distractions Archives - Page 2 of 2

January 17, 2011 By Christina

Hi. Oh, yeah, I did have a fitness blog here, didn’t I? Whoops.

OK, brutal honesty: December sucked. I didn’t exercise, I didn’t watch what I ate, and I certainly didn’t step on the scale. I ate with reckless abandon, enjoying all of the baked goods of the season gleefully. As the holidays got closer and free time was shorter, fast food became a staple as well.

And then it was the week after Christmas and I stepped on the scale. Ouch. I gained five pounds back.

So here we are, January, the month of fresh new starts, and I’m once again completely serious about losing weight. I’m using the Lose It app to track my eating, keeping myself under my calorie goal each day. I’m also relying on Healthy Choice meals once a day – they really help me feel full without the excessive calories. After a week of tracking, I think I’m getting good at remembering just how big an appropriate portion size is – turns out those pints of ice cream are not individual servings. And my stomach, while still grumbling a little at the changes, is adjusting to less food and shrinking to meet my current needs.

Exercise is a little tougher to control. I’m getting over a cold and still so very tired. My third-shift work hours don’t help this, either. I’m lucky to get 6 or 7 hours of sleep on a really good day, and when given the choice to exercise or get more sleep, I tend to choose sleep. But I’m trying to fit it in where I can. Last week I did an exercise DVD on Monday, and then went to the gym to run on Friday. Baby steps, right? Sadly, we still have a lot of snow and ice outside, so I don’t feel comfortable running outside yet. A treadmill at the house would be a wonderful thing to have, but I doubt we have any room for a treadmill at the moment.

After only a week or so of making active healthy choices, I’ve already been rewarded with a three pound weight loss. I know it won’t continue to go that fast, but it felt good to be a little bit closer to my lowest weight before I gave in to the season of gingerbread and buttercream frosting. As of my last weigh-in, I’m at 179.2 pounds.

Somehow I’m going to find the motivation to keep this momentum going. I want to be healthy. I want more energy. And I want to look stunning by summer. (Or hot by BlogHer, if you prefer.)

The Leaves Are Falling & My Weight Is Too

October 11, 2010 By Christina

The stress of the past few weeks has been hard. Not only was I sick with a stomach virus, right in the middle of a crisis situation at work that required mandatory overtime, but then I came down with a cold last week just to feel completely miserable again.

It’s true – stress robs you of your ability to stay healthy. When you’re stressed and lacking in sleep, your body’s defenses are down and any passing infection can breeze right in past security without even a pat-down and get to work making you feel horrible. Viruses and stress are the original terrorists, working together to take us down from our position at the top of the natural order.

I’ve barely slept the past few weeks. I certainly haven’t had time to work out. And many of my meals haven’t been the best. (Although I’m still sticking to one Healthy Choice meal per day for my Better for BlogHer Challenge – honestly, grabbing a meal out of the freezer is the easiest part of my day.)

I knew my weight crossed into the 170’s after the stomach virus from hell, but I also knew it was likely temporary and that once I replaced my fluids it would bounce back up. As predicted, I stepped on the scale several days later and it was back at 181 pounds. Seeing the 180’s was a little depressing, but I knew that my short dip into the 170’s was really just a mirage brought on by dehydration.

For two weeks now I’ve avoided the scale. I haven’t had the time to focus on myself due to work, and I made the mental decision to not worry about the damage that happens during this stressful time and accept that once work calms down again, I’ll get back to running, get back to really focusing on my diet, and get back to finding some inner peace again. It seemed like the best decision to make, considering what I’ve been up against: stress, no sleep, long work hours, fast food when necessary (which is often), and no time to work out.

So I’ll admit I was a little surprised when I stepped on my scale before my shower Saturday morning and saw this number greeting me:

(Sorry for the blurry pic. I never expected to report the number, but when I saw this my iPhone camera was the only thing in reach.)

Of course I’m thrilled to see 177.8 pounds, although I’m not exactly sure how I got there. I know I’ve had more than an acceptable share of McDonald’s to eat and my running shoes can attest that they’ve been neglected for weeks now. Losing weight easily is a myth to me, so I’m a little perplexed by this development.

But I’ll take it, and as soon as work calms down I hope to get back to taking care of myself and working hard to drive that number even lower. My next mini-goal is to see the 160’s before the new year – a difficult challenge, indeed, considering the season of holiday eating is nearly upon us.

Anyone else ever have a surprise loss on the scale when you were certain you’d see a gain?