While I am enjoying writing my religion series, it takes awhile for me to digest, think through and write each entry. I am attempting to condense years of my life into a few hundred words. I never expected the interest that these entries would bring, and thank everyone that has read. Today I am breaking from the series to blog about learning to live a healthy lifestyle.
A couple of weeks ago I read this quote from one of my favorite bloggers about consistency;
"It’s not what we do occasionally that makes the difference. It’s what we do consistently." Ronisweigh
See that is the crux of my problem. I, like many Americans am great at doing something one...maybe two times. Getting that gym membership on a getting fit high, and then using it like twice. Yeah, been there done that. My problem however, is doing things over...and over...and over again. You'd think that it would be easier for me to do that since I love routines but I have always struggled. I think I am finally overcoming some of that.
My meetup group goes to water aerobics on Mondays, and three of us go to yoga on Wednesdays. It is a lot more difficult to cancel if you are accountable to other people. Having that accountability and routine weekly has helped me shape my routine for the rest of the week.
While I was out of town my husband started to lose weight. He started being more aware of what he was eating, and when, and also I think was able to have his thyroid medicine fixed. He has lost at least 20 pounds and either his doctor was hitting on him, or he really does look better when she said 'you're looking really good.' Mwahaha I'm so getting in trouble for putting that out here, but I really can see a difference. His face is looking slimmer, and his stomach is looking...well, deflated. I'm really proud of him, and I try to help motivate him daily.
After reading and thinking about Roni's blog entry, I decided to do 10 minutes of physical (aerobic) activity a day. Yes, water aerobics and yoga counted, but what about the other 5 days? I've gone on walks with my husband, or worked on the elliptical to get my 10 minutes of aerobic exercise a day. If I felt like it, I'd frequently go over. The one day I 'cheated' I walked around the grocery store for almost an hour. I didn't sweat, but at least I was moving. That is the goal--to CONSISTENTLY exercise and integrate more movement into my every day life.
This week I'm doing 15 minutes. After I had surgery in December and wasn't allowed to work out at all for a couple of weeks, I lost all of my stamina and my motivation. We'd just moved, I didn't have a trainer, my back hurt ect. All valid reasons but excuses never the less. I'm working on getting back that stamina and every time I get on the elliptical and that extra 5, even 10 minutes isn't too difficult, every time I can stretch a little more in yoga, run a little faster in 5 feet of water, I see that stamina coming back. I need to get in shape, I need to get healthy. No just for me, but for my family.
My husband and I decided that while you are never completely 'ready' to have a baby, that we were as ready as we were going to get. About 6 months ago we actively started 'trying' to have a baby. So far, no go. All the baby books point to one thing. I'm fat. My cycle isn't always regular, and I'm not even sure I am ovulating. What can I do? Besides go to a doctor and get checked out (that appointment is next week) I can start this routine and start getting into a routine that will lead to a healthy life style.
Every person that has lots a ton of weight using sparkpeople.com has made a healthy lifestyle change. It isn't about a miracle drug, or surgery, or all the sudden running and exercising for a short period of time. We need to make changes every day. Those little changes lead to big ones. We need to make exercise, healthy eating and learning about nutrition an integral part of our life. If I don't, I'll never get off this yo-yo weight gain/loss and may never be able to have a baby. Rather than trying to go all out in the beginning and losing motivation two weeks in, I want to build up a routine and stick to it. Wish me luck on my journey. I wish you luck on yours!
What is your routine?
How do you integrate activity into every day activities?
Hey Eileen! I think you've hit the mark. Unfortunately, I only have a story about inconsistency. I had huge success on a very popular 90 day extreme diet and exercise routine. I lost over 50 pounds. But then I lost the motivation and the desire to devote over an hour a day to exercise. So, the fat started to creep back on and I lost motivation. As of a week ago, I had gained almost half of that weight back and slipped back into bad habits. On the bright side I've started what I believe to be a more sustainable approach of small changes. Change a little at a time, kind of like the incremental exercise you mentioned. Everyone suffers setbacks but I believe a gradual transformation of behavior will gradually redefine "normal". Good luck!
ReplyDeleteWilliam--thanks for writing! I really appreciate the comment. Have you used www.sparkpeople.com? It can be a great tool to help track food/exercise etc. I just need to get in a routine!
ReplyDeleteI'm really working on the consistency thing too! Also, being aware of how much I'm eating. I started using the app for my phone called "Lose It" and you enter in your food and it keeps a calorie count. When you set it up to start with, you enter your current & goal weight, and the pace you want, and it will calculate the number of calories for your budget each day. You also log exercise. So far it has really helped me realize how much is in that Jamocha shake I treated myself to at Arby's, how few calories are in things like fresh veggies & fruit, etc. And since I have a bunch of "friends" on there too, and I'm being adamant about logging everything, it's making me more accountable for my eating.
ReplyDeleteSo if you're interested, sign up and friend me! Good luck with your journey!
"Consistency is the Key to Success" ~ Benjamin Franklin..
ReplyDeleteKeep it up Eileen! :)
Awesome. Emily--which of the 5 Emily's that I know are you? Do you have an iphone? I liked the spark people ap, although I found making most of my own food from scratch makes it hard sometimes to track. However...if I had friends doing it, I would want to do it more...
ReplyDelete