers people. Based on my description of my food consumption, she decided I was an obsessive-compulsive eater. I just want to say “DUH”–that is my life. However, it was interesting to hear her analysis. I am also an emotional eater. I eat when upset or stressed. I’ve known that for awhile also.

However, what I really like about having a nutritionist is the accountability. I have to write down everything I eat (GAG) and meet with her every week. So, this morning I am starting my food diary (and I really hate doing it, but I am going to do it).

We also had a good discussion about self-determination versus willpower. I’m pretty good at the self-determination part (do not go down the chip aisle or have chips in the house), but really not so great at the willpower part–only eat a few chips and not the entire bag. At this point, potato chips have no place in my house. Truthfully, I only miss them when I am stressed and/or upset. She also told me to quit doing so much at school and work. She said my focus should be on myself right now.

My goal for this week, according to her, is to avoid mindless eating. I have to stop and think before I eat–do I want this, do I need this, am I really hungry. I don’t think I have eaten for hunger in years! I eat for plenty of other reasons–boredom, stress, frustration–but not hunger. Well, I ate for hunger at the Tennessee Fitness Spa, but that is because I didn’t sneak food in like some of those other people.

Enough for now, I have to read stats.

BTW, I walked with Dolph on Saturday and Sunday and did my weight training Monday. I am back on track.

Walking, Walking, Walking

Well, I actually got out and walked with Dolph this weekend on both Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t go far, but I did get out there and exercise. It make me feel good. I have promised him to walk with him at least for a little while each time I am home.

I go to the nutritionist tomorrow and will also do water aerobics while I am at the wellness center. Kill two birds with one stone. I cannot say that exercising or eating right is easy, but at least I am working on making this a habit and learning to enjoy exercise and healthy eating.

Losian Adipo

Okay, I don’t know Latin, but losian adipo (lose the fat) sounds good to me. Had a really, really bad week at university, but managed to keep myself fairly on track in terms of food, and I still parked in the far parking lot. Going to the gym tomorrow with Dolph and he is getting out the Pyrenees map. This is going to be a slow process, with ups and downs, but I am going to keep plugging along toward my fitness goals.

Now I just need to learn how to say NO when it comes to work/school issues so I have time for the things that really matter–family, friends, and health.
LOSIAM ADIPO and CARPE DIEM. Let’s keep moving on. Okay want to add a song here, but have to go to bed, have an online conference in the morning, some gym time, and a party tomorrow night. I think I am getting too old for this.

Actually, one of my professors told me he doesn’t understand how I have so much energy. I should have told him that at work I can separate wheat from chaff, but I really need to understand that work should be treated more like chaff and family, friends, health is the wheat. Damn the Protestant work ethic and my own competitiveness. Then I should have added it was because for my entire childhood I heard from my mother how lazy I was, so I guess I am making up for lost time.