I'm back and feeling good! I hope you're all well too. Our lives are busy as usual, with the dadums being on nights and KVS at K&S' house, DBR working daily and BDJ helping out around the house - there is always something on the go! Britt got her hair over her eyes clipped and Gatorman got his mats removed from his back. So far Raffi's (sp?) been safe - he's a short hair. I haven't figured out how to post pictures yet, so I'm sorry I can't put them up.
Now onto the topic at hand: getting healthy. Many of you know me in different shapes - although 'pear' seems to be the most common! :-) Anywho, I have been everywhere on the size/weight map from a 24-26 all the way down to a 10 (twice - for about 2 days each time LOL). Currently I'm an 18, after a HUGE spike in weight last April through August. So, what's up? Well, I'm very good at maintaining a heavy weight and so far no one has come out with a diet that includes no exertion, cheesecake and second helpings of supper. What did I do differently each time I've lost weight? Either changed eating habits or exercised or both. What did I do to regain the weight? Changed my eating habits and/or stopped exercising. How do I feel as a size 18? Not very good. How did I feel at a size 14? Better physically, although I still felt like a 'big girl'. Now I can't believe I not only fit into a size 10 but that I thought they were big and I was still big!?!? Thoughts are definitely a lot harder to change. I keep waiting for someone to invent something that will instantly take off weight and allow me to eat all the foods I very much love, but it still hasn't happened. I continue to age and get more unhealthy, so do I want to live as a size 18 the rest of my days or would I rather make different choices and become more healthy? Of course I would like to become more healthy, which is all well and good to say, but more difficult to do. What is my problem? I love food (mostly all kinds) and I don't really like to exercise. Having said that, however, I feel sooo good after working out on my Hsumoa elliptical machine - so why don't I keep it up? Lack of motivation, unreasonable goals, poor food choices (too often)... So, what's different about this time? Well, maybe nothing and maybe a lot.
Based on women's calorie intake, with and without exercise (taken from the Mayo Clinic's site), I learned:
The difference between a woman who eats 1650 calories daily and weighs 200 pounds and a woman who eats 1650 calories daily and weighs 120 pounds is 60 minutes of vigorous exercise 6 days of the week. Likewise a man who eats 2250 calories dayily and weighs 240 pounds need only do 30 minutes of exercise twice daily to weigh 160 pounds. Can I do 60 minutes of vigorous exercise every day? Of course! But (yes, there's ALWAYS a but) more importantly, will I? That is the part that again remains to be seen.
I have decided to conduct an experiment with myself as the guinea pig. I have started exercising 60 minutes per day on the elliptical - 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening, with a goal of 4 out of 7 days. I will not be 'watching' what I eat, because I don't think I eat that badly as a rule - my problem is more with portions. As well, I will more readily choose exercise as opposed to going on a strict diet (which I cheat on quickly and end up feeling like crap just as quickly for 'failing'). I believe I will see some definite results after 12 weeks and should lose both weight and inches while improving my cardiovascular health and many other things (hormones, depressions, etc).
How can we learn without failures? Each time we fail, we (hopefully) learn something from the experience. Well, I should be a bloody encyclopedia! My problem has never been losing weight - that part comes easy for me - it's the maintenance that I have yet to conquer (obviously). A couple of years at a 14/16 was good for learning what works, what doesn't and what brought the weight back. I've been spending a lot of time looking back at my ups and downs of the past 5 years (that's how long I've been yo-yo-ing). I mostly learned that when I start moving I drop pounds like crazy and the minute I quit moving I start putting on weight. What was I doing when I was a size 10? 45 minutes of exercise 5 days a week and eating whatever my body called for - although I found I was so much more hungry that I was eating small meals every 4 hours or so. So am I going to apply anything I've learned or am I going to continue sitting on my fat butt waiting for the miracle pill/cure/shot/food to come along that will make me healthy? We know the answer to that - or at least the proper answer - but it's more difficult to actually do. Here's where the blog (hopefully) comes in, as an accountability tool for myself. I know I can do this, but for how long? Anything that I change for a little bit only changes things for a little bit, right? So if this is going to be a change then it's got to be life choice - I have got to decide to exercise and/or cut my food intake down in order to be more healthy.
Okay, enough for tonight - it's past my bedtime. Tonight was 45 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow morning - well, we'll see. :-)
Toodles for now.
T
Now onto the topic at hand: getting healthy. Many of you know me in different shapes - although 'pear' seems to be the most common! :-) Anywho, I have been everywhere on the size/weight map from a 24-26 all the way down to a 10 (twice - for about 2 days each time LOL). Currently I'm an 18, after a HUGE spike in weight last April through August. So, what's up? Well, I'm very good at maintaining a heavy weight and so far no one has come out with a diet that includes no exertion, cheesecake and second helpings of supper. What did I do differently each time I've lost weight? Either changed eating habits or exercised or both. What did I do to regain the weight? Changed my eating habits and/or stopped exercising. How do I feel as a size 18? Not very good. How did I feel at a size 14? Better physically, although I still felt like a 'big girl'. Now I can't believe I not only fit into a size 10 but that I thought they were big and I was still big!?!? Thoughts are definitely a lot harder to change. I keep waiting for someone to invent something that will instantly take off weight and allow me to eat all the foods I very much love, but it still hasn't happened. I continue to age and get more unhealthy, so do I want to live as a size 18 the rest of my days or would I rather make different choices and become more healthy? Of course I would like to become more healthy, which is all well and good to say, but more difficult to do. What is my problem? I love food (mostly all kinds) and I don't really like to exercise. Having said that, however, I feel sooo good after working out on my Hsumoa elliptical machine - so why don't I keep it up? Lack of motivation, unreasonable goals, poor food choices (too often)... So, what's different about this time? Well, maybe nothing and maybe a lot.
Based on women's calorie intake, with and without exercise (taken from the Mayo Clinic's site), I learned:
The difference between a woman who eats 1650 calories daily and weighs 200 pounds and a woman who eats 1650 calories daily and weighs 120 pounds is 60 minutes of vigorous exercise 6 days of the week. Likewise a man who eats 2250 calories dayily and weighs 240 pounds need only do 30 minutes of exercise twice daily to weigh 160 pounds. Can I do 60 minutes of vigorous exercise every day? Of course! But (yes, there's ALWAYS a but) more importantly, will I? That is the part that again remains to be seen.
I have decided to conduct an experiment with myself as the guinea pig. I have started exercising 60 minutes per day on the elliptical - 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening, with a goal of 4 out of 7 days. I will not be 'watching' what I eat, because I don't think I eat that badly as a rule - my problem is more with portions. As well, I will more readily choose exercise as opposed to going on a strict diet (which I cheat on quickly and end up feeling like crap just as quickly for 'failing'). I believe I will see some definite results after 12 weeks and should lose both weight and inches while improving my cardiovascular health and many other things (hormones, depressions, etc).
How can we learn without failures? Each time we fail, we (hopefully) learn something from the experience. Well, I should be a bloody encyclopedia! My problem has never been losing weight - that part comes easy for me - it's the maintenance that I have yet to conquer (obviously). A couple of years at a 14/16 was good for learning what works, what doesn't and what brought the weight back. I've been spending a lot of time looking back at my ups and downs of the past 5 years (that's how long I've been yo-yo-ing). I mostly learned that when I start moving I drop pounds like crazy and the minute I quit moving I start putting on weight. What was I doing when I was a size 10? 45 minutes of exercise 5 days a week and eating whatever my body called for - although I found I was so much more hungry that I was eating small meals every 4 hours or so. So am I going to apply anything I've learned or am I going to continue sitting on my fat butt waiting for the miracle pill/cure/shot/food to come along that will make me healthy? We know the answer to that - or at least the proper answer - but it's more difficult to actually do. Here's where the blog (hopefully) comes in, as an accountability tool for myself. I know I can do this, but for how long? Anything that I change for a little bit only changes things for a little bit, right? So if this is going to be a change then it's got to be life choice - I have got to decide to exercise and/or cut my food intake down in order to be more healthy.
Okay, enough for tonight - it's past my bedtime. Tonight was 45 minutes on the elliptical. Tomorrow morning - well, we'll see. :-)
Toodles for now.
T
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