Thirty Days

I have thirty days in my one hundred days  weight loss challenge.

 Thirty days to go.

 I've lost only a smidgen of the weight but I am a slow loser.

 Keeping my eyes on the 10 kg less goal.

 My eating hasn't been great. Stress and lots of going out while  Greg was here. Lots of alcohol too! But some great workouts! Currently doing some Jari Love, a bit like a Pump class. Will review this in another post!

 So I plan to get back to reading a little of the 100 Days book every day, just like I am doing the 33 Day Marian retreat and reading and praying that every day.

 I think both will help.

 1. Eat less crap
 2. Eat more while grains and fruits and vegetables.
 3.Remember protein and dairy.
 4. Watch portion sizes.
 5. Have alcohol and junk food or sweets occasionally and have small portions or half.

Not what you do but what you are.

Wise words from the book Run, Fat B**ch Run.

 Let running be not something you do but something you are.


 Something that is just part of your life, that monotonous rhythm or flow of work and workouts. 


 There is no debating about what to do or when to workout.


 You just do it. It's part of you. It's part of who you are.


And it occurred to me that the same applies to managing food. 

It's just something I do, practice moderation. 


 Getting to this takes time and grit. 


It's a slow weight loss but it's lifestyle changes. 


 The result? Looser jackets and skirts and trousers. 


 On my weight loss way. 


 But even more so, making fitness just who I am with my daily Taebo or other kickboxing fix.


An inspiring story here.

The scale and I

Anna: It is a lie.

The King: It is a false lie.  

From The King and I. And just like The King and I , so this story of "the scale and I" is of false witness.

False witness so that you do not trust the scale. Solely. In weight loss.

Different activities and different foods and different times of the month have an effect on the scale.

What we are looking for is the average.

Two weeks ago, I hopped on the scale and it showed that I had gained three kilograms. Even with some comfort eating and eating out in Melbourne, I had still had my careful days and had kept up my running and walking workouts. To gain over six pounds just didn't seem possible.

It was depressing.

And it wasn't possible.

Two weeks later, a different time of the month, back to mostly eating less crap and my continuing workouts, not only have the three kilos gone but so has another 0.7 kg - more than one pound.

Meaning that since I began my 100 days at the end of April, I have lost  1.7 kg, about four pounds. Which sounds slow but I am a slow loser., And my original aim was one kg per month - so I am on track!

Eating less crap and working out more sounds loose but it works.

My workouts this week? 45 minutes to one hour of cardio...walks and jogs, Taebo, Jillian Michael's new kickboxing  today.

Two lunches

Today I ate two lunches.

Two lunches you say in horror!
Yep. The nice, healthy one I had planned for work and then the fattening pastry one that I craved.

Emotional eating. I have a lot of emotions going on and I craved the fattening food.

Do I feel bad? Yes and no.

Yes, because this won't help my weight loss goals. And weight loss for me has been pretty slow on the scales, though my work pants for OOSH are loose around the waist.

But no, because I needed it. No,. food won't help the things I am stressed about. Yes, I have some hard decisions to make. But I own my overeating today. It served its purpose.

And now I am moving on.\

The good thing about early morning walks and jogs? In spite of other crap in your life, they make you happy! Looking forward to tomorrow's workout and leaving the overeating behind...been there, done it, moved ahead.

The anatomy of a run

The alarm goes at 5.30 am and it's dark and cold.

 I get myself out of bed because I know I have to and because I know eventually I will be glad I did and because I tell myself I will always be a fat you-know-what if I don't.

I get up and run or walk or workout.

 The first fifteen minutes of the walk/jog/cardio are not fun. Nope, not at all. But I keep on going. I trick myself into thinking maybe I will take it a bit easier today.

 Except I don't.

 Because by the time I get to the second or third mile, the third or fourth kilometre, or the third sprint if I do walks then sprints, then the happy drug, the endorphins, will kick in. I'll be smiling or singing and forget the fact that the struggle ever existed.

 Until the next morning.

 It turns out that workouts are a little like many things in life...you make yourself do them because they're good for you and you have to, but after time you find you enjoy them, miss them if they don't happen.

 And these cardio workouts are part of my 100 Day Challenge.

Run

Run.    

This week, I have been running and walking.

 And I lost another half kilogram.

And even more importantly, I've felt terrific...those daily endorphins...and some waistbands just feel looser, more comfortable. Go me!

 So what's that secret again? 

 No secret at all. 

 Plain common sense, and employing that inner you-know-what...get up and do it, two spoonfuls of chocolate mousse rather than the whole glass...

 In the words of Ruth Fields, that Grit Doctor in Run, Fat B**ch, Run...

 Run.  (Cardio. 45 mins minimum)
 Drink more water.
 Eat less crap. (You don't want to continue to be a fat you-know-what, do you Leonie? And strangely enough this motivates me.)

 Those two first bites? "As you know, the first two bites of any food have the most impact on your taste buds. But they're also the ones that have any emotional power! After you finish those first bites, you'll have received whatever benefits the food has for you. Eating more of it simply won't bring you additional satisfaction or make you feel any better." Linda Spangle,  100 Days of Weight Loss.

Golden Rules

Don't you get tired of those Golden Rules of weight loss? Do this, do that, spend money, track this, record that...soo much time! It is all so complicated that you throw in the towel.

Ruth Field in Run Fat B**ch Run  gives us a simplified version of the Golden Rules.

Make your run your diet.

Drink more water.

Eat less crap.

Come on, you knew it. Deep down you knew that fiddling around with many programmes was a bit of a way of procrastinating.

I can be a great procrastinator. Which is why I clean bathrooms first and do all my business calls straight away when I get to the office.

The idea being most hated jobs first.

Otherwise I would be as lazy as hell.

So Field has it right. Keep it short and simple and just do it ( ah, the just do it mantra again...that 100 Days book. I'm on day 9.).

My adapted Golden Rules?

1. 45 minutes cardio - every day - without fail.
2. No "cutting slack".
3. Drink more water and eat less crap ( Yes, sounds good to me!)
4. Weigh every week or every few days and adapt ( If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it ain't working, it's insanity to keep on doing the same thing)

So, another great book. To harness your inner grit, your inner you-know-what and to keep it simple.

Even on Mother's Day and taking it easy with leg troubles ...45 minutes of walking and running and  feeling happy with those endorphins flying around. Still fat but workin' it.