Tuesday, May 29, 2012

"Fat" Days



I hope no one is offended by what I've titled this entry, but let's face, regardless if your skinny, fit, chubby or obese - we all have better days than others when it comes to how we feel in our bodies. Don't we typically label the days we are uncomfortable in our body as "fat" days? Well, that's how I'm feeling today.

Let's start this off with good news first and also the antecedent to why I'm feeling "fat" today.

After waiting for almost 4 weeks after I had a second interview at a high school nearby, they FINALLY called this past Friday to offer me a teaching position for the 2012/13 school year. I couldn't be more happy and I know I've worked hard and deserve it. It works great also because this was just my first interview for the next school year and now I don't have to worry about interviewing and can just enjoy my summer. This job is also pretty much exactly what I wanted so I'm glad I waiting an entire school year and just subbed last school year to wait for what I want. I hate settling for less than that. At any rate, after I received the phone call from the principal, I literally hung up the phone and started jumping up and down like a fool. It was a humorous site to see, I'm sure.

So, as our society is accustomed to, we celebrated with food and drink. We first went to one of my old college professors' home, who lives near us. She was having an end of school year party for the families at her children's school and invited us by for a drink to celebrate. Then, my husband and I went to a Mexican restaurant, where, since we were celebrating I ordered whatever I wanted plus two margaritas. We continued the evening at home on our patio with a few more drinks. The next morning I woke up bright at early for work (ironically, a WW meeting) and felt great! But, by the time I was getting ready to leave I was famished and everyone knows the foods you crave after a night of some choice beverages. So, I picked up 2 hot dogs for the husband and a gyro for me, although I only ate half. That night we grilled chicken tenderloins and had a balanced meal so that wasn't terrible. Afterwards, I went to my friend's house and sat on her patio and had some drinks with them. Sunday, I finished my gyro for lunch and then we went to a Memorial Day party. Naturally, there were grilled foods and different kinds of sides and realistically, I didn't too do poorly there. But, in the hot summer heat, a few more beverages were consumed. That night when we got home, I started getting hungry and made some pierogies. Not the best choice at 7pm. Finally, yesterday we had a few friends over. We used our smoker for the first time and smoked fresh salmon that my husband caught off Lake Michigan last weekend, 2 racks of ribs and had a beer can chicken on the grill,  plus the necessary sides. Oh, and how could I forget? After everyone left yesterday we topped off our weekend of gluttony with a Culver's Concrete Mixer.

So, is my "fat" day warranted now? I think so.

Ha! This is what I feel like...like my inner fat girl is torturing me with temptations, resulting in fear of the scale!

It doesn't matter how active I was or what exercise I got it, I just feel blah. I feel soft. So this week it's time to get back to my regular scheduled programming. I picked up Jillian Michaels' 6 week to 6 pack DVD that I was doing sporadically but I think I might do it as recommended, 5 days a week for 6 weeks. I did her 30 Day Shred last year for 30 straight days and loved it. So on top of running, I think I'll get back to feeling like my normal self in no time, but in the interim, this blows!

 But, this happens to most of us and the reason I have this blog is so that people going through the same journey know they aren't alone. Whether others admit it or not, no one is perfect at their exercise routine or their eating lifestyles. We all slip up, or don't give the 100% that you know you could. The important thing is, you recognize it, own it and get back on track by making a plan.

My plan this week: increasing exercise and accurately tracking my food. I know it works and it's fool proof for me. Do what works.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

What Works For You?

What works for me, doesn't work for everyone. Beginning or maintaining a healthy lifestyle means something different to each individual. Lately I have heard a lot of "this is how you do it if you want to do it right" kind of tones and I don't agree with it. Everyone knows that I lost all my weight with the support of Weight Watchers, and I now work for them. This worked for me. I recognized that I couldn't do this alone and that I needed the support of other people going through the same thing as I was. I do not feel weaker because of this, but rather stronger, that I was able to put pride aside and ask for help when I needed it. However, not everyone needs a group of people to hold them accountable but rather only themselves. Perfectly awesome! Whatever works for the individual is key.

All of us on a weight loss journey have the same ultimate goal: to lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle. How you get there doesn't matter. I've made it known that when I began my personal journey, my main focus was on food and portion control. I exercised here and there but that wasn't a main focus for me at that point in my journey. I lost probably the first 40-50lbs with little exercise but strictly portion control and keeping my food journal. I had reasons why I did it this way. I knew that if I started off with high intensity workouts, there would be a chance that as I lost my weight I would stop exercising as much. I can't prove that this would have been the case but I know myself better than anyone, and I believe that would have happened. If I were to stop the high intensity workouts and only focus on food, I wouldn't have hit my ultimate goal. Instead, I focused on food more strictly and as I got closer to goal, increased my workout. I know that if I don't workout for a week, I won't put weight on, as long as I eat in a healthy way.

Exercise and activity is no doubt a huge part of my life now. I'm up to 7 miles of non-stop running with a 9:30/mile roughly and am training for a half-marathon soon. If I'm not running I'm using a DVD at home. Not to mention, at work I push around a 140+lb girl in her wheelchair who cannot help because she has had a few strokes and is dead weight on her left side. On Monday I ran a mile with her in P.E. - albeit a 13 minute mile, pushing 140+lbs while in work clothes/shoes (not workout clothes/shoes) I was pretty happy to have had that extra activity.

Others focus on eating and activity at the beginning and that works for them. And then some just focus on activity and not the eating portion at first and that works for them.

It's not a competition with anyone but yourself. It doesn't matter how long it takes one to reach their ultimate goal. My theory was, the longer it took me to reach my goal the more I learned and was educated about my choices.

Find what works for you and what you can maintain for the rest of your life. Forget about what everyone else is doing. If it works for you and your body, you're well on your way to you ultimate goal.