FFFF#17: Don't Believe Everything You Read

Although as obvious as this is, I must remember that this is FALSE when I am lazing around on the beach next week...

4 more sleeps to go until Hawaii vacation!

The Subway Just Got a Little Sweeter

... or unsweetened as the case may be.

I saw a story on NY1 this morning and I have to admit, I am in full support of this!

Not only does it make for more interesting reading on the subway for me (like the poster with a list of calories in certain beverages; I just know I am going to end up memorizing that list during my daily commute), but because it's totally true! New Yorkers, generally speaking, do not have the healthiest diet.

In fact, just the other day I was chatting with a girlfriend who commented how it would be easier to lose weight in New York because you have to walk everywhere (hell, with all the stairs in this city it's like New York has a built-in StairMaster). While this is also a case of 'grass is greener' (I would totally love to live in FL where she is and be surrounded by warm weather and beach bodies constantly!) I've also noticed how unhealthy the food choices are in New York.

We eat on the run, we buy a slice for 99c, and don't even get me started on the inexpensiveness and convenience of street meat vendors (I have never eaten street meat nor do I intend to, but damn their stuff smells good sometimes!).

I liken this to chain restaurants and bigger food companies that are now required to list calories next to their menu items. Horrifying? Sometimes. But helpful? You better believe it!

Now when I do go out to eat the numbers I'm scanning are calories, not prices. And I'm loving it.

Start Immediately. No Exceptions.

Why didn't I work out this morning??? Grr!! I am so mad at myself right now!!!

Although I did have a much needed sleep in. I haven't been getting much sleep these days. I'm not too sure what that's about.

Truth be told, I am feeling fat and sloth-like. I need to run! (damn sunburn) I also need to go back to Jenny Craig. This past month has been a refreshing break from it, but now I am ready to get back to the no-brainer diet.

Here's something interesting: when I follow Jenny Craig exactly, I lose weight. Sometimes a lot. If I fudge it, or skip it, or substitute it, etc, the results aren't as great, if there are even results at all! So why do I cheat? I'm not just cheating my diet, I'm cheating me. Am I weak? Am I scared? Why do something so stupid? Definitely all good questions and I don't have a solid answer for it yet. In the meantime, I am determined to follow the program down to the last lettuce leaf if it will in some way get me off this damn plateau!

Part of me wants to say tomorrow is a brand new day. A fresh start. Luckily I read something in my horoscope that I feel can be applied directly here. In fact, it was a quote:

“To change one's life: start immediately. Do it flamboyantly. No exceptions.”

- William James

Well, I think Will is right. Why start tomorrow when I can start immediately? Unfortuantely I am at work until 11pm (Grr! Only adding to my frsutration!) So no brisk walk at dusk, but what I can do is drink this 1.5L bottle of water I have here and eat the yummy salad I just ordered for dinner, bypass the bar on the way home from work, get lots of Zzzz's, and get that walk in first thing tomorrow.

No excuses!

PS. One of the best things about Vegas is the extra incentive and motivation: when I go there next summer, I want to be wearing a bikini! No exceptions.

The tweet that made my day

I just received the nicest tweet. Of course all my new found twitter friends are fabulous, but this tweet was extra special.

It was from a girl with roughly the same weight stats as me saying I am already motivating her. Wow! This makes me feel amazing!

I set out with this blog and twitter account to act like jumper cables to a car battery that has run out of juice. I was the car battery. I needed a jolt. I needed something to motivate myself and to keep me
accountable.

Although i know ive collected a lot of knowledge on this weight loss journey (and from throughout the years), i am still learning. By no means am i yet surpassing the teacher and am eons away from becoming a master (but i will one day. Just watch!) So I feel honored and humbled that already someone can look at me and say 'that motivates me'.

Plus it made me realize another great reason to "keep on bloggin' to keep on losin'". That just as much as I like finding information and/or people so I can see that I'm not alone on this crazy life-altering journey, I just might be one of those people to someone else.

Talk about warm fuzzies. It's like paying it forward only I'm not done yet! Isn't it cool how with this kind of stuff you don't have to wait to pay it forward?

PS. Just watch this space! Cause eventually I'll be the girl who can proudly say I lost a total of 181lbs and will be fully armed with knowledge, love, and the confidence to pay it forward!

Run With It!

All these thoughts running through my head about running (no pun intended) Where to start?!

First off, I am in an excellent mood! Gotta love that endorphin rush post-workout! Like Elle Woods said, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don't shoot their husbands, they just don't."

Secondly, my big news! This morning I finally actually ran every single interval to completion for week 1 of the c25k program!! YAY ME! I have been pseudo doing c25k for a while now. I told myself I do not need to complete the program in nine weeks, I can - and should - take my time; and only move up to the next level when I can confidently say that I can complete the level I'm on and still be standing at the end of it.



I say 'pseudo doing c25k' because I have been on week 1 on and off ever since I started which was back on January 1st as a New Years Resolution! (OK, so I did give myself a bit of a deadline: Even though I instructed myself to take my time, I was pretty sure it was feasible to finish by the program by Dec 31 2009!)

Besides starting then stopping then having to start all over again and again (and again), I think it took me so long to get the hang of it because I was running wrong! Which would totally make sense why i couldn't do it before even though it is a program designed for beginners! I think there were two main things I was doing wrong: 1.) going too fast, and 2.) Too much bounce.

I thought about this last night as I was really lamenting my missing workout yesterday. Why do I have so much trouble running? After a little googling and a little 'tortoise and the hare' inspiration, I came up with those two major issues. I was excited for this morning because I was eager to test them out. And sure enough, jogging and staying low to the ground equals completing all intervals successfully!

I won't lie, towards the end of some of the intervals I wanted to die. But I just kept telling myself "JUST KEEP JOGGING". Even if I can WALK faster than I'm jogging (!!!) it doesn't matter. "JUST KEEP JOGGING". I kept wanting to walk an interval, but I kept telling myself 'just one more... just one more...'. Finally, I gave in and actually had made the decision that I am walking the next 'running interval'. But then the little voiceover came on and said it was my second last interval. Oh hell no! There was no way I could walk it now! And throw the towel in? Not be able to say I officially completed it? The end was in sight! I KNEW I could do it! And voila... looks like I did!

The other source of my surge of determination to do this was because I was starting to really question the whole 'you should still be able to have a conversation while working out' thing. You know, how to know if your heart rate is in optimum 'fat burning' mode. But after my little googling session on running, I was presented with a new theory. Our bodies are designed to run.

When it comes down to it our bodies have not evolved that much since the caveman era (that topic is definitely for another post! I could go on and on!). I read somewhere that if you want to lose weight, burn fat, get lean, etc. then run, don't walk. A running body is a lean body. The body is forced to shed unwanted layers of fat. Because it's more "aerodynamic" (hmm, I think I just fell in love with a new word! Say it with me now: "aerodynamic". Lovely) I know this is a very simple concept, but phrasing it in this way has really clicked for me for some reason. 'Running makes you lean'. When really, that is so obvious: have you ever seen a fat runner?

So new new concept is JUST RUN. Screw the 'you should still be able to have a conversation' concept. Run for your life! Be out of breath! Push it hard then push it harder! Suck air in through your eyeballs if you could cause you need it so badly! As Jillian Michaels would say "Unless You Puke, Faint or Die, Keep Going!"

PS. it's so nice to start the day with 'negative' calories. yay for running before breakfast!

SIDENOTE: just a little observation - I no longer need to frantically check the time during my commute. I will get there when I get there. No more 'will there be time for a cigarette before work?' wondering anymore!!!! Talk about liberating. How do smokers not realize they are walking around in their own mini-prison? Attached permanently to a ball and chain of their own making? Ahh... the joys of...

DAY 7 OF BEING SMOKEFREE!!!

Why I Blog

I've noticed a few 'why I blog' posts floating around, and I think when it comes to weight loss it's a team effort. So move on over and make some space, I'm jumping on the bandwagon!

My Top 3 Reasons of Why I Blog (in no particular order):
-- One of the major differences between my mindset at the beginning (when I was losing a lot) and my mindset lately (losing and gaining the same 5lbs/basically maintaining) is that in the beginning my goal was constantly on the forefront of my mind each day. I am hoping a project such as this blog will help bring my focus back to my goals daily. And not just in a 'yeah, yeah... I'm on it...' kind of way. But in a real 'Dream. Believe. Create. Succeed.' kind of way.
-- I used to keep a scrapbook journal and would put things in it daily. They could be written entries, lists, clippings, images or words that inspire me, writing lessons learned and rewards earned, anything at all! Again, it kept me very focused but somewhere along the way it fell by the wayside. I am hoping this blog will turn into the tech-savvy version of the same thing.
-- A place to be accountable because it's out there for the world to see, and be completely honest about everything, because really I'm just cheating myself by not doing so. But you'd be surprised how much you don't want to admit you caved and had that cupcake... or how your 'workout' for the day was just walking from your apartment building to the subway, and from the subway to work, and back again. (I do realize with the anonymous factor, I'm not being "completely" honest. I know when I get more and more comfortable with this I will undoubtedly reveal more and more; perhaps even eventually removing the anonymity factor... we shall see)

Plus any weight loss success statistics will tell you writing things down has a proven success rate over those who don't. And who doesn't want to have the advantage?

Do I Need to Get All Jillian Michaels On My Ass?

Question:

I currently workout 30 minutes a day 6 times a week. That's 3 cardio sessions and 3 weights session on alternating days with one day off a week to rest.

But! I have been doing this for 2 weeks religiously now, and while my muscles are a little sore and are definitely getting a workout, I am not seeing a result on the sclae.

Now, I am the FIRST to say 'Good God girl! Only 2 weeks??? Patience petal, it will happen!!!... Sheesh" however, it got me thinking...

Firstly that usually embarking on a new routine is a shock to the system and therefore some sort of immediate signs of progress while not expected are always nice. But i'm thinking thanks to my typical 5lb weight gain before that time of the month PLUS that I'm quitting smoking is going to make my efforts through exercising take a little longer to show.

Secondly, I am wondering that even if I wasn't bloated up and feeling like a floatation device, and even if I wasn't a recovering nicotine junkie, is 30 minutes 6 times a week enough to see substantial weight loss?

Part of me says yes, because it's always worked in the past. But maybe that's the problem. Whenever I stick with a workout regime it's always been 30min 6x/wk. Do I need to be pushing myself harder?

Especially if my weight is not really going down, could upping the amount of exercise help kick me out of maintainence-meanderings and back into some losing-lovin'?? Or would it do more harm than good?

I remember reading somewhere that Jillian Michaels said if you are serious about losing you need a make a commitment to 60 minutes a day (obviously if you have to break that up, that's fine too) I think it was in her first book , Winning By Losing, that I read that but I'm not positive.

I'm not sure what the right answer is even if there is a 'right' answer. Maybe I just need to push myself harder in general? Maybe just increase the cardio to 45 or 60 minutes a session? Maybe wait till I debloat and see if there's a difference? Hmm... Questions, questions...

Any advice?