In my last post, I wrote about striving for progress and not perfection in my quest for healthy eating. In that post, I pointed out that I purposely break a rule commonly followed by people who eat healthy… I don’t eat 4-6 small meals a day. I realize that I break several standard healthy eating/exercise rules, so I thought I’d tell you which ones I break, and why.
Rule Broken: I don’t eat several small meals a day.
Why: OK, I covered this pretty well in my last post, but I’m going to add more here. I tried doing this several times. I really hated it. I was grazing all day, my mind was constantly on food, I never felt full, and I never enjoyed what I would consider a real meal.
My Alternative: I have at least one big meal a day. I aim to keep in a certain calorie range. How I divide those calories usually depends on the day. Most days though, I get at least one big meal.
Rule Broken: I don’t go to exercise classes.
Why: I don’t enjoy doing things in big groups. When I stopped trying to force myself to take group exercise classes, exercise became a lot more fun.
My Alternative: I workout by myself, with my husband, or with my personal trainer. Sometimes I run a 5K with a friend or two.
Rule Broken: I don’t have the stereotypical supportive trainer.
Why: I’m a woman who has had some major healthy problems and whose husband is terminally ill. People all around me have been incredibly supportive, and I love that. However, people tend to handle me with kid gloves. They are afraid I will break if they say the wrong thing to me.
My Alternative: Mike really enjoys making fun of me. He teases me mercilessly. He pushes me when I work out. He smacks me around when we are boxing. He doesn’t treat me like I’m going to break. Admittedly, I have had a few meltdowns in front of him. Recently, I got all melodramatic and was going to quit working out with him because I felt like a pathetic loser. Mike emailed me and told me, “You are someone that has busted their butt and even through all the crap you have gone through you are still working hard to achieve your goals. That is an amazing pathetic loser. What is it to be a winner, because if pathetic losers try that hard I want to be one as well…I will see you soon for our next appointment and bring the pathetic loser along because I liked her and how hard she worked.” Mike pushes me to my limits physically and emotionally, and most of the time, I take it quite well. When I start to crumble, Mike knows just what to do to get me back on my feet. This is not what I expected out of a personal trainer relationship, but is exactly what I needed.
Rule Broken: I drink Coke.
Why: Diet pop sucks.
My Alternative: I have a limit of one a day, and many days I don’t have one at all. One Coke once a day is better than all the diet crap in the world.
Rule Broken: I don’t drink a lot of water.
Why: I don’t really like it.
My Alternative: I drink some water, some milk, some G2, Propel, or Gatorade, and some juice. Occasionally I have coffee or tea. I used to walk around with a big container of water that I would force myself to drink. Ugh. No more.
Rule Broken: I weigh myself every day.
Why: Often experts say to ignore the scale and just weigh yourself once a week or once a month. However, I like to start the day with a little motivation, and the scale does that for me.
My Alternative: I weigh myself everyday, plus I weigh myself before and after long runs to check for dehydration. In addition, I take measurements every couple of months to see how my body is changing. I also like to have one pair of jeans that are too small as my motivation to get into the next smallest size.
That’s all the rules I can think of right now that I break. I’m sure there’s more. I think what is important when you are trying to lose weight is that you need to do what works for you and not necessarily do what works for someone else.
Showing posts with label healthy eating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthy eating. Show all posts
Sunday, June 8, 2008
A Can of Peas, Please
I've lost 54 pounds over the last several months. I’m very happy about that. Basically, what I have done is to exercise more and eat less. I’m also trying to eat better food too. I have a lot of weight left to lose, but I’m happy with my progress.
The other day, I was talking to a woman who had recently lost 20 pounds. She was telling me all the different rules that she follows. She always waits an hour to workout after she eats. She doesn’t eat within three hours of going to bed. She eats every two hours throughout the day. She had many other rules that she followed, and she told me that she never realized that losing weight was so complicated.
I didn’t say anything to her at the time. I figure what works for her is great. However, she and I definitely go about this weight loss thing in completely different ways. I don’t have a lot of rules. For me, tons of rules mean tons of ways to fail. I’m more comfortable with something a little more laid back. This makes me more confident that I’ll be able to keep up my efforts for a lifetime instead of just trying new diets every couple of months.
I’ve tried the eating every two to four hours method. I know this works for lots and lots of people. It just doesn’t work for me. I feel like I’m grazing all day, and it drives me batty. I eat three to five times a day, depending on my schedule. I try to make one of those meals a big meal, because I like big meals. :-) This works for me.
I’m trying to eat better also, but I’m not super strict with my diet. One of my big goals is to eat more vegetables. For years I tried to buy raw, organic vegetables and cook something impressive. It just hasn’t happened. Today, I’m content to cook a big can of peas. Yes, I said canned peas. I admit it. I love canned peas. Well, they have to be the small early summer peas, but I love canned peas. I can eat a whole can of them myself. I realize there are much better ways to eat vegetables, but I think this is much improved over ordering McDonald’s fries and try to pass them off as a vegetable.
The book that has been my main reference material for my fitness journey is “Body for Life for Women” by Dr. Pamela Peeke. One principle that Dr. Peeke stresses is to strive for progress, not perfection. This was definitely a major problem for me in the past. I would try to go from a mainly fast-food diet to a diet of perfectly cooked meals at home. When I didn’t do things perfectly, I just stopped trying to be healthy. It was always an either/or for me--either eat perfectly or forget the whole thing. Now, I’m eating much better than I used to eat, but I still have a way to go. For now, I’ll take my canned peas though. They suit me just fine.
The other day, I was talking to a woman who had recently lost 20 pounds. She was telling me all the different rules that she follows. She always waits an hour to workout after she eats. She doesn’t eat within three hours of going to bed. She eats every two hours throughout the day. She had many other rules that she followed, and she told me that she never realized that losing weight was so complicated.
I didn’t say anything to her at the time. I figure what works for her is great. However, she and I definitely go about this weight loss thing in completely different ways. I don’t have a lot of rules. For me, tons of rules mean tons of ways to fail. I’m more comfortable with something a little more laid back. This makes me more confident that I’ll be able to keep up my efforts for a lifetime instead of just trying new diets every couple of months.
I’ve tried the eating every two to four hours method. I know this works for lots and lots of people. It just doesn’t work for me. I feel like I’m grazing all day, and it drives me batty. I eat three to five times a day, depending on my schedule. I try to make one of those meals a big meal, because I like big meals. :-) This works for me.
I’m trying to eat better also, but I’m not super strict with my diet. One of my big goals is to eat more vegetables. For years I tried to buy raw, organic vegetables and cook something impressive. It just hasn’t happened. Today, I’m content to cook a big can of peas. Yes, I said canned peas. I admit it. I love canned peas. Well, they have to be the small early summer peas, but I love canned peas. I can eat a whole can of them myself. I realize there are much better ways to eat vegetables, but I think this is much improved over ordering McDonald’s fries and try to pass them off as a vegetable.
The book that has been my main reference material for my fitness journey is “Body for Life for Women” by Dr. Pamela Peeke. One principle that Dr. Peeke stresses is to strive for progress, not perfection. This was definitely a major problem for me in the past. I would try to go from a mainly fast-food diet to a diet of perfectly cooked meals at home. When I didn’t do things perfectly, I just stopped trying to be healthy. It was always an either/or for me--either eat perfectly or forget the whole thing. Now, I’m eating much better than I used to eat, but I still have a way to go. For now, I’ll take my canned peas though. They suit me just fine.
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