Lifestyles

I'm in the midst of "changing my lifestyle," which is a fancy way of saying that I'm dieting and exercising.





Losing weight gets harder as you get more overweight. Needing to lose ten pounds is much easier than a hundred. But either way, you can't just keep it off by going back to the same junk. A lot of people look for and use all the band-aids they see. Weight loss supplements, surgeries, etc. and then are shocked when they gain it all back. Because those temporary fixes aren't enough. You have to change your lifestyle if you truly want to keep it off. And I think it's hard to do, because we love our routines. But what I also want to say is that those temporary fixes can be permanent, as long as you change the way you behave with regard to diet and exercise. But you can't just expect it to fix the problem with no effort on your part. We love going to town on junk food during the weekend. We feel we've earned it. Dammit, we busted our asses during the week, we deserve a cheeseburger and three beers.

And I'm not saying that has to stop. Hell no. It should continue. Sometimes, we have to, and need to, treat ourselves, even if it's to something completely not good for us. As long as it is done in moderation, and some balance is kept between what you exert, and what you take in. Which will cause you to gain weight quicker? Have a Big Mac on Saturday after working out six days in a row and eating healthy the rest of the week? Or eat Big Macs everyday for a week, not eat healthy, and not exercise? If you guessed the latter, you win a chocolate chip cookie as big as your face. You're welcome.

I say all this because my problem is a lack of motivation and a slim amount of self-control. My biggest vice is soda. It's not that I don't like water, I just want something that tastes good. The same with food. I've conditioned myself in my life, to look at food and water not as something to survive on (which is its purpose. Food and water keep us alive, but we have forgotten that), but as something that is a treat. So, as part of my lifestyle change, I have to really change my outlook on food and drink. Sure, a soda once in awhile is great. But not one everyday.

And exercising? The bane of my very existence. I've tried the diet and exercise routine many times, and for a couple weeks, I'd start off fantastic. I'd be enthusiastic, I'd be happy, and then somewhere along the way, I just stop. I'd get bored with the exercise regimen, or I'd get tired of counting calories. I'm not big on walking in my neighborhood, as it's not a very big one, and the traffic contains a lot of stupid people who shouldn't have a license. I'm not getting hit by some nut who is busy texting. So, I typically go to the gym, which has its downfalls. I go on post, where it's free, but it eats up gas. I guess though, that it would cost the same as paying a membership to a place closer to the house.

In any case, I'm done with "diet and exercise" and I'm semi-done with counting calories. Sure, I will count them, but I'm not going to count every single one. If I had soda two days in a row, there's a frown face, along with some calories to show me what a naughty little person I've been. I'm not going to beat myself up about it anymore, because beating myself up did zero good. I'm going to accept that I will make mistakes. I will make weekly goals for myself with regards to bad foods. One soda per week, one cheeseburger every two weeks. Etc. etc. If I don't follow it, if I have two sodas a week, that's an extra 30 minutes of exercise. I will look at it as writing checks that my ass can't cash. If I want that second soda, I will have to pay for it with exercise. And right now, the elliptical kicks my ass. I'm sure as time goes by, that will change.

While I agree that keeping a food journal, or counting calories helps you keep better track and then ultimately control, I think people (myself included) get frustrated when they can't find calories on a certain food. What about your local bar? You can take a guesstimate, look it up online, and try to find something similar and glean the calories off of that, but there will be an instance at some point where you will eat something and go "I had no idea how many effing calories I just ate. How do I write this?" Just write it. Even if you don't know the calories. Say you had some big dinner at a local pub on Wednesday night, and your start of the week is Monday. And say that your allotted "treat night" is Friday. You ate out Wednesday night, you took your treat night early. Don't beat yourself up about it, and don't worry about the calories if you don't know or can't find them. Write down that you ate out, make a note that you took your treat night early, and try to avoid eating out again until next Friday. If you eat out twice a week? Don't beat yourself up. Baby steps. Let's say you used to eat out everyday. Knock one day off, and you've already made progress. Make a goal to knock another off. Then another, etc. You could compare it to trying to quit smoking. Quitting cold turkey does not always work. Nothing's a guarantee here, but weaning yourself off has higher chances. Just by limiting the intake, moderating it, and successfully making even the smallest reduction, you've already taken a big first step.

So, for me, I never work out, I graze on snack foods whenever I damn well please, and I have at least one soda every single day. What am I doing now? I am working out five days a week (Saturdays & Sundays are my holy days. No.), I am not grazing, and if I'm going to graze, I have two apples that I would love to graze on, as long as I don't forget they are in the kitchen), and I'm trying to avoid soda. It's not easy. I just had one with lunch, but ONLY because my calorie count will actually allow it. Since I have at least one per day, I'm going to try to have maybe one glass every other day. I'm not quitting cold turkey, I'm weaning myself down, and eventually off.

Some might ask what am I cooking for dinners? What am I eating for breakfast and lunches? You know what? Aside from keeping soda and greasy cheeseburgers out of the picture, I've changed very little. I had a bowl of Krave chocolate cereal for breakfast. I had a cup of coffee on my way to the gym. I just got done having two bologna sandwiches, some Kettle Cooked Chips, and a glass of root beer. I'm watching my portions, I'm moderating my intake. The foods might not be the best for me right now, but in this stage, I'm training myself to simple get my calorie intake down to under 1400, and if I could guess, I would say my count has been above 2K a day, thanks to pure sodas, greasy lunches, and no breakfasts. I'm introducing small changes into my lifestyle, and making new habits. Getting up at 8am and having breakfast is not something I normally do. Getting up at 10am and not eating until 11 when I will have lunch (usually accompanied with Dr. Pepper) is what I normally do. I'm trying to reverse this destructive behavior. It's a small change. Going to the gym from 9-10a is not something I normally do. I'm usually still asleep, and do not spend any time exercising. That small change is being made.

And once I get into those routines more that they become habits, bigger and slightly tougher changes will come in. Limit on starches (my triglycerides suck), limit on sugars and high fats. Instead of 30 minutes a day on an elliptical (which is rough, I'm so out of damn shape), an hour a day.

So, I totally did not mean to write a novel here, but there you go. It's not diet and exercise, it's lifestyle. Getting up hours before I normally do, meaning I go to bed earlier. It's not all about the eating and working out, it's also about getting a good amount of sleep and not sleeping the day away. It's about taking care of ALL of me, not just what I eat.

Ta-da, hopefully I can really stick with it and achieve something.




I would also like to take a moment to simply say Rest in Peace to a beloved pool player here in the Tacoma area. He was a very good pool player, and he passed away last night. I'm sure that there are many who have been on a team with him, or played him to simply goof off, who are likely very heartbroken at this time, as well as his family. My warmest thoughts and brightest blessings are with you all at this difficult time. R.I.P. Al Morton


 - M