Considering my discouragement yesterday about the scale not moving, I thought I would sit down today and really work on organizing my thoughts and goals about this whole fitness thing.
So... I am going to talk about:
-- what I did the last time I tried to lose this weight
-- what I did WRONG the last time
-- what I am doing now and how what I am doing now increases the chances of success
-- what I still need to work on
I will then state my goals for continued weight loss and maintenance thereafter.
What I did the last time I tried to lose this weight:
- started exercising every day with Walk Away the Pounds workouts
- started watching what kinds of food I ate
- got some support from The Walk Club
- tried to keep track of what I ate in a journal
- took vitamins to compensate for vitamins I wasn't getting through food (many, FLAX!)
Looking at these things, I see I was on a good path. I don't think, though, that I was trying hard enough. I think I got cocky. I saw the weight come off, about 8 lbs of it, and I thought HEY, I can eat fast food more often, fried stuff, cookies for breakfast. I wasn't very thorough writing down my meals, and I often left the Walk Club on many a hiatus. Of course, traveling made it really hard to check in all the time, but other times I just kind of forgot about them. So I didn't have that support. So...
What I did WRONG the last time I tried to lose this weight:
- did not watch portions
- did not stay "plugged in" to other people on the same quest as I
- was overall half-hearted about the effort
- thought it would be easy
- did little to no strength training each week
- did little to mix things up from the regular routine.
- slept too much (resulting in skipped breakfast)
- too many treats
- eating when i wasn't hungry
- eating out too often
- taking too many days off and therefore being inconsistent
- not drinking enough water
- staying up too late
- not focusing on other aspects of fitness besides weight loss...
Not mixing things up from the regular routine doesn't allow for muscles to get really worked after a while. Sure I was burning calories and losing weight, but I was still flabby and didn't feel good.
What I am doing now that makes things better and increases my chance for success:
- STRENGTH TRAINING-- makes the muscles stronger and they burn more calories and fat
- LENGTH of workouts... I work my butt off because I REALLY WANT THIS. I work out 6 days a week right now for 60-90 minutes (sometimes even a little more).
- Drinking more water
- Taking necessary supplements... but added a few: garlic, more flax seed oil, acidopholus.
- I push myself (see #2)
- focusing BIG on portion control
- only eating when I'm hungry-- makes food so much more gratifying
- staying in touch with my challenge team on the Walk Club... great support!!
- getting more variety: Netflix has helped a lot with that. Now I'm doing all kinds of workouts and not just the fitness walking.
- taking a break: making sure I have an easy day and a day of rest during the week (but I still hate to do NOTHING all day)
- stretching!! never ever skip it
- working my core (used to never do ab workouts)
- visiting the chiropractor... doing so has markedly improved my ability to move while working out
- trying never to eat out, if I do, only once per week and NEVER FRIED FOODS!! even the healthier options are LOADED with salt that just bloat your body with retained water, which doesnt allow you to see your progress as well.
- packing lunch whenever I can...saves money and tons of calories. all the money i save can be used for new workouts, workout clothes, weights, etc.
- allowing myself some treats (secret weapons include: sugar free jello pudding,healthy French toast, FiberOne bars, and dark chocolate squares)
- coming to terms with the fact that it is NOT going to be easy.
- never ever skip breakfast
- exercise first thing in the morning and make my schedule so it will allow for that. if i dont get my workout in, i am not a happy camper.
- focusing on the other aspects of getting fit: not just the weight loss. the better moods, being in God's will, more productive and motivated in school, sooo many other things. you feel strong and it carries to other areas of your life!
- water... need to make sure i get it all in every day
- can't go to bed with a growling tummy
- stop weighing myself as often
- not as many snacks, but regular meals instead
- more fiber! more greens!
- and i know there are more!!!
it is going to take more hard work. consistency is the secret, I think. too many people get lazy and give up. do they really want it?! it takes recognizing your weaknesses. my weakness is the gym. I found my favorite machine and did that every day for the same amount of time, and far too often found excuse after excuse to skip it. even with the tougher classes at the gym, like Spinning, i overestimated the work I was doing at the gym and UNDERestimated the calories I was consuming. I told myself WOW, I did spinning today, I can go have a huge plate of mexican food for dinner. BAD IDEA. so, since my weakness is the gym, I found out that i really really enjoy working out at home. i dont worry about eyes on me, I can pause whenever I want, push myself, and its SO MUCH CHEAPER! you save drive time, gas, and get to eat at home right afterward if youre really hungry, so you dont have to worry about going home first, buying something or bringing snacks with you. who likes getting into a hot car after a workout at the gym?
so now I just really prioritize. i have my eye on what i want and I AM NOT GOING TO STOP until I get there. just going to keep moving. this is really important to me.
GOAL: be at my goal weight of 130 lbs by December 1. After that, continue to build lean muscle to maintain that loss. Eventually, I would like to work down to 127, 128 lbs.
Caitlin
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