Motivation

Someone posted this video over at LHCF and I thought I’d share it here. This woman is amazing! She’s 72 years old, runs 80 miles a week, and lifts weight nearly everyday. Her body is one that I would kill to have!

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feel PROUD!!?

I like to ask myself this question from time to time. As much as I can be down on myself about my weight or my lack of water intake, I still do a lot that I can be proud of.

Here’s what I’ve done recently to make me feel proud:

• I missed a workout in the morning and came home after working all day and worked out that night. This is not something I do often because I’m so tired when I get home, so I’m hella impressed with myself.
• I’ve turned down eating food when I wasn’t hungry. I know this isn’t a big deal for some people, but I eat as a hobby sometimes. Actually thinking about whether I’m hungry or not before I eat something is vital for me.

Ok, how about you ladies? There is something, think hard! If you have no clue, listen to Miss Heather Small to get a little motivation!

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I’m trying to catch up on scrapbooking, so I finally got around to doing a “Baby’s First Christmas” page. I had a ton of pictures. Pictures of my baby of course “playing” with his new toys (How much playing can you do at 3 months?), of my husband opening a box of socks, and of my husband’s friend who spent that Christmas with us. I was shocked to find that there was not a single picture of me to be found. In fact, my husband’s friend was in several pictures holding the baby.

I know that as “mom” I will always end up taking a lot of the pictures. However, this is not the reason that I wasn’t in these photos…or most of the photos from my son’s early life.

The reason is that I was hiding behind the camera. Yes, the pictures needed to be taken to document our little family, but someone would’ve had to have pried that camera from my cold, dead hands to get me to actually be in the picture.

Looking back it makes me sad. I can never get those opportunities back. Granted, it’s just a picture and I still have the memories, but will I always have them as  I get older? And what about my son? Isn’t it fun to look back on old pictures to see yourself and your loved ones around you as you grow up?

I still don’t feel all that comfortable in front of the camera, but it’s better. I dab on some makeup, fix my hair, and I smile as big as I can. I still feel “fat” some of the time in those pictures, but at least I’m there. And more importantly, I’m working on getting rid of the reasons that I feel this way.

Pictures aside, this makes me think of the other things that I’m missing out on because of my weight.

I have never worn the cute flirty clothes that I see a lot of young women wear (not slutty, just “young” looking). I hate that I have spent the majority of my 20s overweight. I have never worn a bikini. I always avoid standing next to very thin people when taking a picture. It just should not be this much thought and energy involved in someone snapping a photo!

Looking back, I remember avoiding parties and activities where I would have to dress up or be in shorts or sleeveless (like a pool party) simply because of my clothes.

I don’t want to miss out anymore. And there’s no reason why I should. Especially when it’s something I can control.

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First off, let me say that I’m very excited about the challenge! I know we are going to have so much fun and share lots of ideas/motivation. I’ve gotten a few more entries and will update the starting post later today. Remember if you want to enter, you have until tomorrow to do it!

I know a lot of people, for whatever reason, think I am an expert at all this. However, though things have vastly improved, I have to say that I still struggle.

It’s really on a daily basis as far as food is concerned. It gets easier to change my ways as time goes on. I mean, when you grow up eating little debbie snack cakes everyday, white bread and fried everything then trying to NOT do those things is so very hard (which is one reason I want my son to grow up enjoying things that are healthy).

I called this blog “Running in a Fat Suit” because I know this is not how my body should be. I feel that there is a body inside me waiting to get out. I can handle being “curvy” all day long, but not being lumpy…and that is what I am in some areas. I’ve had a baby, I’ve been overweight for years, I know I’m not going to be perfection when all is said and done, but I want to know my body is the best it can be.

Having said all that, it is really hard to remember that when I turn the corner to the breakroom at work and see 4 dozen assorted donuts. I work 12 hour shifts. I start off the morning with the attitude that just one won’t hurt. Strike one!

Then, hell, since I had one, might as well have two. It’s the beginning of the day, I’ll make up for it. Strike two!

Later on, I finish my lunch and still see that there are plenty of donuts left. Strike three! A home run. But I haven’t won anything.

So, there it is. I am not perfect and still very much working on my whole behavior thing. The very worst of my eating usually occurs at work which is why I really need to work on my preparation of my meals beforehand. If I’d had a tasty, healthy treat with me, it would’ve been easier to resist those donuts. Or to just stop at one. Lesson learned!

Anyway, the one thing I do remain consistent at is my exercise.

Though it’s important to realize your flaws, it’s also important to point out your good points. If you have done the whole “weight loss thing” for 5 years and you have managed to change something, even minor, then I don’t consider those 5 years to be completely wasted. You have not completely failed.

Exercise has been my saving grace and I really believe it is what keeps me on track. I want to be better in the pool and on the road. I know that I will get my handle completely on food. I’m already on the right path.

What’s been your weakest and strongest points of this weight loss journey?

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I wish I knew the percentage of people who make the New Years resolution every year to get fit, lose weight, whatever.

It has to be high.

In addition to that first statistic, I’d also like to know the percentage of people that follow through with that promise to themselves.

It has to be low.

Here are some reasons I feel so many people fail at their resolution to get healthy. These have been observed after a few years of doing it myself and also observing other people.

We have unrealistic expectations. You slaved away all week in the gym, you ate raw zucchini for breakfast everyday, and you parked in the farthest parking spot from Walmart: all in preparation for those size 6 jeans you dusted off from the attic.

After that first week, you step on the scale and what do you see? Down 1lb. All that work for one pound, you think. This disappointment can sometimes lead to a “What’s the use?” or “This is going to take forever” frame of mind.

There’s a popular saying in the weight loss community. It took a long time to put on the weight, it’s going to take time to take it off.

Be patient, work hard, and it will happen. But it won’t happen overnight.

We try to change too many things, too fast. You did 90 minutes at the gym, you became a vegetarian, and you completely cut out caffeine. As you sit at work, munching on your tofu chicken nuggets, you have the realization that this is way too hard and that being healthy sucks.

Guess what? Being healthy and changing bad habits takes time and lots of conditioning. From wikipedia:

Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes habitual. As behaviors are repeated in a consistent context, there is an incremental increase in the link between the context and the action. This increases the automaticity of the behavior in that context.[5]

So, the more you do it, the more it will become second nature. In my humble experience, it is much easier to change habits, such as eating white bread and rice, if you do them gradually focusing on one or two at a time.

If you’ve never exercised in your life, and you start off at the gym doing 90 minute sessions, you may become bummed out whenever you think about. You may also injure yourself if you were sedentary from the get go.

We don’t have a plan. You make a New Years resolution to “eat better” and “work out more”. So for supper the next day you have a banana with your Big Mac.You’d like to go and use that new gym membership you just signed up for, but New Moon just came out on DVD and you really need to see that.

A coworker of mine once told me to treat working out like I would my job: It’s not optional, I have to go. In order to do this, being a busy mom, wife, nurse, and blogger, I have to schedule it in. I have to make plans around it. I can’t just expect time to fall into my lap. Maybe when I was single, but not now. Think about your day and what time you spend that could be spent working out.

Planning meals is a big thing for me. It has to be done, or goodness knows what I will eat. This is especially true when starting a new way of eating. Saying “I’ll eat better” is not being specific enough.

Becoming educated is also important. Although it should seem obvious, most Americans don’t know what’s healthy and what’s not. Read a book on nutrition, or look online for more info to formulate a good plan.

We’re just riding the bandwagon. Your friends Jennifer, Ashley, and Rita are all making New Years resolutions to lose weight. You all celebrate by going out to buy a grocery basket full of Lean Cuisines. You’re at the gym and see that it’s slammed packed with new people dedicated to getting fit. What’s this gym going to do with all of these future sexy people ?

It’s easy to get swept up in a movement when all of your friends and family are involved. But unless you, personally, are dedicated to the idea, it just won’t happen. If it’s not your priority, other things will slowly start to take over and the excitement will wear off.

I have been the victim of each one of these and it’s wasted time every year. Don’t waste this year. I don’t intend to.

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I’m a big procrastinator.

I admit, but I’m not either proud or ashamed of it. I try to keep myself on task for most things (you know, important things like hair) but a lot of things I tend to put off until “later”. This undisclosed time of “later” can be several hours or several weeks. But I’m realizing that sometimes, things don’t need to wait until “later”.

Weight loss and getting healthy is one of those things. The fall is a crucial time of year for people. The holidays start coming and with it, a lot of stress, a lot of get-togethers, and a lot of food! People just tend to eat more around the holidays. Personally, I know that there have already been a ton of treats and candy that I’ve had to say no to. If  I thought Halloween was bad before, Halloween with a child has been murder. Everything involving children is like a magnet for terrible (and delicious) foods.

So what do we do during this crucial time? All summer we worried about losing weight to look good in that swim suit or summer dress. But with the holidays coming, a lot of people toss that to the side. They eat and eat and eat because “It’s Christmas”, “It’s thanksgiving” , “It’s Kwanza”.  “I’ll do better in the new year”.

It’s a vicious cycle…one that I have been through a few times. After the guilt of all the holiday eating, everyone runs to join the gym and starts a super strict diet of celery sticks and baked chicken. For about a month, the gym is packed to the brim. The usual memebers take in all in stride. They may grumble a bit, but they wait it out.

Because they know what I know: Only a small percentage of these newly hardcore gym goers will be there in a month. Eventually, they fall back into their old ways, maybe pick up the exercise a bit for the summer, hit the holidays again, and the cycle continues.

So you might say, what’s the big deal? You may have read in the media that the average person gains seven pounds during the holidays. It turns out that the truth is closer to one pound a year for the average person. For the person who is already overweight, the weight gain is closer to five pounds.

The results of this study:

The prevalence of obesity continues to rise and controversy remains regarding the underlying specific causes of this trend. Recently, the magnitude of holiday weight gain and its contribution to annual weight gain were examined in a convenience sample of 195 adults. On average, weight gain during the 6-week winter period from Thanksgiving through New Year averaged only 0.37 kg. However, weight gain was greater among individuals who were overweight or obese, and 14% gained >2.3 kg (5 lb). In addition, among the entire population, weight gain during the 6-week holiday season explained 51% of annual weight gain. These results suggest that holiday weight gain may be an important contributor to the rising prevalence of obesity, even though absolute values for weight gain in this study were less than anticipated. Further studies using representative populations are needed to confirm these findings.

One pound a year still not a big deal? This article written by the National Institute of Health says that the problem lies in the fact that most people don’t lose that one pound. So in ten years, you have an extra ten pounds.

Of course holiday eating isn’t the sole reason people are overweight,but every little bit hurts when you’re trying to get healthy.

I am facing a lot of temptation right now and there’s more around the corner. I do have a treat now and then, and I know I’ll have more this season. But I’m still exercising and I’m stopping when I’m full. I also say “No thanks” to a lot of sweets that I would’ve gobbled up in the past.

But somehow I have persevered. I am losing this weight slowly but this fall I am  down 3 pounds thus far. That may not be a lot to some people, but slow and steady wins the race I’m told.

So, my point to this article?

You can still enjoy holiday food in moderation. You can still keep up your exercisethrough the holiday season. Make it a family activity after the Thanksgiving meal and take a walk around the neighborhood. Or play with your new Wii fit after Christmas dinner.

Whatever you do, don’t say “What the hell, it’s Christmas, I can just work this off in January”, eat two more pieces of pie, and then go veg out on the couch.

Know that I’m right there with you trying to keep myself in check!

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