HAPPY NEW YEAR!
What will 2013 bring, well looking out through my office window I see snow. Drifting around every so gently. As for what this year will bring, I honestly do not know, but I know that I will be a better person for it, a healthier one, and ultimately happier.
Today has been an odd kind of day to be honest, I had intended on getting up earlier and doing my treadmill time then, as it happened I didn't do my cardio until 7pm in the evening. That's ok though, not only should one vary the type of exercise one does, but also the time, this way your body does not get into a routine-rut, where it starts to anticipate and expect the workout and you stop getting the same benefits from it, however, as a creature of habit, I personally prefer routine!
So, while I was on my treadmill, I was listening to a running meditation from BrainSync which was different than the usual Biggest Loser workout tunes I have or Pink for that matter. ( I love listening to Pink for working out too, she's very cool). I love to speed walk, and I can jog at 4mph for 5 min straight right now, not might seem like much for many people out there, but for me, this is a huge accomplishment considering where I have come from on this journey.
Anyway, I haven't jogged for a couple of months now, and I did not really intend on jogging today. I was just going to do my 3.5mph speed walk for 30 minutes. Well I jogged that speed and also 4mph for the 5 min intervals. I can honestly say, I've missed it, my body has missed it and it feels great! Only thing that is bothering me are two patches on my feet, as I was running barefoot and my feet need to toughen up. I do have to say, I can jog faster and for longer barefoot than I can with shoes on. Have to do more research into that one.
So it was a good workout, and I was hungry for dinner. So I did some spicy coated pan fried eggplant with goji berries, black sesame seeds and lettuce for dinner. I did have one of my shakes from Arbonne as a late evening snack. Anyway, back to the eggplant. Oh and I had a spoon full of my apple ginger chutney for the condiment. It was really good, and only equated to about 465 calories 47 carbs 31 grams of fat (it was fried after all) and 5 grams of protein according to my Sparkpeople tracking numbers.
Now I have been advised that someone who is eating a raw vegan diet, should be consuming 3000 calories per day as a minimum. I am doing between 1200 and 1500 (approximately) per day. I have to do my digging and checking to see how the calorie intake should be for someone who juices breakfast and has a raw lunch and eats dinner...Intuition tells me to half the calories of my juiced fruits/veggies for tracking purposes. By the end of January I should have it figured out as my body will tell me what I need.
So this was Day 3. All in all a good day. See what tomorrow brings on, 30 min on the Elliptical is scheduled and another eggplant dish (it needs using obviously). Thanks for reading!
 At Casa Savoy we welcomed 2012 with a feast and friends. The feast consisted of home made goodies only.
From top going clockwise: Spring rolls, cabbage orange salad, balsalmic guacamole, roasted veggies with cranberries & peanuts, apple chutney, and in the middle is a basmati rice stuffing. Very yummy, and high in fat as the spring rolls were deep fried, however the rest is healthy!
So, January 1st, it's raining, yet here in Ontario, it's winter and really it should have been snow, but it isn't. Signs of times to come if we do not get our act together, and soon. However, despite this, I feel like the rain brings with it a renewing feeling, so for the first day of the new year and rain, that feels like a good thing to me.
I've been contemplating what I want to have accomplished this year, and basically, I have set the following goals:
1- to complete my weight loss journey and get nicely toned up
~ track my food/drink intake as well as calories burned on Sparkpeople
~ drink 2L water per day with lemons in it
~ exercise 6 days a week and stick to the schedule
2- to apply for the excess skin removal and breast reduction surgery once #1 is completed.
3- to do a daily blog on this website consisting of:
~ recipes & photos
~ exercise notes, tips, struggles, successes and set backs
~ video blogs and videos in general on various topics
~ discussion and links on various topics regarding health/environment etc
~ and a variety of miscellaneous muses I am sure!
4- take a course in fitness & nutrition to continue upgrading my education.
5- empty the basement and set up the "den" and "exercise room" plus have an "artist room" on the main floor as well as the "reading area & library"
I am sure I have tons of other goals, ideas, so on and so forth that I could put in, but these are my top 5 goals for 2012. Keep me accountable!!!!
So, January 1st falls on a Sunday. I have devised my new routine schedule to have my day off as Sunday this year, vs Saturdays, simple as hubby has a tendency to work on Saturdays, so I might as well still do the same routine on that day and relax on Sundays. Makes sense? Right!
I will be using three pieces of equipment to start with, Bike (recubant), Treadmill, and the Elliptical. Tomorrow - Jan 2nd - I start with the bike for 30 minutes. Now I know I could probably do more, but I have taken quite the sabbatical so I want to not go overboard on the restart. The following day is the Treadmill, and then the Elliptical, and then back to the Bike. I will be increasing the time on a weekly basis. Once I hit my max for one session I will look at doing two sessions a day, but that's at least a month away before making that choice.
Things that I know already get in my way of getting on with my morning routines as well as what to do to combat it:
--having hubby home while he is off work, we get into other things, and time just flies by, -- solution -- set a time and just do it! Use alarm clock on phone etc.
--having company over, you don't want to miss out on your friends so ditching them for your work out time seems justifiable, but is it? -- solution -- rework time of day to work out, or just excuse yourself for 30 min - 60 min.
--hunger -- solution -- make sure I am fueled up and have my lemon water ready.
--distractions -- solution -- stop, and just do it, set timer, use alarms.
So in a nut shell that is my thoughts about my new year, what I have to do to get it started off on the right track, and just do it.
You with me?
None of us are perfect, even if we might like to think so, at least I try to think I am, but I know I'm not... and even I, The Skinny Witch, have trouble now and then with falling off that wagon of good eating and exercise! I am happy to report that as of this morning, I am 188.6lbs, from 190.2 on the weekend. More will come off this week as I get back on track and my body remembers what we are supposed to be doing, vs what we have been doing for the past month now.
I had to wonder though, why did I fall off that wagon this time... what was my trigger for reverting to my bad habits of fast food and the three C's .. (chocolate, chips and coke for those that don't know this one) ... well yesterday I figured it out... MY CAR!!!!
I know, you are thinking, why would a car trigger you to eat badly and stop exercising like you did for almost a month.... well.. here's the scoop.. It was a car accident that triggered my healthy lifestyle switch.. and that accident sent my van to the dump, and left me without a vehicle from May of 2008 to February of 2011.. I used public transport and taxis or my feet to get places.
Ok, so why the car??? I still don't get it....
The lifestyle I had previous to my accident in May of 2008 was horribly unhealthy.. I drank umpteen litres of coke a day, ate fast food all the time, I'd be out driving for whatever reason and go through drive thrus for donuts, coke, burgers, you name it, I ate it. I'd stop in a dollar stores and spend spend spend, and of course leave with bountiful amounts of the three c's , and consume a good portion of it IN THE VEHICLE...
So, last night, I was driving from my home in Markham, over to a home in Maple - about 15 minutes or so from here - to pick up some freecycle items I had secured. I wasn't hungry, I had already stopped that day and bought two boxes of 100 calorie chocolate type bars... 12 of them in total between the two boxes (which are now all gone, and I am the only one who ate them!! Get to that in a bit!) ... I noshed on a few in the car, then more at home, then took one with me to Maple... as I drove up the street, I know there is a Harveys on the route I was taking, and I had that urge to hit the drive thru for a veggie burger and fries... I denied myself that, as I was analyzing it at that point thinking to myself that I am neither hungry nor having a low blood sugar issue, so what the heck is going on here...I went to the home, picked up what I was getting, then started to drive home. I saw a sign for a fish and chip shop, I used to get that at least twice a week when I had my van, and even though I am almost 100% vegan, again that thought process hit me again: it happens like this: how much money do I have in the account I can spend right now... X number of $.. ok then I can afford to get ______ insert food here ____ and then drive to go get it!
I scolded myself twice over, first for thinking food second for thinking fish!!! So I kept on driving, again wondering what the heck is happening here.......then the light started to turn on, my proverbial light bulb sometimes has a dimmer switch attached... anyway I realized that it's the car, or rather the association between my physically driving and food from my former lifestyle. This by the way, doesn't happen when I am just a passenger, only when I am behind the wheel... so I made it home, relatively unscathed, and proceeded to make a healthy dinner... afterwards darling hubby and I relaxed a bit, and it was then bed time... what did I go and do... ate three or four of those daft 100 calorie bar things... so now we go from car triggering while driving to the effects of what happens when I deprive myself but have a " treat " readily available.
So from the car to wagon number two, sweets in the house... I grew up in a family where we had dessert after dinner almost every night, if you were a good girl, and not only behaved but ate everything that was placed in front of you, you got a sweet dessert as a reward... if you are a good girl, you get a chocolate bar, biscuits, desserts, cake.. you get the idea... the sweet was the reward for being " good "... this is something I have never done with my girls, simply as it really does set one up for an eating disorder and comfort eating. So, the fact that I denied those impulses for Harveys , then the fish and chips, and then the bar I had taken with me, eaten according to my plan that night, I was in deprivation mode emotionally speaking and binged as a result... should I have perhaps given in to the fish or veggie burger? No, I do not believe so, this is part of my learning about myself and relearning how to do things so this doesn't happen again, or at least, not too frequently.
I had 3 bars left in my fridge this morning out of 12.. I knew I'd eat them today, no matter what I do... I just seem to have no "won't power" - I have tons of willpower, If it is sweet and chocolatey and is in the house, I WILL eat it... it's Won't Power that I struggle with right now... It's also that time of year where chocolate abounds in the stores, discounted priced bunnies and eggs are everywhere, which for a chocoholic makes it harder to just say no! So back to those bars, yes, I had all three for breakfast with my tea this morning, yes I am tracking it on Sparkpeople, and yes I know it was not a healthy thing to do, nor perhaps a smart choice in the grand scheme of things, but my thought process was this: I know I will eat these today, that I will struggle with should I , shouldn't I, yes, no, stay away, go get one, type processes, and stress myself out over them... which only contributes to wanting them more... so I said to heck with it, eat them now, get it over and done with, and don't buy more! (they were on special btw ) So I ate all three consecutively, and ended up feeling rather pukey afterwards, which is not a bad thing... maybe I won't eat them this way if I buy them again now I felt like that.
So.. what to do about these issues: I figure with the car and driving around, it's about reprogramming my brain.. I am going to work on a mantra or affirmation of sorts to say in the car that will help me reprogram my brain to separate car from food. Something that reminds me of my new way of being, and that it's old outmoded habits that are calling my name, not hunger or need. Perhaps taking a healthy snack with me when I go places in case I do get hungry will be a much better choice and definitely cheaper to do too. Either way, I have to remain mindful of the trigger and change that subconscious/conscious thought process and association. As for the sweets, I am using stevia in my tea now for after the first one of the day and am slowly working on kicking that sugar habit, it's not easy to do, ok, it's down right hard to do... especially for sweet toothed comfort eating me... and I will just have to regulate how often I do buy something like that, which again, has to do with the car vs anything else.
There we have it, long, drawn out, but at least it's insightful... I strongly suggest now, that if you find yourself falling off that wagon, whatever wagon you are on, take a look at the bigger picture, and find the triggers for the reverting to those unwanted ways... and once we know the trigger, we can work on it that much easier! If I can do this, so can you, plain and simple.
Have a great day!
|
RSS Feed