Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Mix Up, Not Give Up

I was so tired when I woke up this morning. It took Herculean effort to haul myself over to my satellite gym and decided to forgo the treadmill and did 9 miles on the stationary bike instead. In addition, even though I ate one of my regular and filling breakfasts (strawberries, almond milk and a combo of Kashi puffs and Fiber One cereal), by the time I was driving to work I was already feeling hungry!

So this gets my mind working on what exactly is going on. I got a decent amount of sleep and didn't starve myself yesterday. I did work out a little more than usual -- I walked about 3 miles and did my 20 minute Pilates tape -- but I don't feel sore today.

I really hope I'm not getting sick again. My nose has been kind of stuffy and sneezy, but I've been attributing that to seasonal allergies (spring is usually my worst season).

My real concern, I suppose, is that I'm teetering on the edge of a lapse. It's been a long winter, and just when we thought it was over, we're getting more snow for the next five days. My weight's been pretty stuck for the past month and with Easter coming I don't expect any miraculous drops in the near future. While the puppies continue to be cute, the novelty is starting to wear off a little for me and it comes down to constant Pee and Poop Patrol. So now on top of clearing up my family's dirty dishes and socks, I'm now cleaning the kitchen floor several times a day, when I'm not taking the puppies outside several times a day.

Lord, I sound like a whiner! So what if the weather's crappy and I have loads of housework to do? Why does that mean I have to veer off the healthy course and fall into a vat of chocolate? Am I so weak that a little discomfort automatically sends me heading for the candy aisle?

I guess I'm just having a down week. We all get them from time to time, and I'm no exception.

I keep thinking about Shauna's post yesterday and how much I relate to it. The pressure she felt by posting her weigh-ins was getting to her, and once she quit announcing it, she felt better and has been focusing more on fitness.

The thought of abandoning the weekly weigh-in is tempting. Not having that pressure (self-created, by the way) would be a relief. But the weigh-ins also keep me honest. It's a motivator to not eat a whole box of Girl Scout Cookies on a Tuesday afternoon; it helps to keep me exercising on mornings like today when all I wanted to do was roll over and sleep another hour.

So what should I do? I've got a couple ideas in my head. One thought is giving myself another "bye-week" and get back to the weigh-ins on the 14th. I haven't really given myself one of those since Thanksgiving. Maybe if I have one irresponsible week (of course, the week is already half over!) I'd feel renewed and jump back into it with lots of motivation and verve.

Or, for the next couple weeks or month, still have a weekly "report," but not include my weight. I could report how much I exercised and if I completed five days or more of healthy eating. I could also go back to my food journaling, and while I may not post the actual lists of food, I could report on how many days I successfully wrote down everything I ate.

I guess it comes down to the fact that I'm thinking hard about mixing things up because I want to do whatever it takes to not give up. I don't want to burn out and say "screw it." While I'm thinking about taking a break, I only want it to be brief and temporary. Because the results I've gained are too important to me to throw away.

If any of you have any feedback on this -- getting in a rut, mixing things up, taking a break-- let me know. I appreciate all opinions and viewpoints.

5 comments:

Shauna said...

oh andrea, i don't think you sound like a whiner... there are just some weeks when all this weight loss stuff seems to get to you more than other weeks. all i want to do when it happens is hide under my quilt and wait for it to be other! my sympathies :)

About the weigh-ins, it's really difficult to know what to do. I'm still weighing myself but somehow just not posting the number has taken away the angst. It's taken so much trial and error to figure that out. I hope your week picks up and you get some proper spring weather soon :)

Debbi said...

I never display the numbers, just report whether I'm up down or – mostly – stayed the same.

This serves the purpose of keeping me accountable and on-track, without adding more number pressure. It's bad enough that I never see the right number; it would be so much worse to have to keep writing the same weight, week after week, for everyone else to see as well!

Bea said...

Thanks for your comment. I needed it. Am also having a "whiner day." Gave blood yesterday and am having another round of hot flashes so didn't sleep last noc. Feeling blah and unmotivated, and big surprise, hungry. Am trying to treat myself like a good friend. What would a good friend say. "Take a shower, have a nice cup of tea and then take a nap. You will feel better when you wake up." Who am I to argue.

I KNOW ABOUT THE SNOW THING.

Lori G. said...

You don't sound like a whiner to me; you sound tired though. I don't have any opinion on weighing -- I'm debating on whether or not to go to weigh-in this weekend (I have to have someone drive me, blah blah blah).

How you feel about the housework and things going on in your life are all valid. You've had some major things going on, including sleep disruption. Don't discount the accumulative lack of sleep in your life/weight.

Hang in there...I am thinking about you.

Grumpy Chair said...

This was a very good post Andrea. I read it last night and then again today. I quit posting my weight, because it is very frustrating (as Debbi commented) not seeing the number move down and instead, climb up 3 to 4 pounds.

Those cute little weight tickers that I used - were ticking me off.

Anyway, I took a break the first three weeks in January. It wasn't an intentional break - just tired of thinking about exercising and dieting, etc. My eating wasn't horrible - but the few extra calories per day (like two glasses of wine/night - did put on those extra 3 to 4 pounds).

Once the weather started to be more spring like (60's & 70's) I started feeling more active and ready to get back in the "game".

Hang in there.