Emotional Eating (Article)

A basic article on the causes of emotional (over) eating and strategies to combat it. I'm sure we're all aware of the general points in this article, but sometimes it is helpful to remind ourselves why we stress eat or binge and how we can avoid doing it.

Emotional Eating

How to Recognize and Stop Emotional Eating

 

Emotional hunger vs. Physical hunger
Emotional hunger comes on suddenly.	Physical hunger comes on gradually.
Emotional hunger feels like it needs to be satisfied instantly.	Physical hunger can wait.
Emotional hunger craves specific comfort foods.	Physical hunger is open to options–lots of things sound good.
Emotional hunger isn't satisfied with a full stomach.	Physical hunger stops when you're full.
Emotional eating triggers feelings of guilt, powerlessness, and shame.	Eating to satisfy physical hunger doesn't make you feel bad about yourself.

How sleep affects cravings and weight gain Alternatives to emotional eating

Ever noticed how when you’re short on sleep you crave foods that give you a quick energy boost? There’s a good reason for that. Lack of sleep has a direct link to stress, overeating, and weight gain.
There are two hormones in your body that regulate normal feelings of hunger and fullness. Ghrelin stimulates appetite, while leptin sends signals to the brain when you are full. However, when don’t get the sleep you need, your ghrelin levels go up, stimulating your appetite so you want more food than normal, and your leptin levels go down, meaning you don’t feel satisfied and want to keep eating. So, the more sleep you skip, the more food your body will crave.
As well as making it harder to fight food cravings, feeling tired can also increase your stress levels, leading to yet more emotional eating.
To control your appetite and reduce food cravings, try to get plenty of rest—about eight hours of quality sleep every night.

Can You Have It All?

I have been thinking about Michelle's Sometimes you can't have it all... post all week. Especially the title. So many people (including me!) have the issue of being too busy to get everything done and feeling terrible and emotionally drained because of it.

I'm thinking that a solution may be a combination of prioritizing and forcing yourself to no longer feel guilty once you've set your priorities. People should be able to achieve all their goals, but probably no, not all at once. So write a list. Most important/time sensitive goal at the top, down to the ones that are okay to take a while to achieve. Then focus on goal number one. If you have more time, add goal number two. Keep going down the list until you run out of time or start achieving your goals.

The key? Don't feel bad when you put one goal aside to work on another. Stop torturing yourself for not achieving goal #5 if you only have time to focus on goal #1-3. Once #1 is done, you can work on #4 and then #5. You should never feel bad for not doing something IF the reason you can't do it is you are working on something more important.

Using Michelle as a simplified example, let's say the goals are 1) Health, 2) Career, 3) Money 4) Free time (to keep sane/sleep properly etc.) 5) House. (I'm not saying this is true or the way she should feel, just using her post as inspiration.)

In this order, if physical therapy and eating right means more time away from work, then Michelle shouldn't let herself feel guilty if it takes longer to get the promotion or her work takes a little longer to get done. Health is the priority, so IT'S OKAY if work is secondary to it. (Or if Michelle decides 1) is career and 2) is health, she shouldn't feel guilty for skipping the gym or physio to get the promotion. It's okay to take longer to get in shape or heal, because she has decided work is her priority.)

Whenever Michelle feels down about not having enough free time (ex. Commute) she just needs to remind herself that her career and making money are her priorities. If she valued free time more than career and money, then she could get a lower paying job closer to home. But she doesn't, so accept that having less free time is the sacrifice she CHOSE to make. If she feels her priorities shifting and thinks maybe free time is more important than her career, then she can think about what changes she needs to make to have more free time (different job, move back to the city, etc.)

When Michelle comes home exhausted from work and hungry and sees all the dust that has collected over the last 24hours, she should not let herself feel guilty for making a healthy dinner and taking an hour to read and de-stress before going right to bed. Her health and her free time are more important than the house, so she should only let herself worry about whether or not it is Anne Swanson clean when guests are coming over for dinner.

So overall, once Michelle makes her health a priority, she will recover from her injuries and become more fit. Once she finds a balance in her health, it will be easier to focus on work. Once she's focused on work for a while, the promotion will come, and with it more money. Once she has saved some money and vacation days, she can take more time off work to relax, buy landscaping and furniture, and hire a cleaning lady so she doesn’t need to spend her hard earned free time on upkeep for the house. Viola - Michelle now "has it all" and is happy, and can start working on goals #6-9 that she put off for now. With patience and time she can achieve all her major life goals :) Obviously this is highly simplified, and real life is more difficult and complicated, but I think you see my point.

The list can shift, and leave room for it to, as long as you aren't changing it every day to meet your current whim/craving. Maybe reassess once a month. (Still tired and miserable? Maybe sleep needs to be prioritized over work.) And maybe put in a caveat where you are allowed to focus on #5 above #2 once a week or something so you don’t feel like you are ignoring #5 completely. (Once the guilt is banished, the hardest part is dealing with the frustration of having to wait to get all the things you want over a longer period of time...)

I'll put the theory into practice for a couple months and see how it goes. My personal list works a little more like Rock, Scissors, Paper. No one goal is my top priority above all else, because as I think about it, how I focus on a goal depends on context.

Simplified to three things, the goals I care about most are: having a good, happy, healthy relationship with Moose, editing and publishing my novels, and achieving my diet/fitness goals.

Between diet/fitness and Moose, I will pick diet/fitness. I will not go out to dinner with him, I will pick working out over watching TV with him, I will make him a little sad there is no junk food in the house and cook healthy meals he only tolerates because I am dieting. It helps that I have never been in a situation where me picking my diet/fitness over him has ever caused any big problems in our relationship.

Between Moose and writing, I will pick Moose. It is not worth sacrificing our relationship for my personal goal, especially when I can avoid having to make this choice by managing my time properly. I will focus on writing when he is not home, and focus on us when he is.

Between writing and diet/fitness, I have decided to focus on writing. Focusing on diet/fitness makes me reach my goals faster, but overall I am miserable and guilty for not prioritizing my dream. As soon as I decided writing was my primary goal, I suddenly stopped feeling guilty for not cooking as much and not torturing myself with too much Jillian. Even though I still feel bad for not meeting my fitness goals, I know I will still reach them eventually, since they are prioritized above other smaller things (like housework and socializing). I just won't reach them as fast as if they were prioritized above writing, but I have decided I am okay with that. It has relieved me of so much pressure, and it feels so good to focus on the thing I actually want to be focusing on.

TL:DR

So in summary, I think when we get overwhelmed by life, it helps to sit back and figure out what our priorities are. If we have taken on too much, it relieves the stress and guilt to decide what is worth sacrificing (for now) to accomplish the more important thing. The hardest part is allowing yourself to let go and forgiving yourself for being human with only 24 hours in a day so you don't constantly feel guilty any more.

What is really going on with me: Today I am wearing blue for my son

I am just going to be honest.  Like raw, ugly, honest.  Hold on to you hats, ladies.

It's always been mostly a myth that I have my sh*t together.  The time has come to debunk it. (Where are the myth busters when you need them?!?)

I am a mess.  Like an honest to goodness, cried all the way to work yesterday, am so tired that I fall asleep everywhere kind of mess.

As all of you know, we've been having the twins assessed.  We received David's results last week.

Am I talking about it?  Am I dealing with all my tumultuous emotions?  Ha! Not a chance. I am in full tilt Ignore The Problem Until I Have Time To Deal With It mode.

And why, do you ask, am I not making the time to manage my feelings?

So many reasons.

They are raw and they are ugly.  And for the most part, they are wrong.

Please note that this isn't a cry for reassurance.  Nor is it a cry for sympathy.  I just want someone to listen.

I feel like I've failed.  If I had worked with him more, taught him more, been a better emotional role model, I could have "fixed" him.

I feel scared.  That's he's never going to be normal. 

I feel protective.  Fiercely afraid that people are going to change how they think of him, or treat him differently.  He's still the same perfect boy he was last week.  We just understand him better.

The label is so cold and harsh.

I'm worried that I'm not going to know how to get him from here to adulthood.

I hate that if Scott had come into my life with a label, that it might have changed my feelings for him.

All of these feelings are giant ugly blisters inside of me, threatening to ooze their overwhelming pain. I can hardly list them, let alone poke them and let their yick out into my life.

I need some time.  I need space.  It takes me longer than most people to sort myself out.  I do it by running, by writing, and in the quiet moments with a friend.

I can't run.  I'm not really ready to write about it (like I said, I could hardly make the list), and lastly, I just don't have the time to take for myself.

Between the move, and work, I'm done.  

This is my work week last week:

And this week:

Almost 70 hours a week.  It's going to get worse before it gets better.  One of my people quit last night (he got offered an internship! Happy for him, sad for me.).

Quiet times with a friend! Ha ha ha ha.  When exactly?

I can't do it all.  Or be it all.  Something has to give, and right now, what's giving is me.

Every morning, on top of all of those things, I stand naked in front of the mirror and feel shame.

Hey - I warned you.  I am a MESS!! 

Look, it will all get better.  I know.  I really do.  

Work will get manageable.  My people will get trained to do my job and I will take some time off.

The house will sell.  Eventually.

David will always be David.  I love him for who is he.  All of the rest doesn't really matter.

In the interim, it's going to suck.  I just need to know that you guys are on my team and that when it gets this bad, you'll love me anyway.

Dear Emily and Melba…

Where are you ladies? We miss you!

It's not too late to join the challenge! There's a whole month left, which would be a great opportunity to set a goal like, "Workout at the gym at least two times a week for the month of April."

Also, there is the possibility of extending the challenge an extra month or so if you want time for a bigger goal. I know Krista and I would be grateful for it! Breanna is on track but I'm not sure about Michelle… so maybe an extension would work well for everyone!

Let us know what you've been up to! Hope to see you posting soon!

Week 8 Check-In

Start weight: 146 lbs

Before cruise weigh in:  138.6 lbs

This week's weigh in: 141.4 lbs

Jillians: 25/35

Climbs: 10/15

Jeans that do up again! ?/5 Probably 1 :(

So I am still angry at food and not super motivated to eat healthy. But I have gotten back to exercising regularly! I'm trying some new workout videos to mix it up, and I figure counting those towards "Jillians" is fair.

If anyone is interested, the Leah Sarago BalletBody videos are really hard-core for toning (think supersets of static contractions and pulses for 3-5 min with no rest between positions) but don't have a cardio element :(

Week... um... 6 1/2? Check-In

I don't want to talk about it.

But, I'm forcing myself to, because having support is what the blog is all about.

The vacation was great, the weight gain was not. Breanna, I am so jealous you only gained two pounds on your trip. I am not surprised at myself, every time I go on vacation half way through I get so sick of trying to eat healthy and just start eating whatever tastes good. I'm much happier that way, until I get home.

I am having so much trouble getting back into the eating healthy/workout routine. My sleep schedule is still messed up from vacation so I am exhausted and semi-depressed all day with no motivation to work out.

My biggest mental road block is that I hate taking time out of my day to do meal planning, grocery shopping, and most of all, cooking. I really HATE cooking. I am a picky eater, so very few foods actually taste GOOD to me (except desserts, of course). And the more variety you want, the more time it takes to find and test recipes, and log the nutritional info. Hours of work I don't enjoy - not even a little bit - for ten minutes of eating "meh"? So not worth it. There are so many other things I'd rather do with my time! But I don't know how to eat healthy if it's not homemade meals. Sure there's canned soup and Lean Cuisine, but low calorie does not mean a balanced diet - or tasty, blech.

Sigh. I probably can't make the end of the challenge even if I try. I know from experience starting is the hardest part and after a few days the routine will start to feel normal and positive feedback from results will help with motivation. But I am having trouble caring enough to do it. I spent at least ten hours sitting in front of my computer yesterday - no interruptions from cooking or working out - and it was the best day I've had since getting back from vacation.

I miss focusing on and prioritizing things I care about in my life outside of diet and exercise. There must be a balance somewhere but I have yet to find it…

Back on Track!

So I gained 2 lbs on vacation. Poo. I am guessing the never ending carbs and seemingly self filling booze glass had a factor. Add in that skiing is pretty poor exercise (for me its just like doing a squat) and voila! Fatty fat fat fat fatty fat fat. Not really, but it is fun to say!

I lost the first pound this week. Having appointments and being away from the kitchen all week helped. So did Jillian. Look out fat - I'm coming for you!

I am so looking forward to nicer weather. Running on the unplowed roads is so sucky. And slow! I am so nervous I am going to slip and fall down I have to kind of hop instead of hitting a good stride.

I also miss being the crazy lady who walks everywhere! I love walking to close places - it is easier ( at least mentally) than strapping everyone in the car. And the children end up happy after exercise too.

Goals:

1. Do 50 pushups in a row. Yay! I did it! And my shoulder made this amazingly awful crunch and groans during the last 3 so I am going to cut that out for awhile. Getting old is hard!

2. Run a personal best time at 5km. Personal best to date: 28 minutes. - My half assed excuse is that is it too hard to go fast on the snow! Hopefully the roads clear up soon :)

3. Run 10km in under 60 minutes. Not yet. But there is still time!!!

4. Do a yoga headstand. - So far I have done one against the full wall, and against the 1/2 wall in my room. Maybe I need a spotter so I can try for the full one!

This is so my relationship with my yoga pants.......

I "borrowed" this from Jillian on Facebook.  Because this is my life.

Finally getting my a$$ in gear!

Zomg, Hey! Long time no blog!

It was partly because I am (as usual) crazy busy, but it was mostly because I didn't actually do anything (and I mean ANYTHING) about getting back into my super cute jeans.

Why, you ask? Because I doooooooooon't waaaaaaannnnnntttt to.

Not a good enough reason?

Um, yeah, true.

I had so much trouble making myself take the leap into a lifestyle change.  I had no trouble whining about the fact that I still hate all my clothes.  But DO something about it? I was all talk, no action.  My diet was always starting tomorrow.  Or Monday, as the case may be.

That has changed.  Thank you Scott.

This morning, I was talking about bailing on the challenge.

(Go ahead, judge me.  It's fine.)

You see, yesterday, the very nice physio therapist told me that I am under no circumstances allowed to exercise.  Until I get my concussion symptoms under control.

Well doesn't that just suck.

How on earth am I supposed to get into shape without Jillian? Or running?  Or ANYTHING?

I was unloading my woes onto Scott, and he suggested a side challenge might motivate me.  (Read scare me into eating better and cutting out booze).

So we are off! If I don't make my goal on May 1st, I will owe Scott 6 MONTHS of daily blow jobs. I can do the math.... that it like a MILLION..... oh wait.... only 180 or so.  (But it will feel like a MILLION!!!)

I am, what you call, back on the bandwagon!!

Week 3 Check-In

Start weight: 146 lbs

Last week's weigh in:  141.0 lbs

This week's weigh in: 138.6 lbs

Jillians: 13/35

Climbs: 5/15

Jeans that do up again! 3/4

Goodbye bloating! I'm really happy to be farther along than I expected before leaving for vacation, although it is a little disheartening that I am currently around the same place I was AFTER I gained a bunch of weight on our last cruise :( No one's fault but my own for letting myself slide so far past my max threshold. I am going to TRY to not stress about it, eat reasonable portions, be active, and plan to pick up right where I left off when I get back! It helps knowing I only have about seven weeks to meet my goal once I'm home.

Jillian quote of the day: When referencing her workout minions' bodies - "This is not genetics. Don't be fooled. There are no genetics happening in this room. You know what this is? This is Hard. Ass. Work!"

1200 Calories (Article)

Jenny recently posted this on Facebook and I thought it was definitely worth re-posting here.

The main point is that marketing to women only focuses on counting calories and gives no mention of quality of food or that you must eat more if you are exercising (or else enter starvation mode and completely set yourself up for failure).

She makes some good points about how women who have nice bodies work out with weights, not just endless cardio, and are heavier (but look slimmer) than their counterparts who don't exercise or only do cardio.

*Warning - it does get a little ranty by the end!

1200 Calories - Why is this the magic weight loss number?

Week 2 Check-In

Start weight: 146 lbs

Last week's weigh in: 140.0 lbs

This week's weigh in: 141.0 lbs

Boo bloating! I will have to wait until next week before I believe the scale :S

Jillians: 8/35

Climbs: 3/15

Jeans that do up again! 3/4

Last Cheat Friday turned into Cheat Weekend, and I'm behind in my Jillians, so hopefully this next week will be better! One last push before the cruise!

Jillian quote of the day: "We are going to beat you into a paste. But, a really sexy paste!"

Week 1 Check-In

This week started out great! Jiilian, walking, skiing.
And then Boopie got sick. And I was stuck in the no-sleep-constant laundry that is a stomach bug. Vomit, new sheets, shower, new pjs. Repeat. 8 times in 9 hours. At one point we out her to bed in Baba's jammies and she used a feather bed cover as a blanket. Oh the joys of parenting!
So that pretty much shot my exercise or ability to cook properly for a few days!
But I did manage to run today for the first time since Christmas break - it felt good to get out of the house and get some fresh air!
I also got to 32 pushups! Yay! I don't want to be the a$$hole who complains about having a skinny body part but small arms and big body mean pushups are hard! I am so glad I am forcing myself to do them. I can feel a difference in my strength already!

Next week I am going to try and make 2 new healthy recipes. I will report back!

Week #1 Update

Hello Everyone!

Here is my update:

Start: 147lbs
Current weight: 144lbs (I should have posted yesterday when I read that you are always your lightest on a Friday)

So my only major change for this weight loss journey is to eat 40/40/20. Since I love to snack on fruit and popcorn, my carbs tend to be around 60/70% which is terrible. Since I have been eating 40% carbs basically by swapping out fruit with veggies and eating lots of protein I have more energy, feel less hungry, snack less and weight is getting better. It is sad how this always seems to be the case yet I try so hard to fight the protein!

I decided that I won't cut out alcohol for this challenge. I don't really drink that much but when I do I drink to excess...then snack to excess to get undrunk. This time if I would like to have a drink I will just not a whole bottle or pitcher, hahah. I guess it also doesn't help that this weekend is a wine tasting weekend extravaganza. I am always the DD which helps with that except this time my friend offered soooo I don't have an excuse per say.

100 push ups of death challenge. So coincidentally in my boxing class we had to do 100 push ups (also 100 of a lot of other crappy things). I made it under 5 minutes but not how I wanted to complete the challenge so this one is going to be tricky. I did 50 real push ups and then 50 "ladies" push ups. Sooo hard! It didn't help that I just worked chest the other day. I told Steve when I got home and he was like "you can't do 100" well lets see you try....50 down. Ha!

Oh chin ups......so much harder when you are heavier! Seriously, add 10lbs and it is impossible. I bought a chin up bar so now I can bring the fun home. This one is going to be a toughy.


Still can't fit into any pants other than my fat ones! Hopefully this will change soon!

Week 1 Check-In

Jillian quote of the day: "Today we're going to beat you like you owe us money!"

Start weight: 146 lbs

Last week's weigh in: 142.4 lbs

This week's weigh in: 140.0 lbs

Jillians: 5/35

Climbs: 1/15

Jeans that do up again! 3/4

I'm sure none of the following is new to you ladies, but I am feeling fairly successful so far and thought I would post on what has been working for me:

1. Tracking my food and exercise.

My first week of dieting I went UP 2 pounds (probably some bloating associated, to be fair). The second week I lost nothing. The third week I started tracking my food and workout calories burned and… the diet took off! Maybe this is partly coincidence, but it is way less stressful knowing exactly what I have eaten and how much I have left, and I am really enjoying seeing the breakdown of cal/carbs/fat/protein/fiber by using an online counter. 

2. Frequent small cheats instead of one big cheat day.

I used to swear up and down I am all-or-nothing with food. I tend to binge, and having ANYTHING unhealthy in the house means I will binge on that, even if I don't like it that much. But this time I have been sipping Moose's booze, having a Werther's or two after dinner if I'm really craving dessert, eating bacon on the weekends. I count it all, and it really hasn't been hurting me, and my binge cravings have gone way down. I also haven't had a lot of temptation (by staying home and eating homemade meals), so we will see how it goes with a big party and Girls' Night coming up!

3. Reduced (not low) carbs.

I notice a big difference in the weigh-ins the morning after eating 120g of carbs vs. the 165g allotted to me by My Fitness Pal. And reducing carbs a little bit is WAY easier than a low carb diet (Atkins is about 20g of carbs a day). I am at the highest end of reduced carb diets (in The Zone), and I still feel healthy and like I am not sacrificing much food-wise because of carbs.

4. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day (even weekends!).

This is what any sleep doctor will recommend, and not only has it helped my sleeping issues, it helps fight off those late-night cravings and the late-morning so-hungry-going-to-die-must-eat-two-meals-of-food desperation after sleeping in.

5. Being excited about something that has nothing to do with diet or exercise.

I have a couple new sewing/art projects getting started and it has really improved my grumpy wah-I'm-dieting! mood. I feel like all I've done lately is think about and track food, so it is REALLY refreshing to focus on something else that is fun. I'm also really looking forward to my trip, focusing on the weather, activities, and socializing, and trying to ignore the weight/clothing/food issues associated with it!

Happy New Year!

In honour of the year of the horse I will eat workout like one!

I don't know why but I love starting things at the beginning of a week or the beginning of a a month or the beginning of the lunar year! Really I should get over it instead of cramming my face with alcohol because come Monday it will stop. 

Invisalign you were my best diet friend. For those of you who do not know I use to bite my nails when I would get stressed out. Such a terrible and bad habit but something I have worked hard to kick. The replacement: snacking. Invisalign was so helpful because for me to snack I would have to take out my mouth piece eat the food then brush, floss and mouth wash. Too much of a hassle for that small piece of free sample they are giving away! Then when Invisalign went away so did my will power. Invisalign negatively taught me that when it is out you can eat, so then my snacking increased when I got it out because hey I finally don't have to brush right away! So now I get stressed out ( a lot) and then I snack and then I gain 14!!!!!! lbs from when I had them out. GAH. I should return to nail biting. 

So how do I handle stress, well I have to work out. I have no issues with going to the gym unless it is going right after work in which I am just too damn tired and lazy. If I don't work out in a day I don't manage things well, little things bother me I sweat the small things and all and all I am crabby. I have had a lifetime of insomnia and I found that working out is the only way to help me sleep better so if I miss one workout I have trouble falling asleep. I feel like I am a puppy--I need to be walked! If I miss a workout for whatever reason then I feel so guilty that I wont be able to sleep and then I get worked up about it and then I eat a bunch of crap. If only I just went to the gym I would feel so much better and life would be fine. So one of my goals is to learn how to better manage stress. Yoga does not help, just gives me an hour to fester on all of the things that need to get done. Martial Arts work wonders but I can't do it every day unless I rope Steve in. Suggestions?

So my goals are to get less stressed out. Or shall I say deal with stress better. The scale will be my gauge! I am with Breanna that I never liked weight related goals but I am going to impose one on myself because my pants don't fit....wahhhhh. 

Goals:

Lose 10lbs

Shaming me back into my jeans

So here is how it all went down......

I was thin, and in shape.  Then I started to work. Which, in and of itself did not force too many calories down my gullet straight to my thighs and hips.

It did, however, avail me to things like alcohol whenever I wanted (big calorie no-no), ordering in when I was too busy too cook (another calorie no-no) and gave me the idea that since I was working sooo haaard, I deserved to reward myself.  With food.  #ohdeargodwhathaveidone?

Also, I stop prioritizing exercise.  Whoops.

Is this work's fault?  Of course not. It is mine.  I didn't handle the change to my lifestyle as graciously as I would have liked.  And my relationship with my jeans has suffered accordingly.

So it is time to take back the control.

I swear up and down and sideways every challenge that I'm not going to pick a weight based goal.  Then I always do! 

This time will be no exception.

My true goal?  Put my jeans on and wear them happily.  Right now, only my fattest pair even does up.  I miss all my old clothes.

In order to reach that goal, I need something concrete to work towards.  

Current Weight (Beginning of the week): 145 lbs

Goal Weight: 135 lbs

How to I plan to accomplish this?  The usual way.  Cut out alcohol.....  That before dinner drink that I like so much?  That sucker needs to GO.  Exercise... yeah, I'm gonna do it!  I have re prioritized my health.  I have an exercise block scheduled right into my day, 5 times a week.  More salads, less pasta.

I am through being too ashamed to admit that I don't like my body, and am actually going to DO SOMETHING about my problem.  I was scared to change my schedule, to make my life even busier, with adding dieting to my work-home-balance problems.

I can hardly find the time to do the laundry, how was I going to work-out?

Being passive and worried in my own life doesn't suit me.  

How am I going to work out?  I am going to put on my exercise clothes, go down to my basement and start a Jillian DVD.  It's like 30 minutes.  If I can't find 30 minutes for myself in any given day, what the hell am I working so hard for?

I will see you all at the finish line.  In my jeans!! 

 

Maintenance and Motivation

What's Up B*tches?

The last few times we have done challenges like this I have been trying to get to a certain weight. I understand that the weight issue and the number associated is a powerful motivator for us all. Last summer, after too many bags of chips and lazy afternoons I had a Come-to-Jesus moment with myself. And my pants. Which wouldn't do up. I was so very mad at myself because I had worked hard to feel healthy and fit and then kind of ... stopped. And coasted.
I did not have a good sense of how many calories were in the foods I was eating, and how much was being burned by the exercise I was doing.
So I calorie counted as a weight loss tool and also to gain a sense of proportion and what I value in food. (Give me cheese over cake anytime!)
For 100 days I counted every morsel of food and scrap of exercise. It was annoying but liberating at the same time, because I knew if I should stop eating or if I could have a cheat day!
I managed to lose 13 pounds initially, and through maintenance have kept off 10 ( the other 3 float around cyclically).

So this time, I am pretty happy with my weight.

I am going to make personal best goals, to keep motivated to maintain the healthy balance I have finally found!

GOALS

1. Do 50 pushups in a row. Today I did 25!

2. Run a personal best time at 5km. Personal best to date: 28 minutes.

3. Run 10km in under 60 minutes. Rob and I are doing a 10k race in June and I don't want to finish last so I need to get faster!

4. Do a yoga headstand. (which I might be able to do but I am so scared of being a spaz I always chicken out!)

Good luck to everyone - this should be fun!!!

Goals and Guidelines

Hello Everyone! Here are my goals for this challenge!

Start Date: January 6th
End Date: May 1st

Start weight: 146 lbs
Goal weight: 135 lbs
Today's weight: 142.4 lbs

Maintenance Goal:
If I meet my weight goal before the end of the challenge, remain within 2 lbs of my goal weight until the end of the challenge.

Workout Goals (starting today):
1) Jillian at least 35 times
2) Climb at least 15 times

Guidelines:
- Jillian 4 days a week
- Climb 2 days a week
- Track ALL food and exercise (including cheat days) on My Fitness Pal

Setbacks/Biggest Challenge/Thing I need support for:
I have a two week vacation coming up, half of which is a cruise. While SUPER excited, the last cruise I went on I gained 7 lbs :(
I really don't know how to approach this. Don't worry about it and enjoy the vacation? Try to keep up and deal with the sad when everyone else is eating/tanning while I'm not eating/working out? Try to find the balance in between? Help!