My name is Sassy and I have a problem being consistent with my weight loss and fitness program. That's why I am here...to hold myself accountable and hopefully increase my chance at achieving my goals!Although my goals concern weight loss and fitness, I should say up front that I am actually already pretty darned consistent with the fitness part. I actually love to exercise and work out 5-6 days/week without too much trouble. Exercise, to me, is somewhat fun and makes me feel great and it's already been established as part of my daily routine. I wake up, go to the bathroom, take my thyroid meds, feed the cats, fill my water glass and head to the workout room for my exercise. I don't even think about it.
I do 3 days of strength training per week and 2 days of cardio, plus sometimes a bonus workout on the weekend if I feel like it. I mostly do fitness videos for the strength training (I have a pretty large collection of excellent fitness videos and a dedicated workout room).
For cardio, I also have videos but usually I will do something more fun like play tennis or go figure skating (a new hobby I picked up about a year ago). If it's not a good day for tennis or skating, I will usually do rebounding (mini-trampoline) while watching a fitness video. I really don't enjoy standard aerobic exercise like step or floor aerobics.
Now...for diet....that's another story. Like many women, I really struggle with my diet. I have emotional issues tied to food and without serious perservence, tend to binge on junky stuff, especially sweets (and especially when I am upset or under stress.)
I've tried many different types of diets over the years and while most of them work, I haven't been able to stick with them consistently because I get tired of them. This is particularly true for diets that restrict or eliminate certain foods (which are usually the foods I like, like sweets and carbs). I miss those foods too much and then end up throwing in the towel. I can't tolerate low carb diets either because I get tired of eating the same foods all the time.
So this past January, I decided to give calorie counting a try and I have been having some good success with this. I used an on-line calorie calculator to determine how many calories I should eat per day to lose weight in a moderate fashion and I came up with 1800. Then, I decided that instead of eating exactly 1800/day, I would zig-zag my calories. My daily calories for a week are like this:
1400
1500
2000
1500
1800
1400
3000
These amounts, when added together, come to the same grand total as eating 1800/day. The benefit of zig-zagging (I have found) as opposed to eating the same calories every day are:
1. My body doesn't go into a "plateau". Since the calorie amounts fluctuate every day, my body doesn't get too used to any one calorie level and therefore doesn't go into "starvation mode" to adjust.
2. Zig-zagging allows me a couple higher calorie days. The 3000/cal. day is especially useful because it amounts to a true "splurge day". I usually schedule my 3000/cal. day for a day when I have plans to go out to dinner, or a party to go to, where I know there will be lots of good food to eat. To be honest, I don't even bother counting calories on my 3000/cal. day. I just assume that no matter how much I eat, the odds are I won't be eating more than 3000 calories.
3. Those high-cal days really are helping me to stay on my program. Because I have a high cal day a couple days/week, I am less likely to feel deprived. I always know that a splurge day is just around the corner.
4. Zig-zagging has another flexibility feature built in. If, for example, it is a 1400/calorie day and I am feeling extremely weak and like I am going to blow it and eat more calories, I can simply swap my 1400/calorie day for a higher calorie day (assuming I still have some coming up in the week) in my weekly plan. So, for example, if it's Tuesday and it's supposed to be a 1400 calorie day but I am feeling like I simply need to eat more that day, and I see that Thursday is scheduled to be my 2000/calorie day, I simply switch them and make Tuesday my 2000 calorie day and Thursday my 1400 calorie day. Of course, this only works as an occasional flexibility tactic. I can't switch EVERY low cal day for a high one because there are only so many high cal days to be had each week. But at any rate, the fact is, that NOT having the same calorie level set each day does provide for some flexibility that stricter calorie counting diets do not provide.
I started January 1, 2007 and would estimate that I have been compliant on this program about 6 out of the last 8 months. I won't state my starting weight, but I was at a size 16 and my clothes were fitting tight...I was pretty much an 18. My goal is to get back my wedding size (8-10) and be even more fit than I was then - I would like to have a really toned, somewhat "cut" (although not bulky) appearance. So it's definitely a long road. Since I started on January 1st of this year, I have lost 27.2 pounds and 18 inches which puts me at about 35% of my goal. I can only imagine how much more I would have lost had I been compliant the entire time.
That's why I am here...to help myself be more compliant. My goal is to blog almost every day about how I am doing.
So today is Sunday and I am going to start by setting my plan for this coming week. I just looked at my calendar and there is only one eating-challenge day planned. Tuesday I am meeting my brother after work for dinner at a new Italian restaurant nearby. So that will be my 3000/day.
My goals for this coming week:
Monday
Strength
1500 calories
Tuesday
Figure Skating
3000 calories
Wednesday
Strength
1400 calories
Thursday
Tennis
1800 calories
Friday
Strength
1400 calories
Saturday
Tennis
2000 calories
Sunday
Rest
1500 calories
No comments:
Post a Comment