...doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different end result.
or something to that effect.
IN my case, approaching weight loss the same way as I have in the last 20 years and expecting to lose to my goal weight.
Not going to happen.
I exercise, the same run/walk combo that I do, maybe twice a week, elliptical twice a week, rarely more than 45 min and free weights, once a week, if that. Yoga sporadically.
Needed to lose weight is atleast 60min 6 days a week, free weight twice a week and yoga twice a week. Calculate the calories burnt difference, its enormous.
More than that is the diet factor. Needed is a daily log in of what I eat , portion control, more fruits and veggies, less processed foods, thats all.
What I do is no food log, as many servings of as big portions as I want, not more than half a serving of fruit in a day- thats my banana with the morning oatmeal, atleast one serving of some processed food everyday- it just happens!
And my general health- 27th march 2008 I was laid down due to bad allergies, it happened AGAIn this year, same day. And what have I done to help with that? Nothing. My doctor told me last year to start taking the anti-allergic meds before the season starts. I started this past thurs when I was in the worst shape in a long time. Now the cetrizine, which I will take for the next 2 weeks continuosly will make me tired and fatigued, I wont be able to do my daily exercise and that will make me irritable , so I will eat more and the whole cycle will start again.
OK, lets be positive. Steps to take to avoid all this:
-Start a daily log. And I will do it on this blog, I was previously doing it at fitday.com, but then lost the habit. So everyday, each bite, write it down.
-Do the elliptical at home for the next 2 weeks except for the LSD. And try and do it in the moring so can fit in 60 min instead of 40.
-Take the anti-allergic meds as prescribed, dont miss and look into either thise shots or something-anything to make myself feel better.
Be proactive for once!!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
LSD 9.87miles
Done as in preparation for the MAy 3rd half-marathon, for which I havent signed up yet.
But today was lovely. I started out- can you visualise this- a chubby woman, wearing an orange T-shirt covered by a black jacket, black capris, khaki cap, shocking pink IPOD, white shoes and a big smile. Because it was so sunny, even tho cold, sunny and nice. And thanks to GB , for the first time in my life I had music as company for the run.
ANd the songs- I must be the only person who ran to' Are u lonesome tonite?' All the songs were the slow romantic kind, which the average runner would use to sleep, but they worked perfectly for me. ABBA, and other oldie goldies, and after a long time I managed to listen to each word and enjoy it.
Had planned to run 10.5m, but on returning realised it was only 9.87miles, but I am OK with it. VEry tired at the end. And the pace still comes out to be 15minmile, which I wont crib about, because atleast I did it.
OK, so I ran about 10 miles, and @ 80cal/mile, used up 800 calories. At home I ate 2 pieces of bread, a scrambled egg, some tea, some hummus, and pre-run I had eaten a bowl of cheerios with a cup of milk and half a banana. What I am trying to point out is, that this is precisely why only exercise does not get the weight off. The calories I took in could not be used up even after running 10 miles!!
ANd whats up with those Ciff bars- tried the chocolate kind- sorry do not like it, its dry, hard to chew, tough, and does not look good at all. Lets just agree to disagree on this one.
But today was lovely. I started out- can you visualise this- a chubby woman, wearing an orange T-shirt covered by a black jacket, black capris, khaki cap, shocking pink IPOD, white shoes and a big smile. Because it was so sunny, even tho cold, sunny and nice. And thanks to GB , for the first time in my life I had music as company for the run.
ANd the songs- I must be the only person who ran to' Are u lonesome tonite?' All the songs were the slow romantic kind, which the average runner would use to sleep, but they worked perfectly for me. ABBA, and other oldie goldies, and after a long time I managed to listen to each word and enjoy it.
Had planned to run 10.5m, but on returning realised it was only 9.87miles, but I am OK with it. VEry tired at the end. And the pace still comes out to be 15minmile, which I wont crib about, because atleast I did it.
OK, so I ran about 10 miles, and @ 80cal/mile, used up 800 calories. At home I ate 2 pieces of bread, a scrambled egg, some tea, some hummus, and pre-run I had eaten a bowl of cheerios with a cup of milk and half a banana. What I am trying to point out is, that this is precisely why only exercise does not get the weight off. The calories I took in could not be used up even after running 10 miles!!
ANd whats up with those Ciff bars- tried the chocolate kind- sorry do not like it, its dry, hard to chew, tough, and does not look good at all. Lets just agree to disagree on this one.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Realisations
I realise things very slowwly, I absorb messages, lessons later than most people.
So yesterday, while talking to the mother of my 14yo's friend, who is slim and fit as can be, who has told me previously that she walks 4-5 miles a day, who I always see in her workout clothes and with a bottle of water, that is when I realised two things:
one, that I HAVE to exercise 6 days a week, one hour at a time to lose this weight. There is no other way around it. None. No shortcuts. This HAS to be done to lose the pounds.
and two, that I simply cannot eat the way I have been. My eating habits havent changed since I was a teenager. Not that I was slim then- I was on the heavier side of normal at the time, but carried it better because of the young age. NOw with gravity starting to play a role, all that extra fat is moving south and it feels, let alone looks, bad. I am still eating the big servings of meals with the snacks etc. And no-one eats like that. All those lean bodies are made with small servings of the good wholesome foods.
Tho, on a better note, I havent had anything out of a box ,except my breakfast cereal, in almost 2 weeks. And there is a nice slideshow on msn about how we are eating larger servings of the good foods which is making us gain the weight.
So , now that I have realised this at the late age of 40, maybe I will start acting on these realisations by the time I am 50!
So yesterday, while talking to the mother of my 14yo's friend, who is slim and fit as can be, who has told me previously that she walks 4-5 miles a day, who I always see in her workout clothes and with a bottle of water, that is when I realised two things:
one, that I HAVE to exercise 6 days a week, one hour at a time to lose this weight. There is no other way around it. None. No shortcuts. This HAS to be done to lose the pounds.
and two, that I simply cannot eat the way I have been. My eating habits havent changed since I was a teenager. Not that I was slim then- I was on the heavier side of normal at the time, but carried it better because of the young age. NOw with gravity starting to play a role, all that extra fat is moving south and it feels, let alone looks, bad. I am still eating the big servings of meals with the snacks etc. And no-one eats like that. All those lean bodies are made with small servings of the good wholesome foods.
Tho, on a better note, I havent had anything out of a box ,except my breakfast cereal, in almost 2 weeks. And there is a nice slideshow on msn about how we are eating larger servings of the good foods which is making us gain the weight.
So , now that I have realised this at the late age of 40, maybe I will start acting on these realisations by the time I am 50!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
How long..
...do you think the 'no processed foods' rule would last?
With my Dh around, precisely one day. That was the day I baked cookies at home and the next day since he was off form work, he went to Sam's Club and returned with a 12-pack of their humungous muffins.
You know what, they didnt even taste that good. I did eat one, in pieces, the whole 1200 calories, but it tasted artificial. Maybe , and I am really hoping this, maybe, I am reaching the stage where only natural, home made food tastes good to me.
And he got sun-chips which my daughters 7yo friend assured us are not junk food because they are whole-grain!!
On the exercise front- missing a lot more days this time due to scheduling problems. On the weight front- nada, zilch again. A study came up recently that just walking 1 hour a day helped people lose and keep off 5-8 pounds in one year, so maybe I will lose some more. The exercise feels good tho, when I do it. So far lost 5 pounds since Nov 2008, a pound a month, and somewhere previously I had written that I would gladly take a loss of even one pound a month. How do some words come so true?
With my Dh around, precisely one day. That was the day I baked cookies at home and the next day since he was off form work, he went to Sam's Club and returned with a 12-pack of their humungous muffins.
You know what, they didnt even taste that good. I did eat one, in pieces, the whole 1200 calories, but it tasted artificial. Maybe , and I am really hoping this, maybe, I am reaching the stage where only natural, home made food tastes good to me.
And he got sun-chips which my daughters 7yo friend assured us are not junk food because they are whole-grain!!
On the exercise front- missing a lot more days this time due to scheduling problems. On the weight front- nada, zilch again. A study came up recently that just walking 1 hour a day helped people lose and keep off 5-8 pounds in one year, so maybe I will lose some more. The exercise feels good tho, when I do it. So far lost 5 pounds since Nov 2008, a pound a month, and somewhere previously I had written that I would gladly take a loss of even one pound a month. How do some words come so true?
Saturday, March 14, 2009
lovely run
Today was the best run in a long time.
Day started out not so good. Have been feeling down for the last few days, just no desire left to do any thing. So this morning woke up feeling the same and then DH says , come run with me , and we decided to run the 4.7 mile loop with the grocery store on the way so could pick up some bread.
And I ran- finished 2.83 miles till the grocery in 33 min, which is approx a 12 min mile, wow! felt so good.
And finished the whole route in 74 min which included buying the bread. So I am feeling much better about the whole exercise business, now just have to keep at it.
On the eating front, made chocolate chip cookies, replaced half the enriched all-purpose flour with the whole wheat, but have to do something about the sugar and the butter. Tho, am happy to say no chemicals in the form of colors or flavors or preservatives were used- not that those were needed, the cookies are gone this morning!
Day started out not so good. Have been feeling down for the last few days, just no desire left to do any thing. So this morning woke up feeling the same and then DH says , come run with me , and we decided to run the 4.7 mile loop with the grocery store on the way so could pick up some bread.
And I ran- finished 2.83 miles till the grocery in 33 min, which is approx a 12 min mile, wow! felt so good.
And finished the whole route in 74 min which included buying the bread. So I am feeling much better about the whole exercise business, now just have to keep at it.
On the eating front, made chocolate chip cookies, replaced half the enriched all-purpose flour with the whole wheat, but have to do something about the sugar and the butter. Tho, am happy to say no chemicals in the form of colors or flavors or preservatives were used- not that those were needed, the cookies are gone this morning!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Hits and misses
Am running and walking, did my long distance of 8 miles this past sunday which was good, I was surprised that I could run almost a mile at a time.
BUt today the 4.7 miles I did was very tiring, maybe because it was in the afternoon, or it was a gradual 2%incline after the initial downhill. I did take a break at GB's apartment and then ran almost the whole distance to my house. But it felt as if I was expending a lot of effort even to run at the slow pace.
The food part is going slow too. I keep reading snippets about food additives,- today there was an article on msn about the 12 food additives to avoid which included sodium nitrite used as a preservative in lunch meats etc, MSG, coloring agents etc. The other day I read about the dangers of using plastic containers and styrofoam cups and plates. Well, so what do u get your food in when u order takeout?
That same day my daughter came back from Sam's club with a cherry flavoured, red ICEE in a humungous styrofoam cup- believe me, 12 people could be satisfied with that one cup. And when I asked my Dh as to why he'd got such a big one for her, the reply was that this was the only size available! What we should do is to talk to Sam's Club and Costco to have a choice with a smaller size of the servings. I am ready to pay $2 for a 12 oz serving of ICEE, tho I would be happier if they completely did away with that drink.
I am on a warpath to clean the family's diet and started with cleaning out the pantry. I have thrown out all the candy, the cookies and crackers are finished, there are no cans of toamatoes ofr garbanzo beans laying around. So it is stocked with all good stuff like dried beans and legumes, whole wheat flour and pasta, and all the ingredients to make a cake from scratch.
Which I did a couple of days ago, using soome whole wheat instad of white and decreasing some of the sugar and butter. It actually turned out to be pretty good. Not that my family would say that- I am thinking it was yummy because it was finished overnight!
But cutting out packaged and processed foods does make life a bit tougher- you cant eat on a whim, the only thing actually available at all times for mindless snacking is fruit which becomes tiresome after a while. Tho I believe that is the whole point- we dont need to eat that much. Today the kids were whining about a lack of after-dinner snacks in the pantry, but I am firm - no buying those cookies or cakes or icecream- you want it-you make it. Lets see how long this experiment lasts.
BUt today the 4.7 miles I did was very tiring, maybe because it was in the afternoon, or it was a gradual 2%incline after the initial downhill. I did take a break at GB's apartment and then ran almost the whole distance to my house. But it felt as if I was expending a lot of effort even to run at the slow pace.
The food part is going slow too. I keep reading snippets about food additives,- today there was an article on msn about the 12 food additives to avoid which included sodium nitrite used as a preservative in lunch meats etc, MSG, coloring agents etc. The other day I read about the dangers of using plastic containers and styrofoam cups and plates. Well, so what do u get your food in when u order takeout?
That same day my daughter came back from Sam's club with a cherry flavoured, red ICEE in a humungous styrofoam cup- believe me, 12 people could be satisfied with that one cup. And when I asked my Dh as to why he'd got such a big one for her, the reply was that this was the only size available! What we should do is to talk to Sam's Club and Costco to have a choice with a smaller size of the servings. I am ready to pay $2 for a 12 oz serving of ICEE, tho I would be happier if they completely did away with that drink.
I am on a warpath to clean the family's diet and started with cleaning out the pantry. I have thrown out all the candy, the cookies and crackers are finished, there are no cans of toamatoes ofr garbanzo beans laying around. So it is stocked with all good stuff like dried beans and legumes, whole wheat flour and pasta, and all the ingredients to make a cake from scratch.
Which I did a couple of days ago, using soome whole wheat instad of white and decreasing some of the sugar and butter. It actually turned out to be pretty good. Not that my family would say that- I am thinking it was yummy because it was finished overnight!
But cutting out packaged and processed foods does make life a bit tougher- you cant eat on a whim, the only thing actually available at all times for mindless snacking is fruit which becomes tiresome after a while. Tho I believe that is the whole point- we dont need to eat that much. Today the kids were whining about a lack of after-dinner snacks in the pantry, but I am firm - no buying those cookies or cakes or icecream- you want it-you make it. Lets see how long this experiment lasts.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Aches and pains
I have a sharp pain in my left knee, which felt heavy and swollen the whole day 2 days ago, a pulling pain in my right calf, a shifting pain in left low back-as if it will give away, a tightness and pain in left hip, a tired fatigued discomfort in the mid-back, runny nose due to cold or allergies- cant figure out which but have it in these months for the last many years, in other words- Welcome into the forties!!
But since I am in the forties now, I knew how to tackle all the above, I rested for a couple of days and this morning went for a R/W with my DH who is nursing his own forties pain in his right calf. So he slowed down a bit, I took some more walking breaks and we covered a distance of 3.7miles which included a killer hill in a light rain.
So I am feeling good so far. I should actually be doing a LSD of 9 miles according to my half-marathon schedule, but thats not happening this week.
On the diet front, things are dragging along. I seemed to have lost another pound in feb to make a total of 5 pounds since Nov2008. However those 5 pounds come right back after a small meal at Panda Express, so I dont know if they have left me for good. One day of eating right and I am 5 pounds less, one salty meal and there I am, all puffed up like a puffer fish.
I am trying to cook healthier. Trying to incorporate more veggies in my meals, less processed foods, and no I never did try the bread. Maybe some rainy day.
But since I am in the forties now, I knew how to tackle all the above, I rested for a couple of days and this morning went for a R/W with my DH who is nursing his own forties pain in his right calf. So he slowed down a bit, I took some more walking breaks and we covered a distance of 3.7miles which included a killer hill in a light rain.
So I am feeling good so far. I should actually be doing a LSD of 9 miles according to my half-marathon schedule, but thats not happening this week.
On the diet front, things are dragging along. I seemed to have lost another pound in feb to make a total of 5 pounds since Nov2008. However those 5 pounds come right back after a small meal at Panda Express, so I dont know if they have left me for good. One day of eating right and I am 5 pounds less, one salty meal and there I am, all puffed up like a puffer fish.
I am trying to cook healthier. Trying to incorporate more veggies in my meals, less processed foods, and no I never did try the bread. Maybe some rainy day.
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