It’s Tuesday morning, and the start of a new week. Last week was just messy. I did accomplish my goals last week (see the Progress chart for latest notes), but barely. I was exhausted, I hardly exercised at all, my anxiety problems were acting up, and there was a lot of stress. As if to punctuate all this, I awoke to jackhammering right outside our window – the neighbor is apparently destroying her driveway. It’s three hours later and still going strong. Where did I put that tranquilizer dart gun again? I’m humming the theme song to Wild Kingdom…..
All that aside, my life is amazing in a hundred small and large ways, and I’m incredibly grateful, and not intending to complain. I do notice though, that eating better, exercising more, and trying to change one’s lifetime habits are hard to do if life is in any way extra stressful. It’s a matter of maintaining concentration in the face of distraction, as well as letting go of comforting (and fat-producing) habits right when you crave them the most.
My weight didn’t change this week, and that gets me down a little bit. It’s hard to picture yourself still on the path when you aren’t actually going anywhere. But I am still moving, even if I’m taking turtle steps. I got a new book that should arrive today or tomorrow: 101 Ways to Work Out with Weights. I love doing strength training at home, with dumbbells or kettle bells, but I don’t have any books about making your own workouts. This got great reviews, and I’m excited to see where it takes me. I also started writing out some lists of meals we all like (feeding three adults and two kids consistently and nutritiously is a lot harder than I realized).
But outside of exercise and food, the real work of this week was changing other habits. To eat better and get in shape and lose weight, you just pick healthier food and go to the gym, right? Wrong. Changing your habits around food and exercise requires planning, and exploring. That takes time and motivation, both of which are in short supply when life is otherwise completely overwhelming. How do you find more time? How do you get less overwhelmed? These are questions that I have to answer before I accomplish things.
This past week:
- I cleaned off my desk at home, and got my files organized, so that answering mail and paying bills will hopefully be a breeze.
- I put a give-away box in the closet, and have started chucking clothes I don’t wear that often. This is freeing up space in my drawers, making laundry time easier, and making my mornings easier because I can reach for things quickly.
- I started spending an hour a night just puttering around, cleaning up anything that needs cleaning. I count this in part toward my exercise, since I’m usually worn out afterward (but feeling great).
- I’m putting aside time every day to READ. How on earth does sitting on your ass help you lose weight and get in shape? No, I’m not reading diet books. I’m actually reading The Player of Games
Week 3 may look like everything is stalled, but I think that’s an illusion. Things are actually ticking along even better than before. They’re just ticking quieter, and deeper down. Am I right? Will all this pan out to my eating better and getting in shape? I guess we’ll see! If it does, I’m totally writing a book entitled, “How To Sit On Your Ass and Read Your Way To Better Health”, which will soar to the NYT bestseller list, as everyone sits on their ass to read it.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I still contend the key to making permanent changes is to think INCREDIBLY small. But everybody has weeks where even thinking small is just too much thinkin’. I think your attitude is great — that it may look like everything’s stalled, but that’s just an illusion. The fact you’re still striving for change IS change, even if some weeks you just can’t pull it out to the level you had hoped. Keep going!
Also if you’re still looking for a really entertaining way to create your own strength training workouts at home, I am in LOVE with “Fitdeck.” There are a bunch of different sets of cards — strength training without weights, with weights, with kettleballs, yoga, stuff like that. You can pick out the decks that have the types of exercises you are interested in doing (I have the without-weights and with-weights decks) and then you can shuffle them together. Then when you’re ready to workout, you deal yourself 10 or 20 cards or however many, and do that as your workout for the day. I usually do about 10 cards and spend about 15 minutes. Two or three times a week.
It’s super fun. And even my nephews love doing it, because it’s kind of like a game, so Miles might get into doing it with you too, which is even MORE super fun.
Each card has detailed instructions on how to do the exercise, plus the number of reps you should do depending on what level you’re on (easy, medium, hard).
http://fitdeck.com/
I second Meg. It’s a slow going process and takes a long time but the little things you are doing now will make a difference. You just need to keep at it!
I say this after I realize it’s 11PM and I just finished off a piece of vegan chocolate cake complete with “buttercream” frosting AND a glass of soy milk.
I’m still figuring things out for myself as well. I work out regularly but I find myself just EATING MORE. I know it’s because my body is demanding more food for all the working out I do but why can’t it just shut up and process all the fat I’ve got sitting around my belly and thighs?!?! It’s hard.
By the way, I saw this article in the NY Times today and thought you might find it interesting: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/04/phys-ed-why-doesnt-exercise-lead-to-weight-loss/
I didn’t realize that steady, lower-intensity exercise was better for burning fat than high-intensity exercise (that is, walking briskly is better for burning fat than running is). This article also addresses the theory that working out revs up your metabolism and makes you burn more calories just sitting still after your workout than you would have if you hadn’t worked out at all. Turns out that may not actually be true — in fact, in one study, the opposite was found: exercisers burned slightly LESS fat in the 24 hours after a workout than in a 24 hour period that did not include exercise. Kind of interesting (though that’s just one study, so I wouldn’t go all bonkers with this information).
But I definitely knew, based on my own experience, that exercise alone is not the solution to weight loss. Except inasmuch as it tends to make me feel better about myself and want to eat healthier to keep the feeling going. No matter how much you work out, though, you can’t lose weight and keep it off if you don’t also work on your eating habits. Overall, thought this was a pretty interesting article, and I also think it really supports a lot of what you’ve been talking about, Hollie, in terms of the theory of “moderation.” Moderate exercise, moderate eating, moderate everything, really does seem to be the solution.
Great article Meg! I want to write about it. And I LOVED the FitDeck! I want to get one of those – the bodyweight version for sure, but also the medicine ball one. So fun! Maybe I’ll order one as a reward for a few weeks of consistent exercise.
Jen – Oh man, the local PCC just had vegan chocolate cupcakes and “buttercream” frosting, and I HAD to have one!