Anticipating "food season" and other obstacles.

Well, it's that time of year again! We go from there being Halloween candy everywhere, into leftover Halloween candy, then Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving leftovers, and directly into Christmas food. After that, it's the "winter depression." You all know what that is. When it's cold and wet out, and you don't want to leave the house to go to the gym. When it's much more comfortable to sit at home and watch movies and munch on comfort food. It's a annual state of "hibernation" until spring arrives and inspires us to get active again.

In addition to the annual struggles of "holiday season" when weight loss seems nearly impossible and physical activity becomes a "chore," I've got another thing to worry about... My "quit date" is coming up. Yeah, that's right. Both my fiance and I are going to attempt to quit smoking starting in November. And it's TERRIFYING. That's a whole other blog entry to be written, but first:

I know this season is coming... how do I prepare?

I think the first step is recognizing what the problem areas are. For me, it's not so much meals. I'm pretty good at controlling how much goes on my plate and giving myself time to digest before deciding on another helping. My biggest problem is when food is just sitting around. This comes in the form of appetizers, candy bowls, dips, cheese plates, small baked goods, anything like that. It's just too easy, especially at work and at parties, to graze. To feel like every time you pass by, you can just pop something in your mouth. For me this challenge is going to present itself mostly at work.

I work in a place where it's not uncommon for customers and other employees to just bring in large amounts of "goodies" for the staff. Just the other night, someone's spouse dropped by with two trays of cupcakes. And when it gets busy, the team usually orders mass amounts of pizza delivered every couple of hours so we can "re-fuel" and not have to make a trip to the food court. We also have some "sugar junkies" around who pick up chocolates or candies and just leave them in the break room. One time, Olive Garden just brought over 3-4 trays of pasta, salad, and breadsticks... just to be nice. And in the morning, it's not uncommon for donuts and bagels to appear. This is great when you're broke and forgot to pack lunch, but it also requires a HUGE amount of self control!! When you are at work, and stressed, to have all that just hanging out begging to be consumed... it's so friggin' easy to indulge, and overindulge on the go.

The second place where I feel may present challenges, is hanging out with family. My grandmother makes christmas candy and snacks. Amazing peanut butter balls, fudge, chex mix, chocolate covered pretzels. My mom is the queen of savory dips and appetizer plates... crackers, cheese, lobster and crab dip, spinach and artichoke dip in bread bowls... just awesomeness in general. And I have a tendency to overdo it on these things, and then be full... but then dinner comes out and I feel rude if I don't eat some. Even without the dinner... eating half a bowl of lobster dip and a ton of cheese and crackers isn't exactly the best idea.

So what are some possible solutions to this problem? 

1. Get a very small plate, put a few goodies on it, and when the plate is finished, make a conscious decision that I am done eating. I'm not unrealistic enough to say "no candy or appetizers this year!" That's just stupid. But I can decide to control how much I have, and set the rule that I'm not allowed to just grab stuff off a platter and munch on it at random. 
2. Distance myself from the temptation... Example: Don't sit in the seat right in front of the goodies. Avoid standing for too long right next to the pile of yummy in the break room. And if I'm not hungry... don't go over to look at what's there. 

The next problem area is physical activity. Karate will help with that. I plan to test for my next rank in November, and from there on out it's black belt training. With the goal of black belt in mind, training my material is obviously important but so is CARDIO. Cardio will be the hardest part, because I hate it. Especially when it requires going out in the cold to go get on an elliptical or a bike. 

Solutions?

1. Keep the black belt test in mind. Remind myself "Do you really want to be overweight and huffing and puffing in the middle of the test? Do you want to be the only one who has to stop and catch your breath? Not cool."
2. Using the resources I have at home to get in some exercise. Examples: Pilates video, PS2 with Dance Dance Revolution, Exercise ball. 
3. Finding "fun" outdoor winter activities to participate in. It's been YEARS since I've been snowboarding. We live in Maine, and have friends who go skiing/boarding. There's really no excuse not to go at least a few times this winter. Same with ice skating! My mom lives on the best ice skating pond around and has a direct path down to the edge of it. 

Hopefully, by anticipating challenges ahead of time, and making a few "plans" to overcome them I can get through the upcoming season, and even lose some weight. 


What are your seasonal struggles? Do you have anything you do to keep your self control and get some physical activity? Please share! 

Stats and Progress

Weight: 210
Body Fat: 39%


Progress is happening. Slower than I would like, but at least it's there. 

Let's talk about weight...

When I first started this blog I was 214. Then I had a couple weeks where I bounced between 215 and 217. I am saying I've lost 5 pounds so far, but really, if you go from my highest at this time, it's more like 7 pounds. I find that I have a "base weight", and I am sure the same is true for most people. It's the weight between my "good" days and my "bad" days. For instance... right now I am holding steady at 210, but some days the scale can say 212 and I have seen it as low as 209. When I first started blogging, my "base" weight was 215, going as low as 214 and as high as 217. This is why I don't freak when some days I get on the scale and it puts me a pound or two higher... just as easily it fluctuates back down. The "base" weight is what I pay attention to. Yeah it feels great when suddenly I am two pounds lighter... but I try not to celebrate until I am STEADILY that much lighter.

Now for body fat...

There's no way to accurately measure body fat without taking a ton of measurements and using the little "pinch" tool, or having a team of highly trained scientists with expensive equipment. What I have at home is a little hand held device that sends a signal across your upper body and compares that to your weight, height, and age. This thing has a margin of error of about 1%. I can do it three times in a row and it will give me 3 different readings, all within less than a percent. I use this as a guideline. Back in May, I was averaging anywhere from 40% to 41%. Now it's in the lower 39s, upper 38s. This means that I have dropped roughly 1%-2% body fat. 

....................................................................

Things may not be progressing as quickly as I like, but they ARE progressing. I try to keep that in mind when I start to get discouraged. I did not gain all this weight in a short time. It's been a lifetime of riding the emotional roller coaster with food and body image. It's totally unrealistic that I am going to change every habit I ever developed at the drop of a hat and just magically get fit. But I am better, and I continue to improve. I find myself overeating less and less, I find that my major struggles now are not emotional connections with food but rather bad decisions brought on from "convenience". I try to remember that two years ago I was 30-50 pounds heavier, and celebrate the fact that I overcame that... especially when I see a photo or video of myself where I go "YUCK! I look like that???"... because if I feel that way now, imagine how I would feel with another 50 pounds hanging off me. 

My Belt...

This is how my brown belt fits currently. I received my brown belt, and then my second degree (as indicated by the two black stripes) around the age of 13-14. At the moment, it's too small. That combined with the fact that the elastic in my gi pants doesn't work anymore, means I wear it less than I would like to. Two years ago, I couldn't even tie it. I wish I could wear it with pride right now, but when I do wear it, it pushes my gi pants down and constricts my movements.

I love this belt. I have had it for over a decade and it was earned with hard work and dedication. Yeah, I could maybe have the dojo order me a larger one for now, but somehow that doesn't feel right. You earn a belt, you don't buy it.

This belt represents many things to me.... It's a reminder of my dedication to the martial arts. It's a symbol of my achievements and progress. At this time in my life, it's also an obstacle to be overcome.

I have been a second degree brown belt for far too long. I took an extended break from studying, and with that came undesirable physical changes, as well as a loss of skill and loss of memory of my material.  This past year I have worked to fill the gaps in my material. I've lost some weight and regained some balance, power and skill... but I've got a long way to go.

It's funny to say that... "I've got a long way to go", because I actually only have one stripe and (an extreme test of mental and physical endurance) standing between me and my black belt. However, until this belt fits again, until I can wear it with confidence, until I can sew on that last black stripe, I will feel like I'm not quite where I should be.

I have a month before I go for my"first degree" (third stripe), and then about a year to prepare myself for the biggest test of my life. Along the way, I hope to fit myself to this brown belt, physically and mentally, so that I can successfully move forward.

Lower back dimples!

I haven't updated for a while. So I'm gonna try and catch up quickly. I am hovering around 210-211. Which is FINE. I still have a long way to go, but it's a start.

I do have some exciting news. Ok, well... exciting for me anyway. I make it a point to look in the mirror now and then and pick out stuff I like about my body. I think everyone should do this. Too often we look at photoshopped chicks and dudes in magazines and compare ourselves to that, as opposed to actually trying to find qualities in ourselves that are attractive. For instance, I love my biceps, and my butt, and my chest. But last night, I discovered something new... LOWER BACK DIMPLES! I seem to have lost enough weight and toned up enough to be able to see that I have them! This is exciting for a couple of reasons.

1) Isn't it hot when girls have lower back dimples? ;)
2) This means that as the weight comes off, all that kick-ass muscle I've got under there will start to show!

Moving along...

The last two weeks in food. You will notice some big plates of food. I ate those in 2-4 portions each, not all at once. You will also notice a lot of slimfast. I drink it because I like it, not because it's "diet food." It's great when I just need a little something. (Click on photos to see bigger view)

Finally...

Exercise. I haven't gotten enough this month. Yeah, I've been getting to karate fairly regularly, but I've also been kind of sick, which has put me off doing much else. Here's the chart.

Theoretically.... I should be working out at least 3 times a week. Clearly, that has not been happening. I should also be cooking more, and that's not happening either. I get into little kicks where I do it for a few days, and then a long stretch of lazy and distracted. At least I am paying attention to my portions! But that's not enough. I need to get in the exercise and make an effort at cooking more. 

That's it for this week, folks. Leave me some comments! I need the motivation, haha. 

Food journal for last week!

Weight: 209 lbs!!!

The visual food journal is apparently working! Here's that photo I promised of last week's food intake. Yeah... I know there's some junk in there, but this week I am doing a lot better. Trying hard to eliminate excessive sugar and drink more water this week. Regardless... As of yesterday and today I am down to 209!! That's 5 pounds gone! Maybe my body has finally kicked into gear instead of being stubborn. Hopefully, now that I'm in the groove, I can get on a roll. 

End of week update: Inches vs Pounds

Weight: 212.5
Body Fat: 39.3%


Everyone keeps saying I look like I have lost weight and gotten thinner, but the scale says otherwise. So I've been figuring that it's just people's imagination. I mean, yeah... it's great to get the compliment. But when I step on the scale and it says 213 or 212, I can't imagine that a couple of pounds gone is really showing on me.

Then last night, a fellow martial artist asked me where my belt was and I said "honestly, it's so tight, I can't breathe when I wear it." To which he replied "Why? You haven't gained weight. You're smaller than you were." This made me think "Huh. Maybe I'm gaining muscle and losing inches."

I just measured my abdomen. Now, I am measuring straight across my abdomen, not technically my "waist". The first time I did it a month or so ago it was at 42''. The second time... 41''. Today it's at 40''.

I'm not taking this as complete truth because I am factoring in human error. Maybe the first time I measured I went over a different location. But I'm pretty sure since the last time, I was consistent. I think it's safe to say I've lost an inch! 


Some progress is better than none!

In Other News...

I've photographed everything I ate this week! Tomorrow I will post a photo collage. I believe this is helping for a few reasons:

1) Every time I go to eat something I think to myself "Do I really want to take a photo of that?" This helps me avoid having little handfuls of random crap.

2) I can SEE what goes into my body. All at once. It's quite daunting when I've had a bad day, and see all that stuff. Really makes me stop and think about how my body could possibly process that effectively.

3) Overall... ACCOUNTABILITY! I can't just eat something and then pretend it didn't happen. Or "sneak" a little of this or that. The photos don't lie.

My inspiration for this whole idea came from a British show called "You Are What You Eat". This feisty, blunt, little Welsh lady goes to people's houses and catalogs what they eat for a week, then at the end of the week, gathers up everything they put in their body and sets it out on a big table for them to see. Then she makes comments like "You had 150 cookies this week!! No wonder you're fat!" and makes them face it. Most of the time, the people don't even realize how bad things are, until they see it laid out in front of them like that. Once she showed this lady who loves cheese, what the extra weight on her body looks like... in cheese. We're talking 80 pounds of cheese. And she goes "Go on, then. Lift that." I encourage everyone to look this show up on youtube and watch a little of it. It's funny, but also very real, and helpful.

Facing it, really looking at it... that's motivation right there. Because when you're looking at the 20 cans of coke, 8 servings of fries, 30 cookies, etc etc... that went into your body... it's pretty hard to deny that there's a problem.


Tomorrow's post will include exercise report for the week, and photo catalog of my food intake. 

Not real proud of myself this week... But today is a new week and a fresh start.

This week started off good, but ended on a bit of a downer. 

For the first half of the week, things were going well. I was photographing my food, feeling good about things... I even lost another pound! So for several days I was at 211 and very excited about it. I didn't really get any real exercise, but since the weight was going down, I figured I'd be ok.

Then I had a couple days where I wouldn't remember to take a pic of my food every time, and thought "well this is pointless if I don't get everything, so I will start fresh next week". That I think, was my first mistake, because without the visual reference I really let myself eat crap.

My second mistake was to let myself get really really hungry before going out for indian food. When I'm hungry like that, I want way more than I need, which is bad for my body AND my wallet. Two samosas, a whole thing of garlic naan, mango chutney, and a little rice and korma later... I'm up to 213.

My week concluded with a big meeting at work, followed by spending the entire day there with an enormous table of chips, candy, bagels, sandwiches, cookies, etc. And of course... I "grazed" on that all day. By the the end of the day I was on some massive sugar/carb crash and feeling icky.

It's a new day, and a new week. I am 213 pounds, and hoping that I can use this week to "catch up" and get back down where I was. I'm going to have to practice some serious self control today, as there is still two rolling racks full of junk food at work. Hopefully photographing what I eat will keep me from just popping random stuff in my mouth all day. Wish me luck...