Diet and Exercise

I'm no expert. I've just spent a good deal of my life fighting not to be fat. For a while, I quit fighting and ballooned, and I discovered afterward that the fight is well worth it. Not because I want to look good (thought that is a large motivation), but because the taste of food and the feeling of being full last far less time than the feeling of being fit. Also, I never get heartburn when I'm watching how much I eat, and I HATE heartburn - so that's an amazing perk.

After I got married, I gained, oh, about ten pounds. Now, ten may not sound like a large number. But on a 5' 2'' frame where most of that weight sits in the length of a foot? It makes a big difference. Clothes stop fitting, I get really self-conscious, I want to wear my jackets to cover up, but it's 80 degrees outside, more sweat, everything is uncomfortable, etc. etc. It's just nasty.

Working out is hard. It's hard to get started; it's hard to keep going, especially when you get on the scale and nothing has happened after a few weeks. This is when I have to remember that after so long, my metabolism has slowed and I'm trying to rev it back up, and that doesn't happen in a week or two. That can take months.

My dieting is called calorie-counting. I'm not prone to eating foods that are terrible for me. I'm just prone to eating too much. Some people like bad food - I'm not one of them. I love fruits and vegetables. My downfall is that I like feeling full and fruits and vegetables do NOT fill me up. Pasta and bread will make me feel full and I love both of those - even the kinds that people tell us are really healthy. Cutting down to 1200 calories (which every expert agrees is the lowest a female should go), is a little too far for me. It's unnecessary, I can't stick with it, and then I binge to a terrible degree on cheat day. Overall, it's better for me to eat a little more every day to keep from eating a LOT more on Sunday.

The hardest thing about dieting is that it's all day. Working out? I'd do it for half an hour - maybe a little more, and then it's done. Finished. Don't have to think about it any more. Dieting is not like that. It doesn't end. It's all day, every day, which is why cheat day is so important to me. Cheat day doesn't have to be about eating a ton or not having to exercise at all; it's just about not worrying about it. It's a break from the calculations.

Now I was working out somewhat regularly, cutting my calorie intake down to something more normal, but I wasn't losing weight. It wasn't stable. I'd go up and down and my emotions and determination would go with the scale numbers. But why? Well, the metabolism takes time for one thing. And the other? Too much down time.

I could spend ten to twelve hours a day sitting! And not sitting up tall, using SOME muscle to keep from slouching. Uh-uh. Sitting on a couch. Slouching in a chair at my computer. Leaning back. I wasn't moving except when I exercised. Bad, bad, bad idea. The metabolism doesn't get going that way!

After Zack would leave for work, I would often watch a TV episode - about 44 minutes of commercial-free entertainment. My parents have this walking video with different moves to do in your house in substitute of getting out and going for a walk. I'd done it enough times to know the basic moves and started doing it for half an hour while watching my episode, in addition to the work-outs.

What is this? I'm losing weight!

I'm trying to change my ideas about diet and exercise and it's been helping. I've been focusing less on eating less and focusing on eating when I'm hungry. I've been focusing less on hardcore exercise for half an hour and focusing more on moving all day. We have a little apartment - not a lot of room to move about, but I walk to the store now and then. Sometimes, just to get out and walk. It's takes about fifteen minutes to walk to Goodwill and back. And you know once I'm in there, I can't help but look around. There's more time being up, moving.

This is a website that's been very useful to me. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/
I think it was my brother Dave who told me about this idea, and it's been great. Just follow the instructions and it'll tell you exactly what you need to know about how much you should eat. So easy!

The other thing I've been doing is looking up how many calories are burned doing certain things. For instance, playing the piano for an hour burns around 150-180 calories. Whoa! Something I love doing takes care of my bowl of cereal in the morning! Do a Google search on activities that will burn 200 calories. You'd be surprised at some of the things. Jumping rope for 15 minutes. (Made me wish I had a rope to jump. Haha.) The Wii is a great exercise tool - something like 25-30 minutes of Wii Sports. 20 minutes of Tae-bo! Really? I've been doing Tae-bo for years! I never thought it was that good! If I did Tae-bo instead of walking during my nightly episode, I'd burn 400 calories.

This has helped me be way more motivated to do house work. I love efficiency and getting my house clean and my body thinner at the same time is awesome. Somehow, I'm not sure why it didn't occur to me before that it would make such a difference. I guess I just didn't realize that things like standing for half an hour could burn as much as 55 calories. Standing!

My advice for anyone reading this who might want to lose weight: First, figure out how much you eat. That alone may be enough motivation to get you started. Second, go to that BMR website and figure out how many calories you're using and how much you should cut back. I tried to cut back a LOT, and it was harder because then I was hungry all the time. Pick something that you think will work best with your temperament. If you want faster results, you're going to want to cut down to fewer calories. If you're willing to take the time, cut back the calories in increments of maybe a month at a time, until you get to where you should be.

Now for the exercise part: Just get up. Do work around the house. If your house is clean, how's the garage? What about a closet that needs to be cleared out and reorganized? Get out and go for a 45-minute walk with your sweetie or take the kids to the park. You don't have to move fast. Just spend time moving INSTEAD of sitting. Watch TV at night? Get up and walk in place. Do lots of reading? Get up and mull about.

I've taken to walking in place when I read. I sit at my computer enough, so I didn't want to have to sit while I read too. If you purpose to do the little things to help you lose weight, you'll find that much more is getting done, and your metabolism will get used to running all the time. And THAT, I believe, is the key to weight loss. The easiest time I ever had losing weight, was when I'd been walking, swimming, or riding my bike regularly for a year.