So much to do, so little time

That is exactly why I have not posted a blog since last Monday. I've found myself starting a post on my phone a couple of times over the weekend but an incoming call or the need to make a quick before I'm ready to post and I would have to discard the post...(yeah, that's what you get for using a cheapo phone).

Anyway, I've been ok. I mean it could have been worse in many ways.

Exercise
I'm seriously rocking the gym people! Even I can't believe myself sometimes. Ok, last week I had to miss Thursday and Friday because I had unavoidable commitments. BUT, I went to gym both Saturday and Sunday and did more than I was scheduled to do. I mean, who does step exercises during weight-lifting breaks?? It was intense, and I was sweating for a while after leaving the gym both days.

I'm so proud of myself. I can feel myself getting fitter and fitter...managing speeds I couldn't before, cycling faster at higher resistances, lifting heavier weights, and heck, I can do the plank now. And I don't mean just raising myself off the floor for a couple of seconds only before falling on my face. The background is that I've always had a weak core, and it's been worse since my car accident some years ago. I couldn't lift myself off the floor at all at the beginning of the month, but I've been working on it and now I'm so much better. I can only look forward to being even fitter.

Food
If my dedication to food was as strong as my dedication to exercise, I would be so much further in my journey. I am trying to follow the Weigh-Less plan. I mean I paid for the plan and I report my weight and receive a motivational speech (written) every week. (There is no Weigh-Less group here so they're doing an online version).

However, for some reason I do very well during the day at work - said a thousand times before, but then when I get home it's a different story. Well, not really. I don't eat too much a lot of the time, I don't binge. But I eat more than I should. I eat things outside my plan. The thing though is that the Weigh-Less plan is as easy as they come, It really does not restrict what you eat at all. It works by controlling the ratio and amount of food types you eat. And it has worked for soo many people. I'm just wondering what it will take for me to finally do exactly what I'm supposed to do.

Rationalization  
I lose a little each week, sometimes I gain, but overall I'm losing. Very slowly. I want to lose faster than I am. But I fail to follow eating plan perfectly. So I don't lose as much. I find myself rationalizing this fact like this: I can't follow the Weigh-Less eating plan to the letter except fi I really force myself. So following it strictly and losing weight faster only means if I do I will end up gaining it back...
Does that make any sense at all? Sometimes I feel like it does. Other times I think I'm just crazy.

For now, I'm just doing my best where I can, the rest will follow. Currently on a work trip, I depend on hotel buffet breakfast and take out or restaurant the rest of the day. I've challenged myself to actually lose this week.
We'll see.

Happy Monday!

Another chance to start over IF you've been having trouble staying on plan; if by mid-week you'd started forgetting to follow your plan; if the weekend made you do things you wouldn't be caught doing doing the week, etc. etc.

Guess what?! This Monday is for me to continue doing great, because I have been doing great. I mean seriously, I go to the gym on Sunday mornings, who am I?!!

I'm sure I've said it before that I am a fan of physical activity. I love my gym time. It can take some inner power at times to get me there, but once I arrive I surprise even myself. Example being last Thursday. I wasn't feeling like going and didn't go until an hour adn a half later than my usual time, and I thought all I would do would be a bit of walking and may be cycling. But I finished my whole program for the day and even did more cardio at the end! I was amazed at myself. I rock.

I plan to follow the same plan only until the end of the month, then I'll mix it up for October and probably do the same each month. You know, just to keep my body guessing.

Now if I can just see the results of this walking and cycling and getting nowhere, and lifting heavy things for no reason at all! lol.

Well, I'm off to do more walking and lifting, maybe pulling and cycling too.

Food blogs

I love food blogs!
With their nicely arranged and colourful food pictures and step by step recipes sometimes.
Oh, I love food blogs. I could look through food blogs all day!
The pictures are just out there, like they make me want to eat the food right there and then. Thank goodness they are not actual displays of food or there would be hell to pay.
I happened to come across a couple of new (to me) food blogs the other day and they just blew me away.  Especially From Apples to Zucchini. I absolutely LOVE her. She's taken the best recipes out there and made them over to suit her healthy lifestyle. So, it was quite an adventure going through her archives looking for new recipes to try.
But then the archives go way back to before she started her new lifestyle, back when she made the recipes with all the fat and sugar, etc. that they called for. In that part of her blog I happened upon a very easy recipes for 'doughnut muffins'. So I thought I'll just print it out fo rmy little sister to try. And yesterday when I got in from work they were done. I couldn't resist, and ended up with 3 going down my throat in the course of one evening! They were good, but I will definitely stay in the more recent section of that blog if I want to maintain my own healthy lifestyle!
You should check this blog out, the best recipes out there if you're out for something decadent but low calorie.

Then this morning I was just craving a cheese puff pie, and couldn't resist. Got one, enjoyed it in place of my lunch and snacks. Not on plan but planned into my day any way. Oh well.

Another Monday

Lost!
Knocking off and ready to leave work but thought I should post that I lost 2.4 lbs this past week! Well deserved too, if I say so myself.

I worked out everyday last week, 7 days straight from Sunday to Saturday! The first 6 days were regular gym with cardio and weights each visit, and Saturday I participated in a 5K charity walk. I intend to carry on the same way this week.

Food has been ok. Following my Weigh-less plan to the T all the time, except I have extras from time to time, and weekends I don't want to lie. I just try to keep things moderate but don't keep to the plan. I think as long as I'm losing it's ok to do that to avoid out and out binges.

After the walk on Saturday my feet hurt all day, and even on Sunday I felt that the most I could do for cardio was cycle. I had my day planned out with a gym trip at 6 pm, only to have to old friends pay me a surprise visit at 5.20 or so while I was finishing up with meal prep for my suppers this week.  So, gym was shot yersterday, but hey, maybe it was the universe's way of telling me I needed a rest day?

Awards and blogs
So, I have 3 awards in total that I still have to pick up! Thanks ladies, I'm so humbled because I don't think I even deserve them, but as soon as I have the time I will stop by to accept them. By the way, I've been reading your blogs but just haven't managed to comment yet. I'm with you, congratulations on all your successes and I'm with you in spirit as you go through the difficult times. Remember 'The Will of God will never take you where The Grace of God will not protect you'

Looking forward to another focused week.

Mission accomplished!

I just completed a 5K charity walk! I did it pushing my son in his stroller. And it feels great. Now I'm ready to enjoy my weekend! Have a good one.

Doing well

If only there was no such thing as biscuits... I've been doing pretty for the last week or just over. I've been to the gym every single day, except when I took a rest day like Saturday, and I've been rocking it with both cardio and weights. I'm very proud of myself right now. My eating could also be defined as great, only there are these bad guys called biscuits, or cookies to American friends. They've always been my downfall and I'm sure a large fraction of the fat on my body was manufactured from them. I eat clean all day, then after dinner I just have to have a couple with a hot drink. Last night this happened close to midnight! Unbelievable. Oh well. That was last night, can't undo it, can I? So, though they are not on my plan, I think just a couple or even one every now and then should be useful to stave cravings that could lead to binges. Check the time of day, and make adjustments to prior and it should be fine, no? Today I'm using a new phone and I'd just like see how this post will appear. If it works then it might mean more regular posts on the blog!

Alive and kicking

It's been a whole week and a day! Everyday I want to post but time just runs away from me.

Well, just know I am not only alive and kicking, but I'm also doing much much better than I have in quite a while. Even I'm in awe of how well I am doing!

And I'm happy. Good times.

Someone said...

'Being fat is hard. Losing weight is hard. Choose your hard.' I rest my case.


The questions are, how to stay the course, how not to get discouraged, how not to seem to obsess, how to stay in the right state of mind without feeling like going crazy at times?!
I'm telling you, everyday of my life, for the longest time, I think about my weight issues, it almost feels like an obsession. Will it ever end? The worst thing is that when I look at the mirror, and that is very often as I'm not the kind to shy away from seeing all the grossness, I focus on what I think is my most troublesome spots, the parts that I wish would change before everything else. How do I stop being drawn to the worst bits and start focusing on what I love?


I've walked, I've run, I've kicked and boxed, tae-boed, and done various other routines I've picked up along the way. I've dieted, low fat, low carb, liquids, cabbage soup, fruits and veges, even if I only lasted less than half a day on some. Yet, here I am, stilll way far from what should be my goal weight. I've lost soooo much weight over the years - I'm sure if I had the figures and calculated all that I lost, I'd find I lost all of me plus more. But I've kept gaining back, gaining more that I initially lost.


I was a skinny child, started gaining as a teen and kept gaining. I've always been fit, as fat as I've been. But not anymore. When I was pregnant with my son I gained an obscene amount of weight, which I vowed to lose before he turned 1. He's now going on  30 months old, that's 18 months past my goal time.


I want to blame my now sedentary lifestyle, most due to my job. I want to blame the pregnancy --- it did bring the cravings though. And I want to blame my life situation - living far from work, traffic, gym time vs, quality time with my son. But I know that I can make it work if I tried hard enough.


What do I want? Do I want to stay this way? There's a lot that I'm holding off till I've lost the weight; but I'm not making much progress so am I never going to do or try those things ever?


Life is hard. It's hard. My 33rd birthday is in a few weeks (November). I have everything I NEED. I have a lot going for me. There's much more that I WANT, which I know I'll eventually get. But because of my weight issues I feel stuck.


STUCK. Like I'm not going anywhere. Everything is at a stand-still until that's done, but it's not getting done well enough. What do I do about that?


I try. What more should I do to stay the course? To stay motivated?

Rough times

Ugh. Ok, so I have issues. But I was ok all day yesterday, then I was feeling a bit anxious in the evening. Then I listened to a stupid radio programme that just made things worse. I cried myself to sleep. Well, I cried on my pillow, but couldn't sleep. So I got up and watched Big Brother until 2 am.
I tried drinking warm milk to help me sleep, a whole cup. And I ate 2 slices of bread with it, one with PB and the other with cream cheese. My dinner had been half a cream donut and half a pizza. Both yummy but so not necessary in my life.
Anyway, I feel better today. And so far I've done better.