I haven't been around in this little corner of the Internet for awhile. Trust me, I've been exercising, even when I haven't wanted to, and my food intake has been okay...not awesome, but not out of control, save for the Godiva chocolates I got for Valentine's Day, and the fact that (sorry, gentleman!) it's been that time of the month, and OH MY GOD, I JUST WANT TO EAT. And lay about with a heating pad. No bueno.
Still, slowly but surely, it's been paying off in little ways. I know that many people use weighing in as a good way to check-in on themselves, and yeah, I get it. But I still think that too much weighing in is sort of a bad thing---I know that my body fluctuates wildly, with hormones, water intake and a million different things.
Over the weekend, I decided to try a new sort of weigh-in. I was getting ready to head out, and picked up the pair of jeans I've sort of been relying on lately. I saw another pair next to them, that I used to love...before they got too tight. I decided it'd be fun to just trythem---you know, just in case.
They fit! THEY FIT! I zipped them up and wore them out and felt absolutely fantastic all night---like all of the salads, apples and hours spent at the gym are finally starting to pay off. I have a hell of a long way to go, but I'm getting somewhere...and that feels amazing.
And this morning, when my alarm went off at 4:30 am, I bounded out of bed, because I want more moments like THAT, where I'm zipping into things I worried I might never wear again.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
The early bird catches the workout...
So, I've come to a horrible conclusion about myself, and that is this: working out after work is NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN.
Judge me if you will, but when I get home from BEING TRAPPED IN A ROOM WITH 13-YEAR-OLDS, I don't want to go to the gym. I want to cook dinner, write, read, see friends or generally relax. I still don't love working out. SUE ME. It's just never going to be my favorite thing, save for my beloved Bikram Yoga, which is my favorite thing ever, despite being hot and icky and in a room that smells like feet.
This weekend, I made a decision: I have to workout in the mornings, before work. In case you've not heard my commuting tirade, I drive an hour each way to work, and leave before 7 AM.
My alarm is now set for 4:45.
Am I bitter? Maybe a little. But, I have found that I'm already more successful. Once I'm out of bed, it's not too bad to go and do 30 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes of weights. I am so tired at first that I'm not able to actively loathe my cardio. I start my day off with a quiet hour that's just for me, and that is awesome. Plus, I think that starting my day with a workout makes me less apt to want to eat poorly, because I don't want to get up early and crap it away.
Right now, I'm aiming for 3-4 times a week in the morning. My current schedule is going Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays, with running club on Saturdays and Bikram Wednesday and Sunday. That means Friday is a free day, and since I generally regard Friday as a mini-holiday anyways, this fits in well. I am hoping that being on a schedule will make all the difference, and I know that knocking out my workout first thing makes me 100% more likely to actually GO.
Do you schedule your workouts? What works---or doesn't work---for you in terms of time to workout?
Judge me if you will, but when I get home from BEING TRAPPED IN A ROOM WITH 13-YEAR-OLDS, I don't want to go to the gym. I want to cook dinner, write, read, see friends or generally relax. I still don't love working out. SUE ME. It's just never going to be my favorite thing, save for my beloved Bikram Yoga, which is my favorite thing ever, despite being hot and icky and in a room that smells like feet.
This weekend, I made a decision: I have to workout in the mornings, before work. In case you've not heard my commuting tirade, I drive an hour each way to work, and leave before 7 AM.
My alarm is now set for 4:45.
Am I bitter? Maybe a little. But, I have found that I'm already more successful. Once I'm out of bed, it's not too bad to go and do 30 minutes of cardio and 25 minutes of weights. I am so tired at first that I'm not able to actively loathe my cardio. I start my day off with a quiet hour that's just for me, and that is awesome. Plus, I think that starting my day with a workout makes me less apt to want to eat poorly, because I don't want to get up early and crap it away.
Right now, I'm aiming for 3-4 times a week in the morning. My current schedule is going Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays, with running club on Saturdays and Bikram Wednesday and Sunday. That means Friday is a free day, and since I generally regard Friday as a mini-holiday anyways, this fits in well. I am hoping that being on a schedule will make all the difference, and I know that knocking out my workout first thing makes me 100% more likely to actually GO.
Do you schedule your workouts? What works---or doesn't work---for you in terms of time to workout?
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
STRESS EATING OMG
So, I'm a stress eater. I know I am not alone. But, over the past week or so, my life has had significant amounts of stress, both personally and professionally.
I am stressed, therefore I eat.
Truth be told, I haven't gone too far off the rails. I treated myself to a low-fat Starbucks coffee cake last week. I had a few pieces of chocolate during a conversation with a good friend. I ate late-night food again. I took a bite of birthday cake for a friend. I just finished consuming a corn dog from our school cafeteria, something I refuse to apologize for since I've been craving a darn corndog for a week straight. This is a major improvement from previous times in my life where I have absolutely GONE NUTS, eating a lot of stuff and snacking like whoa.
There have been no "drive-through-Taco-Bell-and-go-nuts" binges, but I'm definitely exceeding my calorie intake by 100 calories or so each day, if not more. And, I'm not working out to cover it.
I haven't been dilligent about two things: tracking my food AND eating a good breakfast. Typically, when I track my food, I am hyper-aware of all calories, and I plan ahead to avoid a huge binge. It's tedious, but helpful.
It sounds formulaic, but eating a healthy, big breakfast really starts my day off right. I know that eating protein helps my day---I don't feel so hungry, and by the time I hit my mid-morning snack, I'm not ravenous for anything that can touch my lips.
So, my big goals for this week: hardboil some eggs, so I can add an egg to my morning routine, track my meals in advance and really, really stay within my caloric goal. I'm also hoping to really focus on what I want when I'm stressed out, and finding a better way of dealing with stress. Truthfully, working out is starting to really help me---I can feel the beginnings of that runner's high people discuss sometimes. And hot yoga is such a release for me.
I am stressed, therefore I eat.
Truth be told, I haven't gone too far off the rails. I treated myself to a low-fat Starbucks coffee cake last week. I had a few pieces of chocolate during a conversation with a good friend. I ate late-night food again. I took a bite of birthday cake for a friend. I just finished consuming a corn dog from our school cafeteria, something I refuse to apologize for since I've been craving a darn corndog for a week straight. This is a major improvement from previous times in my life where I have absolutely GONE NUTS, eating a lot of stuff and snacking like whoa.
There have been no "drive-through-Taco-Bell-and-go-nuts" binges, but I'm definitely exceeding my calorie intake by 100 calories or so each day, if not more. And, I'm not working out to cover it.
I haven't been dilligent about two things: tracking my food AND eating a good breakfast. Typically, when I track my food, I am hyper-aware of all calories, and I plan ahead to avoid a huge binge. It's tedious, but helpful.
It sounds formulaic, but eating a healthy, big breakfast really starts my day off right. I know that eating protein helps my day---I don't feel so hungry, and by the time I hit my mid-morning snack, I'm not ravenous for anything that can touch my lips.
So, my big goals for this week: hardboil some eggs, so I can add an egg to my morning routine, track my meals in advance and really, really stay within my caloric goal. I'm also hoping to really focus on what I want when I'm stressed out, and finding a better way of dealing with stress. Truthfully, working out is starting to really help me---I can feel the beginnings of that runner's high people discuss sometimes. And hot yoga is such a release for me.
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