22 August 2009

No Excuses, No Regrets

I know, for weeks I hardly post now I can't seem to stop. What can I say, a shift is occurring and I need to document it.

One of the half-assed excuses I've been using for not running, aside from having no time, is that my shoes sucked. I haven't bought new running shoes in over a year and the ones that are still decent I hate and they make my shin hurt. So this afternoon we stopped into the Sports Authority for a new helmet, the dogs ate mine, and I found these:


Asics Cumulus. They had them on sale for $89 and they are in killer pink. So now I have zero excuses for not running. I have the time and a brand new pair of shoes and it all starts tomorrow. See you on the road.

Mission Accomplished

I use that title because I'm sure it pisses some people off :) Anyway, I got my 30 minutes of intervals in on the elliptical machine and the dogs got a trip to the dog park. I'm now sitting here eating yogurt, granola, and a banana because I know we are going to Chili's for lunch and I don't want to pig out.

A week or so ago I picked up the Time magazine with the article on why exercise won't make you thin. You can read it here if you like. The gist of the story is that exercise is not essential for losing weight. That in actuality excising will increase your appetite and cause you to eat which basically wipes out the caloric burn of the activity you did. I read this article and thought they really were missing the whole point of working out, at least the point in my mind.

I workout for a variety of reasons not just to lose weight. I workout because I like the way it makes me feel. I workout because I prefer not to huff and puff when I go up stairs. I workout because I'd rather see muscles than flabby flab. Also, I find that by working out in the mornings it sets me up for success all day. I may only burn 200 or 300 calories but it starts the day on a very positive note. When I work out in the morning I have a much easier time sticking to my eating plan during the day. I'm not sure if it's because I feel virtuous or it triggers something in my brain or what, but it works. Also, if you're working out to lose weight you have to count calories. You have to. There is no way around it. So, as some people in that article did, they would go workout then hit Starbucks. Doh?!?!?! I wonder why they aren't losing weight??? If you've done any reading or research about losing weight you would have come across the fact that 80% of losing weight is food related. Only 20% is activity related. It's hard to burn enough calories to eat anything you want and not gain weight. That only happens to elite athletes. During the Tour de France the cyclists consumer around 10,000 cals per day. That's during the race. As soon as they are done racing they have to cut that back a lot in order not to gain weight, and a cyclist does not want to gain weight!!

The bottom line for me is that working out provides me a mental boost that makes it easier for me to succeed at losing weight. I don't look at it as the means to losing weight, it's merely another tool in my weight loss kit......

Do or do not....

Unfortunately lately, way too much of the do not has been occurring and it's time to correct that. In my own defense, I have been stretched to the absolute max. I don't think I could have added one more thing into my life the last few weeks, and as true as that is it's still an excuse. So it's time to get back on track and that starts today. My plan is to do a 30 minute cardio interval workout, take the dogs to the park, and then do some shopping. Tomorrow it's 30 minutes of cardio intervals, take the dogs to the park, clean house, then go house hunting. So I have two days that are full but not insane. Monday I will do 30 minutes of cardio intervals, attend a mass for school, take the dogs to the park, and spend the rest of the day planning for the coming weeks. With 3 days of workouts under my belt I should be able to finish out the week, that and the fact that I have no night classes should help. I have to get my eating back on track too and I'm starting working on that today but I need to do some shopping for that. Anyway, excuses, excuses, excuses, I'm tired of them and I need to stop it. So the excuse train stops here. From here on out I will either do it or not, there is no try.

21 August 2009

Inspiration in strange places

Actually it's not such a strange place but whateva.... I was reading my morning blogs when I came across MizFit's post about being her own superhero. She asks
What have you done which even *you* almost weren’t certain you could?


Which started me to thinking. I've done a lot of things that made me feel like a superhero. Lately to feel that way all I need to do is workout and eat right. Maybe it's time to focus on being my own superhero again. Why not start right here and right now???

20 August 2009

Whew, I'm glad that's over....

Seriously, that was the toughest 4 weeks of my life and I'm glad it's over. I've detailed it over at Flo's Place so I'm not going into it here. After wallowing it the whole thing for weeks it's time to move on. I'm going to take a day or so to relax and catch up on some sleep and then it is time to get serious again. I have not been working out because I've been too exhausted and had way too much to do. My eating has also been crap because I would go without eating then pig out, bad, bad, bad. So it's time to get back on track.

I don't want to put a lot of pressure on myself so I'm going to aim for a 30 minute workout everyday. I'll either do cardio intervals or some strength training. That's all I'm after to start with, 30 minutes. I plan to build up from there but I need to not put pressure on myself. I also plan to look for some insurance quotes but I'm not pushing myself there either. I also have to get back into eating right. I need to take my lunch to school and to shop so that I have really good things to eat. Scratch that I have really good things to eat I'm just not eating them. Time to get back on the wagon.

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...