Merry Christmas!
Tomorrow is Christmas and I am very excited to have such great family to spend the holiday with!
I got on the scale this morning and what I saw both suprised me, and at the same time, didn't suprise me. I gained 2 lbs.
There is a few different ways I could process that, and at the end of the day, I am choosing to look the fact that I am still down 31 LBS since October 1! Not too shabby!
I felt myself slip a bit this week. Some food choices that were not great and some snacking that I could have done better.
I am going to enjoy tomorrow anyway and have a great Christmas including a great Christmas dinner! I will just go for a walk after dinner, instead of laying down on the couch for a nap. (there's a first time for everything)
I am choosing to keep my head up and focus on the positives and not let a scale take away my momentum. I am going to work a little harder this week, and get back the ground I lost. I have a long way to go and I suspect this will not be the last week I gain an lb or two.
It is more important that we learn from our success than our mistakes. Our successes teach us something much more valuable than what not to do (or what we did again) Our successes teach us what we should do more of, and what works.This helps us to not only stay on the road to our goals, but to find our way back to the road when we get off track.
Take away for tonight (and then I will let you get back to your Christmas). Don't spend all your effort learning from your mistakes. Remember to learn from your successes, since the successes are what you want more of.
Have a Merry Christmas!!
Scuba
Monday, December 24, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Day 78 of 103in365: Weigh-in Monday 33/103
Hey There!
The result are in! ( I am cutting right to the chase this week)
I lost 4 LBS this week! That puts me at 33 lbs lost, thus the 33/103 in the title of this post.
I realize that I have not posted any pics since my first blog. I will post a October 1 pic next to a current pic of me soon.
It turns out the the re-commitment to my goal last week really worked. It got me fired up and ,,, well,,, re-committed. (Funny how that works) I payed more attention this week to what, when and how much I was eating. I also worked out or was active, in some way, everyday. That helps too!
I still am going with the "shorter work outs are better than longer workouts" concept and it is really working out for me. I am not doing what I have done other times I have lost weight where I do 30 - 45 minutes of cardio and then maybe some lifting of heavy things. I am spending no more than 15 minutes of either the bike or the elliptical, (sometimes only 5 to 7 minutes) and then spending another 10 to 20 minutes lifting heavy things. Because I am not crazy exhausted and spent, I am not making bad food choices after or before my workouts as I have done in the past, and I am often finding the energy and motivation to work out more than once a day. (or at least be more active and less sedentary)
I read an article early in October that really got me thinking about this theory, Here is the link to the article, but I will share with you what I found most interesting too.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/losingitwithliz/how-your-workout-can-sabotage-weight-loss
When I read this part, I had one of those "the clouds parted and God's voice boomed from the sky while angles sang" kind of moments. It really made a insane amount of sense and I have been following it ever since.
"One small study published last month in the American Journal of Physiology found that overweight men who exercised 30 minutes a day burned more calories and lost more weight over three months compared to a second group who exercised for 60 minutes a day over the same time period. The shorter workout may have left participants with more energy to do other physical activities throughout the day; the longer workout may have triggered the impulse to eat more to make up for the extra burn. The takeaway? Cutting your workout time in half may yield even better results for weight loss and body fat. "
That is so brilliant and makes so much sense to me! It also fits in with one of the things I try to live my life by. "Work smarter, not harder." If you Google "shorter workouts better results", you find all kinds of info that supports the idea that many people (including me in the past) are stuck in the learned "Work harder" mentality. I am willing to work hard. I am willing to work really hard! Even more than I am willing to work hard, is my drive to work smarter.
Keep finding and doing the activities and exercises that are fun for you and get you motivated to move! This is one of the most important things I have learned and gotten better at so far in this journey. Another, is what, when and how much you eat is maybe even more important than what you are doing for exercise. Eat better and exercise more and better to be sure. But I think that sometimes, so much effort is put on the exercise part, that what, when and how much you eat is not emphasized enough. (Big mistake Sulu!)
Soon I will post at least some pics (maybe short video) of me doing some of the exercises and/or activities I am having fun and getting better at doing.
Have a great week and "Work Smarter not harder!"
Scuba
The result are in! ( I am cutting right to the chase this week)
I lost 4 LBS this week! That puts me at 33 lbs lost, thus the 33/103 in the title of this post.
I realize that I have not posted any pics since my first blog. I will post a October 1 pic next to a current pic of me soon.
It turns out the the re-commitment to my goal last week really worked. It got me fired up and ,,, well,,, re-committed. (Funny how that works) I payed more attention this week to what, when and how much I was eating. I also worked out or was active, in some way, everyday. That helps too!
I still am going with the "shorter work outs are better than longer workouts" concept and it is really working out for me. I am not doing what I have done other times I have lost weight where I do 30 - 45 minutes of cardio and then maybe some lifting of heavy things. I am spending no more than 15 minutes of either the bike or the elliptical, (sometimes only 5 to 7 minutes) and then spending another 10 to 20 minutes lifting heavy things. Because I am not crazy exhausted and spent, I am not making bad food choices after or before my workouts as I have done in the past, and I am often finding the energy and motivation to work out more than once a day. (or at least be more active and less sedentary)
I read an article early in October that really got me thinking about this theory, Here is the link to the article, but I will share with you what I found most interesting too.
http://health.yahoo.net/experts/losingitwithliz/how-your-workout-can-sabotage-weight-loss
When I read this part, I had one of those "the clouds parted and God's voice boomed from the sky while angles sang" kind of moments. It really made a insane amount of sense and I have been following it ever since.
"One small study published last month in the American Journal of Physiology found that overweight men who exercised 30 minutes a day burned more calories and lost more weight over three months compared to a second group who exercised for 60 minutes a day over the same time period. The shorter workout may have left participants with more energy to do other physical activities throughout the day; the longer workout may have triggered the impulse to eat more to make up for the extra burn. The takeaway? Cutting your workout time in half may yield even better results for weight loss and body fat. "
That is so brilliant and makes so much sense to me! It also fits in with one of the things I try to live my life by. "Work smarter, not harder." If you Google "shorter workouts better results", you find all kinds of info that supports the idea that many people (including me in the past) are stuck in the learned "Work harder" mentality. I am willing to work hard. I am willing to work really hard! Even more than I am willing to work hard, is my drive to work smarter.
Keep finding and doing the activities and exercises that are fun for you and get you motivated to move! This is one of the most important things I have learned and gotten better at so far in this journey. Another, is what, when and how much you eat is maybe even more important than what you are doing for exercise. Eat better and exercise more and better to be sure. But I think that sometimes, so much effort is put on the exercise part, that what, when and how much you eat is not emphasized enough. (Big mistake Sulu!)
Soon I will post at least some pics (maybe short video) of me doing some of the exercises and/or activities I am having fun and getting better at doing.
Have a great week and "Work Smarter not harder!"
Scuba
Monday, December 10, 2012
Day 71 of 103in365: Weigh-in Monday
Hey There!
I will cut right to the chase today: the scale reads 289. The same as last week. No loss for this week, but no gain either. That is acceptable since I am still struggling with this knee injury and my amazing wife had a cookie party on Saturday. When the dust settled, there were cookies everywhere. (I had a few.)
I have reached another re-commit week. I had one a bit over a month ago (I think.) It is time to take accountability that I could have eaten better this past week, and I could have gone swimming or cycling and lifted more heavy things, and not have made my knee worse.
I did start PT on my knee today, so that is really positive! I got some exercise to do everyday, so that should fix that problem over time.
I've been doing some thinking about portion sizes this week. I have really cut out most of the really bad things for me (fast food and soda.) (Except for Soda Saturdays.) (I love Soda Saturdays.) Really, the biggest thing I am working on right now is portion control. I am imagining the food I am about to eat, or am eating, or just ate, and I'm considering the space it takes up. Its volume if you will. Will you? Great!
So I am telling myself that the volume of food is enough food, even though it is less food than I am used to eating. That's ok though. In fact, it is necessary. The amount of food I was used to eating got and kept me fat. I'm ready to eat the amount that will help me get and stay fit!
Portion size is just about the most important aspect to healthier eating for me. I'm getting much better at it. I am skipping seconds most of the time, where I would almost always have had seconds if it were something I liked.
I'm remembering that it takes something like 30 minutes for your brain to receive the "I'm full" signal from your stomach, so that is the time you need to slow things down and not eat too fast, so you do not overeat. I have been saying to myself, "Its not a race!" or "Why am I eating like the fire station alarm is going off and I have to get this into my stomach so I can slide down the pole and off to a 3 alarm fire?" I am working on putting my fork down between bites and calmly enjoying the meal.
So, I am re-commiting myself to my goal! (I have a feeling this is will not be the last re-commit I do.) Maybe you have a goal that you need to re-commit to. If you do that today, in a week, you will be one week closer to reaching your goal too!!
Have a great week!
Scuba
I will cut right to the chase today: the scale reads 289. The same as last week. No loss for this week, but no gain either. That is acceptable since I am still struggling with this knee injury and my amazing wife had a cookie party on Saturday. When the dust settled, there were cookies everywhere. (I had a few.)
I have reached another re-commit week. I had one a bit over a month ago (I think.) It is time to take accountability that I could have eaten better this past week, and I could have gone swimming or cycling and lifted more heavy things, and not have made my knee worse.
I did start PT on my knee today, so that is really positive! I got some exercise to do everyday, so that should fix that problem over time.
I've been doing some thinking about portion sizes this week. I have really cut out most of the really bad things for me (fast food and soda.) (Except for Soda Saturdays.) (I love Soda Saturdays.) Really, the biggest thing I am working on right now is portion control. I am imagining the food I am about to eat, or am eating, or just ate, and I'm considering the space it takes up. Its volume if you will. Will you? Great!
So I am telling myself that the volume of food is enough food, even though it is less food than I am used to eating. That's ok though. In fact, it is necessary. The amount of food I was used to eating got and kept me fat. I'm ready to eat the amount that will help me get and stay fit!
Portion size is just about the most important aspect to healthier eating for me. I'm getting much better at it. I am skipping seconds most of the time, where I would almost always have had seconds if it were something I liked.
I'm remembering that it takes something like 30 minutes for your brain to receive the "I'm full" signal from your stomach, so that is the time you need to slow things down and not eat too fast, so you do not overeat. I have been saying to myself, "Its not a race!" or "Why am I eating like the fire station alarm is going off and I have to get this into my stomach so I can slide down the pole and off to a 3 alarm fire?" I am working on putting my fork down between bites and calmly enjoying the meal.
So, I am re-commiting myself to my goal! (I have a feeling this is will not be the last re-commit I do.) Maybe you have a goal that you need to re-commit to. If you do that today, in a week, you will be one week closer to reaching your goal too!!
Have a great week!
Scuba
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Day 65 of 103in365: Weigh-in Monday
Hey There!
A funny thing happened to me yesterday morning. I performed
another weigh-in Monday and discovered something unexpected. I weighed in 6 LBS
less than I did last Monday!
I know that I did not lose 6 lbs this week. I have some
theories.
One is that a bathroom scale is not the most accurate device
in the world and will inherently have inconsistencies.
The other theory is that we weigh more or less at different
times of the day (which is why I have been doing mornings) and that may be part
of the jump. It would appear that I did indeed lose lbs the week before, but it
just did not show up because of water retention or what have you.
Maybe the most important thing that I have been thinking
about is that a scale is ultimately just a thing you stand on that gives you some ball part numbers that can give you an idea of progress or regress or nogress. What really matters is how you see yourself and feel about the
progress you are making. (It helps when your clothes start fitting better and
other people comment on how much weight they can tell you have lost too!)
I think I probably lost maybe 2 LBS the week before last and maybe
4 this past week. Any way you slice it, I am down 29 LBS total and I am coming
in at 289! Still a long way to go, but also a long way from 318!! (BTW, I was
318 at the beginning of this journey on 10/1/12, but I was at my heaviest in
January of this year at … gulp… 325. It is crazy that was 36 LBS ago! I can
feel the difference everyday! Especially with 29 of those LBS coming off in the
last 64 days!!
Another thing I wanted to talk about today was another
challenge I am taking on. (Because losing 103 in 365 is not a big enough goal I
guess)
I put on a purple “LiveStrong” style bracelet yesterday and
recommitted to be Complaint Free!! Go check out www.acomplaintfreeworld.org when
you get a chance.
In a chestnut shell (tis the season), you commit to not
complaining and making negative comments in the effort to become a more
positive person. In doing so, you do your part to bring to a more positive
influence (and less negativity) to your life, your family, your work and
beyond.
First step is that you put on the purple bracelet. Second
step is that you move the bracelet from the wrist that it is on to the other
wrist when you catch yourself complaining (or saying something that should
precede a sad trombone sound). Ultimately, you will move it a bunch at first
and less and less as you work to become complaint free. You are working up to
not moving the bracelet at all for 21 days. (the length of time the website’s
authors state it takes to create new habits.) It might take months
to be able to keep it on one wrist for 21 days (or longer than months) but that
is the goal.
So a few coworkers, a few of our clients at work and my
amazing wife and I are taking the plunge and getting on the Complaint Free
World train. Maybe you will want to too. It feels pretty good so far!
Well that is all for today! Have a great week!
Scuba Out.
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