“Don't miss more than one day of exercise.” Yes, that’s what it said, and I was shocked. In a short blurb by Jennifer Gruenemay at Lifescript, in her daily fitness tip, she said that skipping too many days between workouts jeopardizes the health benefits I was after in the first place. Experts say that you are less likely to stay with your routine if you skip more than one day between workouts. My routine has me at the fitness center 3-4 days a week. I typically go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. If I skip Saturday that leaves two days off. There are times when I have a cold and I stay away out of consideration for the other patrons. Other times I get overwhelmed by work and cut out my workout. When I went to New Orleans for a conference, I missed for eight days.
The second part of her blurb not only gave me hope, it changed my thinking and that’s frequently a good thing. She said, “Working out every day doesn’t necessarily mean you have to train like you’re running a marathon. Alternate hard workouts with easy workouts, like just walking for 30 minutes around the block…” I can do that. I can even sit on the stationary bicycle I walk around on the way to my desk in my home study every day, and pedal gently for a while on off days.
I tend to be a somewhat obsessive, all-or-nothing type person. I think of my workout as ten minutes of fast walking on the treadmill to get my heart rate up, two circuits on the weight machines, and twenty minutes back on the treadmill followed by a five minute cool-down at a slower pace. If what I do is not that, well, it’s not my workout. This one paragraph blurb has me reevaluating my rigid thinking. I can walk for 30 minutes, ride my stationary bicycle while watching the news, or even push a lawnmower around the yard and still be moving toward my goal of heal and fitness. Sometimes you have to hit me over the head.
Today I weighed at the fitness center and my cumulative weight loss is 35.5 pounds. I only have 5 ¾ pounds to go until I reach my first goal, to no longer be obese. I wonder how it will feel to walk around thinking to myself, “I’m just overweight”.
Here’s my recap for yesterday.
| Calories | Protein | Carbohydrates | Sodium | Fat | % Calories from Fat |
| 1348.79 | 64.77 g | 216.22 g | 1026.42 mg | 27.38 g | 18.27% |
4 comments:
Joel,
Congrats on your steady progress toward your weight goal. How will it feel to be "just overweight?"
Just for fun, more questions, "What will you do when your body is OK?" How will that feel? What happens when being lean and fit is your normal everyday state of being?
:)
Murphy
Well Murphy, I’ve given that some thought but, I am still inventing this new body as I go. I will certainly need to get some new clothes soon. I’m on my second belt now. I’m at the point where people are commenting on how my face has changed, and I get some comments about my baggy clothes. I remember how my shirt sizes have, over the years, progressed from medium (a long time ago) to large, to extra large, but I don’t know where I will land on the way down. I am building muscle as I lose weight so I might settle on a size large for shirts. I haven’t reached a plateau on my weight loss, so I am reluctant to buy new clothes yet.
I guess I need to look at my target weights for an answer. My current BMI is 30.8. When I lose the next 4.75 pounds, about two weeks if all goes well, my BMI will be 29.9, just overweight. My next target is to be pre-1998 normal. In 1998 the BMI upper limit for normal was lowered from 27.8 to 25. I’ve lived most of my life before 1998 so I think that is a worthy goal. I may also have so much muscle by then that the BMI won’t be particularly relevant. I will need to lose 17.75 pounds from where I am now to reach that second goal. After losing 35.5 pounds to date, and changing my relationship with food, that doesn’t seem too far out of reach.
According to the Mayo Clinic I will need 2100 calories per day to maintain at that weight. That seems like a lot to me now as I have been below 1400 calories since January but, I think the things I have learned about food preparation have become habitual, and I will continue to work out. I know my whole idea of portions has changed. I would have laughed at the idea of a four ounce steak a few months ago, but now it seems normal. I doubt whether I can change my sodium intake even at the lower weight without elevating my blood pressure, but I don’t know yet. I will probably challenge the 1500 mg upper limit I currently impose, so we’ll see.
This was a great question Murphy and it really got me thinking.
Thanks,
ProfBush
Hi Joel,
Would you like to be the guest judge of this week's Blog Awards? See my blogpost titled `You Be The Judge' and let me know.
Keep smiling
David
http://david-mcmahon.blogspot.com/
Joel,
Just today, Sunday the 22nd, discovered your response to my comment.
Enjoyed reading your response. What I try to remember is that we can reinvent our whole persona almost anytime we want. Everything is a choice, some choices easier than others.
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