I've finally accepted that everything that "they" say about cheat days are correct. Whose "they" ? Well everyone and their mothers! Whose Everyone? The experts, the nutrition nuts, the expert dieters, and the fitness trainers. Cheat days don't work!
Here's how my wacked out logic worked:
Monday - Friday I would write everything down just like Chalene Johnson tells me to and I would join her for TurboFire workouts as well (FYI she rocks). I never felt deprived because I would eat a minimum of 1600 calories per day (well more now because I'm obsessed w/ peanuts - read first blog entry) and my workouts always made me feel good too.
But then the evil weekend would come lurking. A weekend full of fun, excitement (sometimes), gallivanting and eating (O the horror!!!). Alright so it's not so evil but my logic was. I basically said to myself - I ate great and worked out hard during the week so why not screw it all up by eating everything under the sun? Well I didn't want to purposely screw it all up but I did want to enjoy everything that I don't get to have during the week. Everyone tells me - "You can have everything you want, anytime you want, but it has to be in moderation." Moderation Shmoderation. My brain doesn't recognize moderation so the weekend used to be a no holds barred eating contest where I was the only contestant, the only winner and the only loser. If I wanted ice cream I would eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's "Everything but ..." if that wasn't bad enough I would add in crumbled Entemann's soft baked chocolate chip cookies AND if that wasn't bad enough a little crumbled salted pretzel in there to finish off the job. Wonderful? Yes ...unless it was Monday morning and weighing myself in.
I decided to take the first step into weekend binging rehab. One simple thing - just change my mindset. I was always nervous that if I didn't eat absolutely everything I wouldn't eat during the week that come Monday I would be craving all those things and suffering through out the week. Then I realized...I never crave anything during the week (except peanuts) so lets get over this stupid craving fear. The only thing I did was instead of looking forward to eating during the weekend I told myself that I'm going to enjoy the weekend and not focus on the food. If there's cake at a party I'll try a slice but not make it a point to eat the rest of the cake. If there's cookies I'll have a couple not the whole plate. If there's a buffet I'll eat a little bit of everything on one plate instead of eating one of everything on separate plates (I seriously think I can beat Man vs. Food in an eating contest). Just that little twist in my thinking has made a huge difference.
I used to gain (no joke) six pounds each and every weekend. I thank my lucky stars that Shakeology found me because those six pounds would disappear by Wednesday morning but still my weekend behavior wasn't healthy. Now I maybe gain 2 lbs and they're gone by Monday night :) The first weekend this occurred I was dumbfounded. Something so simple as going into the weekend with the intention of having fun instead of the intention of eating has saved me 4 lbs a week. Who would of thunk it that all these experts were right after all! It's just a change in attitude that's it - and guess what I still only crave peanuts during the week none of that other stuff that I couldn't get to during the weekend.
I love diet epiphanies!
Cya!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Today is the first day of the rest of your life
I know the hardest part of starting a workout program or a diet is motivation. You start off with this time-to-get-my-butt-in-gear attitude but then it fizzles out in a week. Or you have an event on the weekend, food is involved, you overindulge, the guilt sets in, Monday you feel like a failure and quitting seems like the only option. It's a crappy feeling. It's one of the toughest hurdles in weight loss. This year was the first year that I finally passed that hurdle and now my motivation is on autopilot. So here's what I did:
1) I set a "birth" date. Weird I know. Sounds sort of new age and slightly cult like. It's more innocent than that. Actually it's a bit cheesy. It stems from the saying "today is the first day of the rest of your life". Basically set a date to start your new life. It's the date you will leave your guilt behind, old habits behind, your fears and preconceived notions behind. February 16th was the date I decided to start fresh. I decided to do the exact opposite of what I've done in the past. So instead of starving myself to lose weight I decided to set up an eating schedule. Instead of looking at a 3 month workout program w/ just the end in site I decided to just look forward to it day by day and enjoy the process. Why repeat the same old habits if that's what got me into this mess in the first place?
2) Live day by day. One of the philosophies in drug rehabilitation is to take each day one at a time. Don't think about 3 months from now just think about today. Live today, not tomorrow, not yesterday. This really helps. So everyday I had 2 goals: work out and write down what I ate. I made it a priority. I didn't think about what tomorrow's workout was going to be nor did I think about the weight I was going to lose 7 days from then. I just kept focused on the 2 little goals for the day. Before I knew it the days were flying by. I think this worked because the focus was not on a certain date for weight loss. It's easier to manage one day at a time then a whole month at a time. Follow your daily goals the way you would brushing your teeth and showering.
3) Accountability. I started off with a bang! I took before pictures. I started a blog (www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com). I told EVERYONE about it. It kept me motivated because I didn't want to feel like a chooch for not pulling through. It was great to have a support system where people were excited to see my results. Now to keep the accountability going I use the Beachbody coaching program - I have to be a "product of the product" so it's important to keep in shape. Let people know what you're doing.
These 3 were the big ones for me. Hopefully they'll help you get started on your weight loss success story. After about 3 weeks of doing something it becomes a habit that's why my motivation and dedication is on autopilot ...It'll happen to you!
Cya!
1) I set a "birth" date. Weird I know. Sounds sort of new age and slightly cult like. It's more innocent than that. Actually it's a bit cheesy. It stems from the saying "today is the first day of the rest of your life". Basically set a date to start your new life. It's the date you will leave your guilt behind, old habits behind, your fears and preconceived notions behind. February 16th was the date I decided to start fresh. I decided to do the exact opposite of what I've done in the past. So instead of starving myself to lose weight I decided to set up an eating schedule. Instead of looking at a 3 month workout program w/ just the end in site I decided to just look forward to it day by day and enjoy the process. Why repeat the same old habits if that's what got me into this mess in the first place?
2) Live day by day. One of the philosophies in drug rehabilitation is to take each day one at a time. Don't think about 3 months from now just think about today. Live today, not tomorrow, not yesterday. This really helps. So everyday I had 2 goals: work out and write down what I ate. I made it a priority. I didn't think about what tomorrow's workout was going to be nor did I think about the weight I was going to lose 7 days from then. I just kept focused on the 2 little goals for the day. Before I knew it the days were flying by. I think this worked because the focus was not on a certain date for weight loss. It's easier to manage one day at a time then a whole month at a time. Follow your daily goals the way you would brushing your teeth and showering.
3) Accountability. I started off with a bang! I took before pictures. I started a blog (www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com). I told EVERYONE about it. It kept me motivated because I didn't want to feel like a chooch for not pulling through. It was great to have a support system where people were excited to see my results. Now to keep the accountability going I use the Beachbody coaching program - I have to be a "product of the product" so it's important to keep in shape. Let people know what you're doing.
These 3 were the big ones for me. Hopefully they'll help you get started on your weight loss success story. After about 3 weeks of doing something it becomes a habit that's why my motivation and dedication is on autopilot ...It'll happen to you!
Cya!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Peanuts!
Well for those who have gotten to know me through my www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com blog ...I'm starting over once again...
Why am I starting a new blog? Mainly because my first one has a long-winded title. I hate typing it in. If it weren't for my computer automatically filling it in I wouldn't even visit it. Furthermore it's too specific. I've moved on from Chalene Extreme with awesome results but I'm on to TurboFire!
So what will I talk about...probably eating, working out, my dogs, my boyfriend, random things that pop into this strange little head of mine. For example, peanuts! I'm dead serious...peanuts.
Peanuts...the most wonderful salty sweet snack in existence. They're nutritionally dense so they're high in calories but more importantly high in good stuff! The protein will keep you satisfied for hours but in my case will keep you up at night.
Well here's the issue, I'm obsessed with Trader Joe's honey roasted peanuts. I've graduated from eating 1/4 jar of peanut butter to 1/2 a bag of these nuts. To my pleasant surprise I don't gain much weight after downing 2000 calories of these magnificent things. The downfall is that when I eat to many of them I wake up at 3:30 AM each morning with what feels like a brick in my stomach. If you don't know this already, protein is not easily digestable. So for you health nuts (wink wink) out there you know that it doesn't make sense to eat too much protein at one time since the body can't efficiently digest it. Do I listen to my own advice? NO absolutely not that's why I'm up at 3 in the morning. So moral of the story is eat a serving or 2 not 10 like I do.
I do love them though...and when I love a food item I become obsessed with it. Maybe Monday I'll start a "no peanut after 8pm" vow. We'll see how that works out.
C ya!
Why am I starting a new blog? Mainly because my first one has a long-winded title. I hate typing it in. If it weren't for my computer automatically filling it in I wouldn't even visit it. Furthermore it's too specific. I've moved on from Chalene Extreme with awesome results but I'm on to TurboFire!
So what will I talk about...probably eating, working out, my dogs, my boyfriend, random things that pop into this strange little head of mine. For example, peanuts! I'm dead serious...peanuts.
Peanuts...the most wonderful salty sweet snack in existence. They're nutritionally dense so they're high in calories but more importantly high in good stuff! The protein will keep you satisfied for hours but in my case will keep you up at night.
Well here's the issue, I'm obsessed with Trader Joe's honey roasted peanuts. I've graduated from eating 1/4 jar of peanut butter to 1/2 a bag of these nuts. To my pleasant surprise I don't gain much weight after downing 2000 calories of these magnificent things. The downfall is that when I eat to many of them I wake up at 3:30 AM each morning with what feels like a brick in my stomach. If you don't know this already, protein is not easily digestable. So for you health nuts (wink wink) out there you know that it doesn't make sense to eat too much protein at one time since the body can't efficiently digest it. Do I listen to my own advice? NO absolutely not that's why I'm up at 3 in the morning. So moral of the story is eat a serving or 2 not 10 like I do.
I do love them though...and when I love a food item I become obsessed with it. Maybe Monday I'll start a "no peanut after 8pm" vow. We'll see how that works out.
C ya!
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