Well, once again my weekend indulgences have shown up on the scale. BUT the jump up on the scale was a half pound less than last week's jump up. SO, overall, I'm down a half pound, sorta, in a way. I do need to approach weekends differently than I have been, and that's not new for me. Weekends have been a problem for me for years. I break my sleep schedule, I overeat, and I drink on weekends. I basically undo all of the good things I've done for my body during the week.
Wait. I just caught myself in a negative thought process that isn't helping. I don't undo every good thing I've done. I don't think that's true. I do disrupt some of the systems I've begun to put into place, though, and until I get those systems firmly embedded into my life, it's not helpful to take such a drastic departure from them.
Or maybe I'm being altogether too hard on myself. My period is due any second now. That could easily account for the weight gain. How about this? I will count the overeating I did this weekend, and there was one night of out of control eating, as a learning experience. Next time I'm in the same situation, which I certainly will be, I will handle it differently. I already have a plan.
That said, I'm trying to gear myself up to start an exercise program. I need something more than 5 minutes of yoga in the morning. The yoga is very helpful. It gets my blood circulating and deepens my breathing, which really wakes me up. I'm also noticing better flexibility and less pain in my feet in the morning. (My plantar fasciitis is back, resolved previously with daily walking and stretching.) I think it's time to add something more, though.
Three times last week, from three different sources, I got the message that exercise is daily medicine, not just a means of losing weight. (This article was one of the places the message appeared.) Exercise is a way of improving my mood and reducing stress, something that is as necessary to my well being as a pill that a doctor may prescribe for a medical condition.
Instead of thinking of it as something I need to do every day so that I can achieve the desired result of being a certain weight somewhere in the distant future, I'm going to shift my thinking. I will think of it as something that provides an immediate benefit. It immediately improves my mood and my self esteem. There are immediate and cumulative physical benefits, but the mental benefits are just as important.
I feed myself everyday. I sleep everyday. And now I resolve to move more everyday in an intentional way. That's the best promise I can make myself. I can't lock myself into a certain number of minutes or a certain type of activity, but I can promise to think about exercise differently and intentionally add more of it to each day.
Yes, it helps to think of exercise as just something you do. It isn't fun every single day, but neither is brushing your teeth. It's something you just do, and it's only 30-45 minutes, that's not the end of the world. And when it's over, you do feel a great sense of satisfaction and accomplishment. It also helps to remember how much some people would love to be able to do what you're doing (yoga or biking or step aerobics or even just standing up and moving) and we should be so grateful for it. That really helps motivate me to continue when I feel like flagging during a workout. Think how grateful some people would be to be able to do this. Think how they would give anything.
ReplyDeleteI tend to rebel against routine and doing things just because they should be done. If I can connect something to an immediate positive benefit and change it into something I want to do as opposed to something I should do, I have more long term success. For example, I brush my teeth because I like the clean minty feel of my mouth afterwards, and I don't like it when my mouth feels scummy. If I find myself saying, "I should do this or that," it's usually something I really don't want to do. I try not to should on myself too much.
ReplyDeleteThen I guess you need to find a type of movement that you really, really like doing, because the fun factor is a much quicker payoff than weight loss or physical gains. Have you seen these:
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daSCXV4b_Uk
Misty Tripoli Body Groove free style dance workouts. Very fun.
Well, that was my point. The mood payoff is instant, definitely quicker than weight loss or physical gains and it supports my ultimate goal, which has nothing to do with a number on the scale.
DeleteIt doesn't necessarily have to be fun for me to enjoy an immediate payoff. Cooking isn't fun, but I get an immediate reward for doing it. But if someone tells me I have to cook because, well, it's something everyone should do, something in my brain says, "Oh yeah. Watch me not cook then."
DeleteI love that you're going to change your attitude to exercise :) And I disagree with Eowyn, as for me, exercise is fun. I enjoy it every day, and miss it if I don't do it. I vary my routine so I don't get bored. At the moment I'm doing quite a bit of step, but that's largely because I didn't do it at all for 10 years! I like to change, and to move. I like things with fun music. I like to feel myself alive and moving. For me, exercise is a win-win :D
DeleteI used to like it, sometimes. But mostly I liked getting through the workout, pushing myself to do it, and then the feeling of having done it. Very triumphant for a girl like me, who hated PE.
DeleteI don't think I have that rebellious thing so much. I'm more just bone idle. :)
I hope I can get to the point where I miss it if I don't do it. :-) I was at that point when I was involved in long distance walking. I trained by walking shorter distances during the week and longer and longer distances on weekends (23 miles was my longest in a day). At that time a 10 mile walk was not even considered a long or hard walk for me, and I had planned on doing one a week for the rest of my life I loved it so much. I was walking with a group that stopped walking, though, and walking 10 miles alone is not something I enjoy.
DeleteI've never like working out with videos in my living room. I do it sometimes, but it's not fun for me. I do like roller blading and bike riding, but I don't have a good place to do either of those without driving somewhere, and I don't own a pair of skates or a bike right now. lol
I can see myself making due at home with walking around the neighborhood when it's not raining, and then driving somewhere to meet with friends for a 10K once a week. I'm on an email list of people who do that, I'm not in shape enough to join them right now, but hoping to when I get stronger.
Interesting post--and I agree it's great that you caught yourself in a negative thinking spiral! Happens to me too much! Oy!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to share a few articles I read recently--very interesting stuff.
The Power of Intermittent Fasting:
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549
Can Three Minutes of Exercise a Week Help Keep You Fit?
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/health-17177251
The Exercise News You Don't Want to Hear:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-jonny-bowden/exercise-benefits_b_1777630.html
I have to say I have noticed similar things with myself. The times I've lost the most weight (and I'm talking more than 50 pounds) were when I reduced the amount of food I ate and/or otherwise dramatically changed my eating. The change in physical habits seemed to do almost nothing.
But as the article states (and many other studies confirm) exercise is still very healthy for many other reasons.
I do agree that whatever you do it should be something you enjoy on some level--or you won't continue with it. That is absolutely true!!
I hope this is helpful and not discouraging. I think your dietary efforts will prove very helpful and any other efforts will only strengthen your health, which are all good things.
One last thing I would add is that many people (but especially women) are weight obsessed. Any pound up or down on the scale is enough to throw us into a panic. We don't look at our overall health as much as whether we look or feel fat. I know I'm guilty of this. I probably will never get down to a very low weight, but I think I will be happy if I greatly improve my overall health.
I've actually gotten rid of my scale quite some time ago and I have to say what a relief it is. I highly recommend it! Focus on how you feel if you ask me! Of course you didn't ask me, but I said it anyway. :D
Much Love,
MM
I've actually read quite a bit about intermittent fasting and tried it at one time. I may try again. I've also been thinking of experimenting with the short intense bursts of exercise. I've read a fair amount about that too, and how it helps stimulate the production of human growth hormone. It's something I plan to experiment with during my walks. (Walk a normal pace, and then speed up and walk as fast as comfortable or even jog for 30 minutes, and then recover by slowing down again.)
DeleteI agree that we are weight obsessed. I certainly am. I have suspected for some time that I will not have any kind of lasting success until I change my thinking and learn to accept myself unconditionally. That's the really hard work for me, but it's why I'm really trying to shy away from rules about eating and regimented exercise routines. I want to find a way to choose healthy eating and activities as a way of loving myself and not as a way of punishing myself for gaining weight.
*that should say 30 SECONDS, not minutes. lol
DeleteThat all sounds very thoughtful and reasonable to me! I really admire everything you're doing for yourself! I need to follow suit. I am working on it but admittedly I am not as invested in it lately.
DeleteHope you have a swell evening.
Hugs,
MM
It's hard for moms caring for young children to find the time and energy to invest in themselves. Every little step adds up, though. I hope your evening is swell too!
Delete