30 weeks ago, I felt like this would be a long(er) term short fix, meaning that I would diet for 40 weeks and then go back to the way things used to be just a tad healthier than before. Now, I feel like I've truly changed habits for the forever. Gretchen and I were talking the other day and we were joking that we couldn't remember which week we were on with our 10 week exercise bet (for 10 weeks we would exercise 4X a week or we'd owe $100) that is a big change because in the previous 10 week bets I knew intimately which week we were on and how long we'd have to go before we could have a week off! I sat down to lunch with a friend and we both had salads but later she had a delicious smelling and looking scone and kindly offered me half. I was not tempted in the least. I was full, I didn't need to eat anymore and I was good. Before I would have eaten it just because it looked good and smelled good. In the beginning of this bet I would pass on eating food because I didn't want to face the guilt when I stepped on the scale. Now, most foods that used to tempt me don't anymore.
Then I came across a blog called Love to Eat, Hate to exercise. She has been on the ball this week with two fabulous posts that became big a-ha moments for me like this one:
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Battle of the Bulge
No, it's not. I've learned that fat, food has little to do with it. It's a battle against my fat brain, my inner child who wants to be soothed, my own worst enemy, me. It's not about the Twinkies or M&M's but about my decision to eat them, too many and too often instead of focusing on what I really wanted or needed. The urge to bury, to avoid rather than deal, grow.
It's the choice I made, time and again, to stay in bed, stay on the computer, do *anything* other than what was best for my health and well being, which was put on my sneakers and go for a walk.
The choices and decisions that we act upon each and every day form who we are, who we will become. I'm choosing to be healthy and fit. What choice will you make?
and this one:
Maintenance=drudgery, right? But it's not. Think about it, by doing a little bit of work (maintaining) you can avoid doing A LOT of work.
I am looking forward to these last 10 weeks; not to get the bet over but to see how far I can go, how much I can loose (reasonably). :)
Ok, so the exercise piece is definitely getting easier as Rachel said. I'm not keeping track of what week we are on, I'm just exercising 4 times/week. When I don't exercise for a few days I feel this urge to move. That's awesome.
ReplyDeleteOn the food front, however, I slacked a bit this week. I won my challenge at work. I over did it a little bit there. I got to much into the "diet" and it will be over soon mentality in order to win. So, now that I'm done with that I'm going to have to go back to a steady pace.
I went to the pet store, where they have these red sour candies that I really like. I remember having them at Disney Land for the first time. I think that's part of why I'm addicted. Although, any chewy candy is hard for me. The key is resisting at the store. Unfortunately, I didn't resist at the store. Two days later the bag is gone. I feel a bit sick to my tummy.
The good news is that I maintained! The bad news is that I owe $20.
I have been trying to decided if the weight I am at now is good enough. I'm at the top of the "Normal" range. (Well, 1 pound from it if I'm 6 feet tall... I'm really 5'11".)
Do I motivate to get down to the middle of the normal range? Do I go ahead and try maintenance
for a while? I don't know.
I have been leaning toward maintaining for the next two weeks and then deciding if I'm going forward from there or not. I need to get my head back into a good place and out of the "diet" then take a break. I need to find a way to live healthy. I started out that way. Then, I tried to win the parking space.
With that in mind, I think that I'll go for loosing 1 pound over the next two weeks. It means that I still have to be diligent, but I don't have to go crazy. I'm going go back to cutting out one bad habit at a time.
The bad habit for this week is candy. No eating uncontrollably.