Fooling Myself

Published on October 4th, 2011 by

I have a bad habit of fooling myself. I constantly tell myself that I can eat a <insert bad food here> because I’m going to workout or I have already worked out. Not only is this counterproductive, but I am also fooling myself….lying to myself really. When I do this, I may not even go on to get a workout in, which compounds the negative effect of being counterproductive. Why do I lie to myself? Why can’t I just not eat <insert bad food here>.

I have found that if I eat a balance diet during the day, I am not hungry later in the afternoon/evening. When I get a little hungry around those times I turn to something that is quick and easy. Convenience store food, snacks etc. I need to prepare myself better and have quick and easy snacks at the ready; fruit, yogurt, cottage cheese etc. I am not good at having these foods at my fingertips.

I have also found that if I workout in the morning, my food cravings are almost non-existent. Working out in the morning just feels right and puts me in the right frame of mind for the entire day. However, I fool myself again into believing that I will wake up early and get a workout in. There are no excuses, I just need to do it.

I’d really like to quit fooling/lying to myself. I am self-destructing when I do this. This behavior is a major obstacle and is holding me back from being where I want to be.

No excuses!

 
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Hope

Published on September 21st, 2011 by

Many people don’t like The Biggest Loser, saying it exploits overweight people, the workouts they perform can’t be done in the real world and that their diets are easy to follow because everything is cooked for them. While all of this may be true, I love watching The Biggest Loser. This post isn’t trying to debate the merits of the show. This post is about Hope.

The reason I love watching The Biggest Loser is that it demonstrates to anyone of any age and any size that losing weight and getting fit is possible. It gives people Hope. Many people who start a weight loss journey quit after a couple of weeks. I don’t think they quit because working out it too hard or that the diet is too difficult; I think people quit because they lose hope. When the numbers on the scale don’t pop up with the number they want, they quit. There is no hope. In my opinion, The Biggest Loser is about hope.

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Finding A Routine

Published on September 8th, 2011 by

One thing I’ve learned during my weight loss journey, is that routines and habits are the difference between success and failure. If I get in a routine of working out, I will workout. If I develop a healthy food habit, I will eat healthy food.

I had a great workout routine that I was able to settle into and get to the gym about 4-5 days per week. That routine was broken up, happily, by the arrival of my first child. Since he was born about 8 weeks ago, I haven’t been to the gym. My wife and I would go to the gym every morning before work. We would motivate and push each other to get to the gym and kick butt while we were there. This is difficult to do with an 8 week old baby. We worked out a schedule for each of us to go individually, but the motivation is there. We tried working out at home, but we don’t feel we are getting a good workout without the gym atmosphere.

I am on a mission to find a new routine. I’ve been testing a few different routines, but they aren’t quite working out. So, my search for a routine that works continues. I won’t give up! Does anyone have any advice in regards to getting to the gym for a new parent?

 
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Motivation Exclamation Point

Published on July 13th, 2011 by

For many people, including me, finding motivation to workout, eat right and lose weight is tough. Once you find motivation, it takes work to keep it up. Well, yesterday I think I found the motivation gold mine….my first child was born!!! Seeing him, holding him and just being around me has energized and motivated me to lose mire weight and get more healthy. I want to be around to see him grow and be a productive adult. To do so, I will need to be alive. He is all the motivation I will ever need, I truly believe this. My about page touches on the fact that I began this journey to lose weight to have children and that has become reality. My drive to keep going has been given another gear. In the coming days, I will be kicking it in overdrive!

 
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Back on the Saddle

Published on July 11th, 2011 by

I woke up today and decided to get back on the saddle. After a month or so of trying to lose weight without my blog, LoseIt! etc, I decided to get back on the saddle. While I would consider my hiatus a success, I maintained my weight loss, I was losing any weight. Its now obvious that I need this blog and LoseIt! to lose weight. I am currently at 200 pounds and want to get down to 185. This is achievable, but not as easy as I thought. So, its back to the grindstone.

I hope to interact with you all again as I try and hit my new goal!

 
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Giving It A Go…On My Own

Published on May 17th, 2011 by

You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged in quite some time. This was on purpose. When I started my weight loss journey, I set a short-term goal of going from 254 pounds to 200. I achieved that goal!!! When I hit 200 pounds, I made a decision to try and live life “normally”. Let me explain…during my weight loss phase, I was reading every weight loss blog possible, I was counting calories obsessively, weighing myself daily  and I was tending to this blog. All of these helped me achieve one of my goals. I owe my weight loss to being diligent with counting calories. When I hit my goal, I decided to try and live without counting calories and to eat right on my own. I quit getting on the scale everyday and I tried to be mindful with what I was eating. It has worked to some extent. I have maintained my weight at 200 pounds. I have not lost anymore weight, but I have not gained any either. I consider this a huge success! I can live without counting calories.

I have moved into phase two of my weight loss. I want to go from 200 pounds to 185 pounds (which is my long-term/final goal). I feel that going back to what I know works is the best path of success for me. I will be counting calories again and I will be religiously updating this blog.

It feels good to know that when I do reach my final weight, that I can maintain it without counting calories.

 
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Fitness is a journey, not a destination

Published on April 12th, 2011 by

This is a guest post by my friend Miller. I met him after I sent out a particularly frustrated tweet. He replied with words of encouragement, and since then, we’ve become friends. We encourage and support each other in our respective quests for health.  Please check out his blog Retroactiv. You can find him on Twitter @retroactiv_

When I started my blog at retroactiv.com this past January, I launched what I felt was a clever tag line that summarized my experience with weight loss. “Fitness is a journey, not a destination. Start your journey today. Tomorrow is just an excuse.” Pretty clever, huh.  :)

I truly believe it to be true. It stemmed from the fact that I had heard so many people talk about how they were losing weight and on “diets”. The word “diet” insinuates that its a temporary change that one is going through, that will have a finite end. This is simply not the case. Deciding to get in shape is a LIFESTYLE change. You must change everything from what you put into your body to how much physical activity you do on a daily basis – and continue to do so once you reach your goals.

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Keeping a Workout Log is Essential to Losing Weight

Published on April 11th, 2011 by

This is a guest post by Taraneh Guidry, a writer for TeachStreet. Teachstreet is a a website dedicated to providing online and local classes, including pilates and yoga classes.

If you are new to exercising, it may seem overwhelming. You may not know where to start, or how much to do. With dieting, strength, cardio and so on, it’s difficult to keep track of daily activities.

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Feeling Guilty Means I Care

Published on April 7th, 2011 by

Guilt (as defined on Wikipedia) is an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has violated a moral standard, and bears significant responsibility for that violation.

I feel guilty when I eat a meal that I know is bad for me or drink too many beers. I feel really guilty when I have a bad weekend in regards to blowing my caloric allowance. I feel guilty when I know that I should have gone to the gym on a particular day and I skipped the workout. I don’t like the feeling of feeling guilty. It weights on me. It makes me want to be a better person and do the things I know I should do so I don’t have to feel guilty.

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Thoughts on Goals

Published on March 30th, 2011 by

There is so much information out there about goal setting, so I’m not going to rehash the importance of setting goals. All that I will say about it is that its important and everyone should set goals; you always have to have something to aim for. What I want to write about today is what happens when a goal is reached. Recently, I’ve spoke to a few people about reaching a goal and what happens when a goal is achieved. What I  have realized is that most people hit a goal weight and they stop their program. Once they stop their program, they are prone to gain weight back. They are content with hitting their goal. Not me!

I am approximately 3 pounds away from my initial goal of losing 54 pounds and getting to 200 pounds. Will I be happy? Absolutely! Will I be satisfied? Absolutely not! When I hit my goal, I will immediately be setting a new goal to aim for. I still haven’t figured out what that goal will be. I am considering two goals: 1) losing more weight or 2) maintaining my weight. I firmly believe that maintaining a weight should be a goal. Otherwise, you let yourself off the hook and are prone to gain weight.

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