Thursday, February 28, 2013

Weigh-in 2/28 and catching up...

Previous Weight : 148.4
Current Weight: 150.6
Change: +2.2

Yikes, it's been almost a month since I actually blogged!  Bad Tiffany, Bad Tiffany!

February was a bit of an up and down, round and round month. Bad days, good days, emotional days, sick kids, blah, blah blah.

I had an epiphany after allowing myself a 24 hour period of "cheating".  I CAN'T DO THAT TO MYSELF!!  I woke up so inflamed and sore it wasn't even funny.  My muscles ached and my body was going "WTF did you do to me?!".  Not only did I feel like absolute dirt, but the scale bounded  up to 158.6.  It took a week of hard work and super ultra clean eating to get me back down to 152 and then another 4 days more to get me to where I am today.  Sooooo NOT worth it!! 

There's a difference between having a treat meal, and allowing yourself to inhale everything in sight for a 24 hour period.  Treat meals every once in a while, okay.  A day of sugar/carb insanity, not okay.

After getting my system back on an even keel, I sat down and did some serious thinking.  Am I treating myself with love and giving my body what it needs to get me to my goals?  The answer quite simply is, NO.

My birthday is in May.  I would like to see what kind of results I can get by then.  Strength training will be my #1 focus (3x a week), followed by HIIT 1-2x a week.  If I feel like it, I'll do some running and I've been working yoga and pilates into my daily routine.  Nothing out-of-the-box really, just a solid plan that I can follow through with and maintain.

I also started IF (intermittent fasting) in an attempt to speed up the "leaning out" process and I'm strength training in a fasted state as well.  I did my research and reading on this topic.  Some people may not agree with IF and that's okay.  After much researching and reading, I decided to give it a try.  If you are just starting off in your weight loss journey,  IF is probably not for you. I'm just putting that out there. Do your reading and research and find the path that works for you...everyone is different!

Here's to a fantastic month! As always....Keep Moving Forward! 



         

Monday, February 4, 2013

That is Life...

Ahhh, Monday morning....it used to be my Day 1, again and again.  How many times have you said "Screw it. I'll start again on Monday"?  I think all of us have done that many, many times.  I used to "screw up" and that would morph into a downward spiral of shoving anything and everything in my pie hole. For days or even weeks I would be out of control. The scale would bounce up, I would feel like crap, then I would eat more crap. Rinse and repeat.  Honestly, it's a tough cycle to break.  As much as you hate it, there's a part that's almost comforted by the cycle too.
Yesterday was Superbowl.  Niners (my team) lost.  I was surrounded by junk food and alcohol.  It would have been easy to eat everything in sight and get a little buzzed.  Instead, I went for a 10 mile bike ride before the party as a buffer, ate a healthy breakfast, and ate moderately at the party itself.  I stuck to my desicion not to drink and I'm very proud of how I handled yesterday.  I even ate a doughnut.  But I logged what I ate and don't feel guilty about it. 
Before you start thinking easy for her to say.... it's not.  It's taken a lot to get to this point.
Last Sunday I made the decision to have a "cheat day".  I ate anything and everything I wanted on that one day (including a lot of cheesecake), but then I went back to my routine the next day.  I just felt like I needed a break. And that was okay.
My eating the next day was spot-on.  Then.... Monday evening my husband made a very large purchase for himself without discussing it with me.  To say I was upset would be putting it mildly.  Tuesday my emotions were all over the place and I fell back on the "food as comfort" mechanism.  And I let myself wallow. Hubby came home from work and I asked him hear me out.  I purged all the emotion I was holding onto.  His reaction was "There's no excuse blah, blah, blah".   I had to ask him to just listen to me while I told tell him how I felt.  And he did.  I didn't hold onto the emotion like I would've in the past.  That's a big step for me.
Wednesday morning I got up and made myself a massive power smoothie and moved on.  Two "off" days out of three used to send me off the rails completely.  I would say "Screw it! I'll start again on Monday" and proceed to eat garbage and binge. 

In real life there will be good days and bad.  There will be fights with your spouse and parties and days where you just feel like eating a lot.  That is life.  THAT is a distinction I have never made in the past.  This process has opened up a whole new perception for me.  It goes back to balance. It goes back to being more consistent with my good habits and indulging from time to time, and then moving on...
It's amazing how freeing this one concept is.  And it feels good to be living a generally healthy life.  If you noticed, I didn't post a weigh-in last Thursday.  I took a break from the scale. In the grand scheme, the number is just a part of the whole. The number does not define how I feel about the progress I've made.  I am strong, I am fit and I am healthy.  That is what is important.  And guess what? As soon I stopped stressing about the scale, it dropped.  lol

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Orient Express and Football

Happy Saturday bloggy world!  I got up this morning and ran a 4 mile race.  I was concerned how the knee would hold up, but it was great. There was a little discomfort, but nothing like it was.  The rest really helped.  My knee just needed some TLC and rest from squats and lunges. 
I had a blast and I can't wait to run another race.  There is a color run next month I plan on registering for.... Have you heard of the color run concept? Here's a link. Basically though,  runners rock out to live bands while being showered in neon colors. Fun right??
Here's a pic from today's race. My 8 year old took it on my phone.  She did pretty good...
I finished 4th in my age group and 37th overall with a time of 34:44.  I had hoped for a sub 34 finish, but with the knee, a side cramp and the hills on the course, I'm very happy with my time.
I'll be checking in sometime in the next few days with an update concerning my mental state (beyond the obvious cuckoo bird nuttiness I embrace). 
Hubby and I are hitting Superbowl Party tomorrow. We'll have to see how the snacks and such go, but I'm not planning on drinking so the rest should be pretty easy.  And just to be clear.....
 GO NINERS!!