Tuesday, January 12, 2021

"You're Going the Wrong Way!"

 Jan. 12, 2021 - Going the Wrong Way


Have you seen the movie, "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles" starring Steve Martin and John Candy? There is a scene where John Candy's character is driving a car at night. The car spins around, a lot, and Candy mistakenly gets on the highway driving against on-coming traffic. Since it is late at night and out in the middle of nowhere, he doesn't realize his mistake. A couple in a car driving on the correct side of the highway sees him and attempts to tell him. They keep yelling "You're going the wrong way!" Steve Martin and John Candy's characters don't listen to them and almost die driving between two semi's.

That is how I felt yesterday morning when I weighed myself.

I weighed: 159 pounds

My weight went up instead of down.

I even got warnings I was going the wrong way. The MyFitnessPal app is very polite when it tells me every night that "if every day was like today then you will weigh X lbs in 6 weeks". The X almost every night has been higher or close to my current weight.

Did I think the app was lying? Did I think it was drunk? Did I think I knew better?

No, just in denial. 

And it is frustrating.

This is my pattern. Work really hard, stop working hard because of illness, holidays, vacations, then start the whole darn process over again.

I really want to beat myself up. 

I really want to give up. Being healthy feels like an elusive dream.

I really, desperately, want to break this pattern.

How do I maintain good health habits when life happens? Because I know life always happens. 

Okay, enough moaning and crying! Today is a new day and a new opportunity to do better.

And hopefully next week, I won't be going the wrong way.

Here is to a happy, healthful year!

Friday, January 1, 2021

Happy New Year!

 Friday, January 1, 2021 - Happy New Year!

I did not write as much as I wanted to between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day; however, I learned a lot!

Highlights:

1 - Walking destresses me. There was one day I finally got a 30-minute walk in (this was after several weeks of not being able to walk) and I could feel the stress just rolling off of me. Emotions I hadn't realized were bottled up came pouring out and I finished my walk crying...a therapeutic and much-needed cry.

2 - I love tracking my food. I see it as a challenge/competition to eat what I want and stay within the 1200 calories MyFitnessPal app has recommended for me. Yet, I can not track my exercise/movement on the same app. Why? Because the app is kind enough to let me know how many calories I have burned - it even does a little math formula so I know exactly how many calories I have left to eat. And... I use that formula to consistently eat more than 1200 calories. Very irritating.

3 - I finally admitted to myself that I eat meat because everyone around me does. I don't think I want to eat vegetarian full-time. I do want to eat vegetarian 95% of the time, although I would settle for 80% of the time. 

I am also changing my goal for my weight a tad. I heard once that when we set a goal most of us only reach half of it. For example, if you want to save $100.00 every month, then most people would only save $50.00. The suggestion was made to double your goal and if you only reach half, then you met the goal you really wanted. Example: I want to save $100.00 every month. I set the goal to save $200.00 every month. The actual is I saved $100.00 each month.

With that in mind...I am going for broke this year. 

My goal: To lose 60 pounds in 2021.

Gosh, I am excited and nervous!

Be your best self every day!