You're Not a Dog . . .

It's not what you think . . . 


I stumbled across a couple of sayings on Pinterest tonight that I wanted to share. Just two simple phrases:

Do Not Reward Yourself with Food.  You Are Not a Dog.

And, you know what -- it's true. :-)

And, this one:

You are far too smart to be the only thing standing in your way.

Once again, so true.

*    *    *

I've read a lot recently about women and weight loss, and how women 'shame' themselves into losing weight. Of course, shaming oneself into doing something never ends well. When it comes to eating/diet, shame leads people to hide the truth. From others and from themselves.

Let me just say this . . . while this is a very public adventure, it is not about shaming myself into being healthy. Yes, I am seeking external motivation from you, but I'm not asking you to make me feel badly when I don't succeed. I'm only asking you to ask me how it's going; or tell me I'm looking great/better/healthy. And, maybe to pick me up when I don't succeed. I, like most, need that external support.

This journey is truly about doing something that is good for me because it makes me feel good about me. Because, unless you going to stop by my house every day to physically put me on the treadmill, your involvement in my weight loss/quest for fitness can and will only ever be one of support. Your love, concern and support of me will not make the pounds disappear; it will not lower my blood pressure and it will not shape my legs! :-) That has to be all me.

SO -- in the last few weeks, I've made a conscious effort to avoid negative self-talk. I'm not 'beating myself up' for having an 'off' day. And, when it comes to my eating, I have instead begun to focus on my motivation -- what's driving me to eat or to be lazy? Why don't I want to get off the couch? Why am I so tired? Am I hungry or am I just bored/sad/stressed, etc. It's been an interesting adventure into my own head. 

AMAZINGLY -- I've found that by asking myself 'why' before I eat something, I have also been able to tell myself 'no'. :-)  And, telling myself 'no' here and there has actually led to some weight loss! Hallelujah! I'm down another 5.5 pounds. I credit MyFitnessPal (I've been devoted/hooked for 25 days now!!) and my new awareness, for this recent success. I've started to actually feel better about myself for the success too. I'm actually excited about working out -- most days. Admittedly, some days are still hard (and will always be) but it's fun to see that the hard work is starting to pay off.

Eyes Wide Open

About a week ago, I downloaded a new app on my iPad . . . MyFitnessPal. For the first three days or so, I pretty much sucked at keeping up with what I ate, but then I actually took the time to sit down and track my food/exercise using the FREE app. 

Now, I've used lots of online/electronic food journals -- when I was participating in Weight Watchers Online, I used their tracking app on my Droid. It was helpful, but lacking in a lot of ways. Needless to say, my enthusiasm was short-lived. 

After I downloaded MyFitnessPal, I was skeptical.

BUT. 

I've been using the app (dutifully) for just a few days now, but I am already fascinated. Like the WW app, you simply enter what you've eaten in the course of the day. And, like the WW app, there's a searchable database but, the database on MyFitnessPal seems to be a lot more robust -- for example, they actually had Costco rotisserie chicken in the database! This specificity makes it easy to track exactly what you've eaten and helps me feel like the records I'm keeping are actually, well, accurate.

BUT.

There are two things that I love the most about MyFitnessPal:

#1 -- it shows you a complete breakdown of the nutrients you've had in a given day, so you can tell where you're getting too much (i.e., sugar) or not enough (i.e., calcium). In the last few days, I have confirmed that I've got too much sugar and too much sodium in my diet, and that I'm not getting enough iron or calcium on a daily basis. 

#2 -- at the end of each day, you click 'complete this entry' and a little pop-up appears telling you how much you'd weigh in 5 weeks if you continue to eat/exercise the way you did today. This is amazing because you actually get to 'see' how your eating/exercise habits directly affect your weight loss or gain!

For example, the other day I didn't do so well. I went about 360 calories above my target for the day and I didn't manage to get in any exercise -- the little pop-up told me that, in 5 weeks, I would weigh about 5 pounds less. Bummer.  However, a few days before, I did 45 minutes of Zumba and ended up with a 206 calorie deficit for the day. Well, that day, the little pop-up told me that 'If Every Day Were Like Today . . . I'd lose -11.5 pounds in 5 weeks! That's huge! I know exercise is good for you, and its supposed to make a difference in your weight loss journey (of course) but I didn't realize just how significant the difference could be! Just by adding 45 minutes of exercise to my daily routine almost doubled my potential weight loss! Isn't that eye opening?!

This post has started to sound like an infomercial for the MyFitnessPal app, so I will close by saying simply this:

I think the key to weight loss and healthy living (for people who struggle with it) is to find the regimen that works best for YOU. I know myself well enough to know that I am best motivated by a regimen that allows me to see results quickly, and that my biggest challenges are getting started on a regimen and sticking-to-it for longer than a week. So far, MyFitnessPal has served to keep me motivated to eat healthy/exercise because, even though I may feel like I'm not seeing immediate results, the little pop-up tells me [immediately] what my future results will likely be -- for better or worse -- and that's enough to keep me interested and working out! 

Yay for a little breakthrough and excitement -- especially when it's FREE! :-)

**DISCLAIMER: I am not a spokesperson or employee of MyFitnessPal. This is an independent review of a free product and I am not being compensated in any way for recommending the product. **

*Our amazing Christmas photos courtesy of my fabulous friend, Rebecca, of Rebecca Ferguson Photography! :-)

A Clean Slate

Ok, I can admit it. I have been avoiding blogging for the last month or so. 

Actually, I was only actively avoiding it for a couple of weeks -- because I didn't want to admit that I'd fallen off the healthy wagon so quickly.

But, then, I truly got sidetracked by a health issue -- which, after much worry -- turned out to be nothing. Praise the Lord. Nonetheless, I was really scared for a couple of weeks, and didn't (or couldn't) think about anything else. It was a very personal, very much all consuming worry . . . which, unfortunately for me, led to a complete disregard for my diet and fitness. 

Nonetheless, besides a clean bill of health -- one other good thing came out of the situation -- despite my best efforts to sabotage myself -- I did manage to lose a few pounds! Woot!

Anyway, I'm done making excuses for my absence, and with the dawning of a new year, I'm 100% back 'on the wagon'. ;-)

I have approximately 56 days or 8 weeks or 1,344 hours to reach my goal of losing 30 pounds. (Gulp)

I'm only down 7.4 pounds after all this time -- so that means there's a lot (22.6) left to lose. That's a lot, and it may seem like a very tall order at this point . . . maybe even impossible . . . but I truly believe that I will do it. 

Will it happen overnight? -- um, NO. 

Will it take complete re-dedication? -- yes. 

Will it be painful? -- yes. 

Will it be frustrating? -- yes . . .

Will it be worth it -- ABSOLUTELY!! 

Happy New Year -- may all your dreams come true in 2012!

Oh, and because I promised photos with every post -- I'm sharing a couple of my favorites from a recent WPS meeting. The wonderful WPS board members gifted each photographer at the meeting with headshots!! Amazing! These shots were compliments of Stacy Borelli (Swank Photo Studio).