Day 3.10: Today is Better than Yesterday

Last day of this 10.  Don't give up today, work out to start the weekend off right!  Eat those fruits and veggies and drink drink drink!  Some of my kids have been drinking more and it has helped their chappy lips and dry knuckles.  Yay!

What challenges were you successful in for this cycle?  I said I was going to moderate the challenges for the next 10 and I meant it.  Ramping up to full speed after the holidays was tougher than I thought.  Sheesh.

Measure and weigh yourself if you think there's any chance that you've changed.  Me, not so much.

And while there are no numerical changes that mark the successes I've had this 10 days, I know that I have improved:  we picked back up on our weekly group class, I worked out 4+ days/week for the past two weeks, I am drinking all 64 oz of water daily, and I am eating more fruits and veggies.  All very positive and healthy improvements.  I hope you have improved in some small way, too, because we can all find joy every day in doing something better than 10 days ago.

I know that I also said that I was going to do consecutive 10 day challenges, but I'm revising my statement.  Think of it as being fluid, going with my gut...not disorganized, sloppy, and unmotivated.  Be positive.  We're going to start again Monday.

Enjoy your final day.  Celebrate your wins.  Ready yourselves for Monday.  We begin anew.

Day 3.9: Almost there

Nearly done!  Not starting on Monday has really confused me, but I'll manage.

Check in on the challenges for this 10 Days:

1. 1400 calories per day...most days
2. No sugar - meh...
3. 30 minutes daily...except yesterday.
4. 3 veggies & 2 fruits...success!

I've been off to a slow start, I'll admit.  However, I did make rice crispy treats yesterday and only ate two and I still met my 1400 calorie limit.  Horray!

Do you have any suggestions on challenges for the next 10 days?  I've got some ideas stewing, and I think simplicity is going to be the key word here.  I've been told I'm a little intense, so I think I'll try to be a little less so.  No reason to make any of us feel like a failure, right?

A little note about meal spacing.  After going through the small children phase, when they ate frequently and I ate right along with them, I have morphed into a grazer.  Sometimes I think that this should allow me to perfectly integrate the "golden rule" of fat loss which is eating every 2-3 hours to keep your metabolism revved all day.

Yesterday I was on the computer and doing business stuff all morning.  Then I left the house around 12 and didn't get home until 3.  Most mornings I usually don't usually eat after breakfast, and then I start grazing.  Every time I wander through the kitchen I eat something.  Yesterday I ate a bigger lunch, 500-600 calories at 1, and I was stuffed until dinnertime.  Not being home helped, but I really didn't feel a desire to snack after lunch, even after I got home and the kids came home from school.  This is a miracle.

So I'm wondering if three bigger meals is the best way for me to eat. You know, actually sitting down at the table and eating enough food to feel satisfied?  It makes me feel like a diet rebel, like I'm laughing in the face of all scientific research, like how could I possibly lose fat if I'm not eating every 2 hours.  Don't get me wrong: I like having more frequent excuses to put food in my mouth.  But this only helps me if I actually need it.  Not to defy all logic, but it is possible that something different might work for me.  Like maybe the way I ate all my whole growing up life.  Three squares a day, no snacks.  Like following a circadian rhythm for eating.  Do what comes naturally.  I have a gut feeling that the less I am required to think about what to eat, the less I'll think about it period.  Which is a good thing.

I'm willing to give three square meals a try.

Day 3.8: Hard Facts About Exercise

The other morning I pulled on my compression tights and thought "I really like these.  Maybe if I wear a long sweater no one will know they are workout pants."  I'm avoiding jeans and wearing stretchy pants.  It's gone a little too far, don't ya think?

Alrighty, back to what I do best: information.

I read this a month ago and really really loved it.  It is called "8 Cold, Hard Facts About Exercise"

It is worth reading.  I really liked the 5th fact: "I won't allow you to eat whatever you want".

Whenever I start exercising a lot my appetite increases.  But more than my appetite is my "perceived food budget".  Yeah, I can totally eat a dessert after each of my 5 meals.  I worked out.

As you can see, this is not working for me.

When you start truly calculating how many calories you burn during exercise (as the article points out) it's really not as many as you think.  I have a cycle computer that tells me I burn 900 calories on a 90 minute ride.  I appreciate that calculation because it gives me permission to eat everything in sight.  But I'm preeeettttyyyy sure that it's off by about 300 calories.  Truly.  And while 600 calories is a lot, it ain't 900.

I am always jealous of professional cyclists.  They are always saying in interviews how they have to force themselves to eat enough calories during the day so they don't bonk.  This is during a grand tour, like the Tour de France.  Those poor cyclists.  Wouldn't that be an interesting problem to have?  Forced to eat enough calories?  Wouldn't I love to be them.  Riding 150 miles each day.  For 3 weeks straight.  Never mind.

Other facts I liked:

"Exercise alone won't change you."  Enter my personal diet challenges.  This will be a hard one for me to get through.

"Exercise will always feel hard."  Each time I ride my bike I dream of a day when I can ride 17 mph for hours without it hurting.  Unfortunately, it will always hurt.  My mind just has to quit telling me that I can't go any more.  Because in reality, I can.  Our ability to push through the hard will increase as we exercise more.

I am ready for some results that I can see.  This article helped me see some things I can change that will hopefully help me get off my plateau.  Did you find anything interesting or new?

Day 3.7: I feel better now

Wow.  Now that I have nothing to hide...

I'm so glad someone commented (thanks, Tess).  I was starting to hear crickets and uncomfortable silence.  That's not awkward.

I really do feel better, however.  I feel like I can start again.  Just after I posted  yesterday, I sat down to read the January Ensign.  No, I didn't tear into it on Dec 30, and yes I procrastinate.  Have you not read this blog?  Anyway,  I read Pres. Uchtdorf's message about beginning anew.  It was just what I needed.  The best time to start is years ago.  The next best time is now.  So very perfect and uplifting.  Take time to read his message.

Also perfect and uplifting was my workout today.  I got invited by my favorite person to go cross country skiing at Snow Basin.  It was 37 degrees, perfectly sunny, and so much fun.  The grooming left us sinking in snow drifts in some areas and not speeding along, but it was one heck of a workout.  All the moving arms and struggling uphill on super skinny skis and shooshing downhill with no edges...it's a toughie.

It was very rejuvenating and I had a smile on the whole time.

I know some of you have been enjoying outdoor workouts now that the air isn't the color and consistency of mud, and I encourage you to keep it up.  The weatherman says we're in for a week of declining air quality, so get outside while it won't give you emphysema.  Seriously.

Confront your demons, take control, and learn from mistakes.  I think that's this 10 days' theme.  Also, don't set goals you can't realistically reach.  But wait, I already said that.  The story of my life.

Day 3.6: In the Middle

Humph.  Middle of the 10 days.  Can't get the gumption to move off the computer chair.  The weekend mess is staring me in the face and my sheets need to be changed.  Also, I need to iron.  All of my least favorite things.  I think I need a nap.

I had a healthy breakfast, though.  I drank some water.  I read a funny an inspiring post on a new website I found, called Fiterazzi.com.  Other women going through the same things and feelings I am.  Well, some of the same.

I read a bit over the weekend about diet restrictions, and I think some of us have discussed this before.  When we black-list foods from our diet, we find ourselves obsessing over them, craving them more, and over-indulging when we get our hands on them.  For instance...

A couple years ago I did a diet for 5 weeks.  I was feeling particularly interested in what this would do for my body, I was feeling motivated and ready to give it my 100% effort.  And I did.  It was heavy on protein, alternating with days of protein & certain veggies.  It cut out bread and sugar completely, including fruit.  I followed it.  When I had my cheat meal, it was a hamburger wrapped in lettuce.  I had no sugar, not even sugar substitutes.  I ate tons of eggs and carrots.  I made a pancake for breakfast every day that had 1-2 tbsp of oat bran.  The only exercise I did was walking 20-30 minutes each day.  And I lost weight.  8 lbs in 5 weeks.  I felt totally in control, totally excited that something was working.  I was also looking forward to the set date that I was done and I was going to have bread and dessert again.  The plan was to have it just that day and then continue on with my new found success.

So the day came.  And boy was it a day.  I stuffed myself silly.  I felt rewarded, and so deserving.  Then the day ended and the next day came.  There were a couple things I had wanted to eat and didn't, flavors I'd been missing, and so I figured I could eat them the second day, and THEN get back to the restrictions.  I survived 5 weeks, right?  I didn't die without sugar and bread, I was happy and content, and proud of myself during those 5 weeks.  Okay, I was AMAZED at myself.  But the reward day turned into days, then weeks, and then months, and I never got back on the train.  And I sure made up for lost time.  I gained back 13 lbs in 5 weeks.  Such very classic diet behavior.

Mentally I was ruined.  The total deprivation that I had enforced evolved into a feeling of panic that these things I craved were never going to be there again, or that they will forever be off limits.  I was ruined because I knew it was physically possible for me to go without them, so I must be a weakling when I did eat them.  Not only that, but I hadn't been exercising at my usual pace and because I had been eating so few calories every day, my poor starved body and mind clung to every calorie I gave it.  I started out that spring in the worst shape of my adult life, and spent the summer slowly building back what I had lost in fitness.

I still have not gotten back to that lower weight, and have hovered at my beginning weight for 2 years.  I still overindulge on sugar and bread because I swear I'm going to cut it out for good on Monday, and it really is the LAST time I eat 5 cookies at a sitting again.  Okay, 8 cookies.  Luckily I have stuck to exercising because I can never be that unfit again.  

But I am still mentally confused about my feelings for sugar and bread.  I know they are part of a healthy and happy diet and lifestyle.  I know that I don't really need much of them, and truly I do not need them every day.  I have made changes like eating only whole wheat bread, so I know I'm getting more quality from what I do eat.  I don't keep candy around the house and I don't even make dessert once a week.  But when I do get my hands on dessert, heaven help me.  Somewhere in my brain that diet has temporarily turned off my ability to say "I don't need it now.  It'll be there later, when I really want it".

I don't always feel guilty for eating candy or dessert.  When I do feel guilty it is because I know I didn't really need it.  It is because I know that inside me is the ability to say no.  The ability to control myself.  The ability to have control over my bodily appetites, and to practice moderation.

All of this sounds like an addiction recovery program.  Because it kind of is.  

This is why when we talk "diet" it should be about balance, healthy substitutions, and listening to your body.  It should be about recognizing why we are eating: hunger, loneliness, sadness, happiness, or boredom.  Healthy diets start with what we can eat, filling ourselves with healthy good food so we don't need empty unhealthy foods.  Diets should be about enjoying food because it makes us feel and and it is enjoyable, but knowing when to say when.  This is also why we share and have support systems and fitness groups, and make realistic goals.  So that the changes we want to make can happen and stick.

So, I am officially adjusting my 101-day goal until Easter: I am going to have dessert once per week.  I am going to have sugar, the real kind, on my oatmeal every day.  I may even have something sweet during the week NOT on my cheat day, but it is going to be less than 100 calories if I do.  I will have no more than 2 pieces of bread each day, the whole wheat kind, and enjoy every bite.  And I am going to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies each day.

My name is Emily, and I am totally addicted to sugar.  But I don't have to be.

Day 3.4: The Sun & Vitamin D

It's going to be a beautiful day today, sort of sunny and creeping toward 50.  What!?  I'm going to try to get outside today and exercise in the clean air...finally.

Are you having a cheat meal today?  I know I am!  All I've been wanting is a McDonald's single cheeseburger.  I even turned down a cookie yesterday.  I did not turn down caramel popcorn I made for a friend party.  It's my mom's recipe and it is so delicious!  It's more like Cracker Jacks, buttery and salty.  It was worth it.

Get outside and let what sun there is bathe you in warmth, lift your spirits, and boost your Vitamin D. 

Vitamin D can decrease your risk of cancer, developing type 1 diabetes, osteoporosis.  It stimulates your pancreas to produce insulin, regulates your immune system, and is an inhibitor to cancer cell growth.  

In the summer we get plenty because we spend so much time outside, but in the winter we typically find ourselves deficient, particularly at our latitude and above.  Studies suggest that we need 1000 IU of Vitamin D daily for the maximum cancer fighting & immune system boosting results.  

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin which means it is stored in our bodies.  If you take supplements and get over the recommended dose you can get a toxic effect, leading to kidney stones or failure.  Don't worry, stay under 2000 IU daily to avoid overdose.  For women, guidelines suggest 200-400 IU daily.  Get 400 IU between age 50 & 70, and 600 IU after 70 to really combat osteoporosis.

Food Sources of Vitamin D From WebMD:

"So how can you get enough of this overlooked vitamin? Most foods aren't filled to the brim with vitamin D -- far from it. You can get 425 IU in a 3-ounce serving of salmon, and 270 IU in 3.5 ounces of canned sardines. But most foods provide much more modest amounts of vitamin D, from egg yolks (25 IU per egg) to cheddar cheese (2.8 IU per ounce).

"You'll get 200 IUs of vitamin D by drinking two glasses of fortified milk," says Sandon,"

The sun stimulates human skin to produce Vitamin D beyond your daily requirements.  If you have been in the sun in a bathing suit long enough to make your skin slightly red, you've produced 10,000-25,000 IU of Vitamin D!  No wonder we're happier in summer.  Be cautious, however.  Prolonged sun exposure has is negative side effects, as can taking too many supplements.  Be balanced.

Point being, the sun is your best source of Vitamin D.  Get out in it every chance you get in the winter months.

Have a Sunny Winter Day!

Day 3.3: Body Image: What is your ideal?

Happy Late Day 3.

Saw this in November and thought it was post-worthy.  These are photos taken by Howard Schatz of women athletes in their prime and at the top of their individual sports.  Read the full article here.  It is fascinating to me how many differences there are.  When we think about our goals and what we want to be or look like it is important to remember two things:  what are we trying to accomplish and where are we starting from.  As we analyze our individual strengths and weaknesses we can use those to become our individual best.  With my personal physique it would be crazy of me to try to be a rhythmic gymnast.  With my personal strengths I am more suited for long distance and endurance activities.  

And, while my dreamy-dream is to be a super-athlete, the main thing I have always tried to accomplish is being a healthy child-bearer, child-raiser, wife, and church-member.  And these are the hardest and most challenging pursuits of all.  Which is all the more reason to step it up.  Be realistic: we don't have a personal trainer, dietitian, team, and host of medical advisers, and all the fitness equipment and gear we could possibly need.  But we do have the internet.  And friends & family and plenty of resources.  And me.  So no excuses, either.

So take a gander, oooh & aaahhhh, & think about what's possible, don't get discouraged, dream, set goals, and keep on working at it.  We'll get there...eventually! 

Always remember:

Be your fabulous self!

Just a healthier version!