So, some of the things I've eaten lately: Starbucks peppermint white mocha, Marble Slab chocolate mint ice cream with chocolate chips, crave cupcakes, cream filled cupcakes, Mcdonalds thai chicken mcmini crispy with fries, 4chip chocolate chip cookies (homemade of course with vanilla bean), aztec cheesecake, boston pizza bandera bread and hawaiian pizza, eggs benedict, steak, sloppy joes, Reese's peanut butter cups.
Yes, all these items have been included in my diet. My point? Just because you are trying to lose weight, doesn't mean you have to give up on the foods you love. I have been extremely disciplined in tracking my calories and the end result has been that I have lost about 22 pounds now. And yes, I do include treats. Now do I eat these items every day? Of course not!! But the point is, that I work around special events or eating out or wanting a treat and make it work within the parameters I have set. If I know I'm going to be eating out, then I make choices for the earlier meals of the day that are lower in calories, so that there are extra calories to spare later on for that special occasion. Most importantly though, I don't skip meals because of special events. I simply make different choices, or I add in an extra workout. I want to continue losing weight and in order to do so, will continue to monitor what I eat. For me, that's been key. I'm a little less rigid than I was in the beginning, but I am still careful to keep track. Weightloss doesn't happen overnight, and takes work to achieve.
So, know that if you are starting out on your weightloss journey, you can include treats, but it's important to have an adequate portion only. Maybe try a Halloween size candy if you are really wanting chocolate. Portion control is especially important when it comes to treats!! I am succeeding so far, because I don't deprive myself of treats and eat acceptable portions. It's a balancing act but in order to have a net loss in weight, the calories in, needs to be lower than the calories out. Figure out how much you want to lose (remember 1 to 2 pounds a week is reasonable), and work from there. It can be done!!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Vanilla cream filled cupcakes!!
Okay, so what does that have to do with my eating and exercise plans? It is my latest reward!! And I've decided today, to share that reward structure with you.
I sort of have two reward systems going. One is tied to weightloss. These rewards are things like, a new bathing suit, an entry into a race, a new shirt to run in. Basically, gear. The other system is tied to exercise. Basically, I decided in August, that if I exercised every day until the Melissa's race in Banff, we'd go and eat at the Bison. This is my favourite restaurant. It was so worth every workout that I did. So, for the next month, I decided if I exercised every day, I would have a treat from the Avenue Cakery and Bake Shoppe in Airdrie. And today, we went there and the treats were purchased (at half price too on Saturday afternoon, yay for good deals!!). I went home and did a run, so that every day in October was full. Okay, I know there is still one more day in October, but I know tomorrow I will do something!! And really, on my chart, the reward day was today!! Which, coincidently was day 77... that's eleven weeks in a row of doing some sort of exercise every single day. So, is it a habit yet? I sure hope so!!
I love that for the past eleven weeks, I have had no excuses for not exercising. I have to of course, thank my husband for that. He is awesome to make sure I fit it in and I hope I'm giving him the time he needs as well. I've also been using my work lunch hours to help with that. No more tv, no more eating out, just pure old fashioned exercise. And, it's been great. I have gone running with a variety of people from my workplace. It's great!! We get outside, get some fresh air, and run. Truly awesome!! And, I'm getting to know some people I might not otherwise have gotten the chance to know (including one girl who is super fast and ran Boston this year only cause she qualified at her first ever marathon and figured she might as well!!). I hope the trend continues, and I still find the time to exercise every day. Sometimes with my husband, sometimes with my boys, sometimes with work friends, and sometimes on my own!! And I hope it continues to be varied in nature. So far it's included running, biking, swimming, hiking, weights, walking and even a ball/band routine. I am very aware of my body these days and trying to avoid injuries so figure the variety can only help with that!!
So there you have it. Today was exercise reward day. Next up will be weight reward day when I finally get a new bathing suit, because the one I am using now is old and slowly getting to a point where it really needs replacing. But, it will be exciting to get a new one, since it will definitely be smaller than the last one was (since it is actually baggy now!!). Stay tuned!!
I sort of have two reward systems going. One is tied to weightloss. These rewards are things like, a new bathing suit, an entry into a race, a new shirt to run in. Basically, gear. The other system is tied to exercise. Basically, I decided in August, that if I exercised every day until the Melissa's race in Banff, we'd go and eat at the Bison. This is my favourite restaurant. It was so worth every workout that I did. So, for the next month, I decided if I exercised every day, I would have a treat from the Avenue Cakery and Bake Shoppe in Airdrie. And today, we went there and the treats were purchased (at half price too on Saturday afternoon, yay for good deals!!). I went home and did a run, so that every day in October was full. Okay, I know there is still one more day in October, but I know tomorrow I will do something!! And really, on my chart, the reward day was today!! Which, coincidently was day 77... that's eleven weeks in a row of doing some sort of exercise every single day. So, is it a habit yet? I sure hope so!!
I love that for the past eleven weeks, I have had no excuses for not exercising. I have to of course, thank my husband for that. He is awesome to make sure I fit it in and I hope I'm giving him the time he needs as well. I've also been using my work lunch hours to help with that. No more tv, no more eating out, just pure old fashioned exercise. And, it's been great. I have gone running with a variety of people from my workplace. It's great!! We get outside, get some fresh air, and run. Truly awesome!! And, I'm getting to know some people I might not otherwise have gotten the chance to know (including one girl who is super fast and ran Boston this year only cause she qualified at her first ever marathon and figured she might as well!!). I hope the trend continues, and I still find the time to exercise every day. Sometimes with my husband, sometimes with my boys, sometimes with work friends, and sometimes on my own!! And I hope it continues to be varied in nature. So far it's included running, biking, swimming, hiking, weights, walking and even a ball/band routine. I am very aware of my body these days and trying to avoid injuries so figure the variety can only help with that!!
So there you have it. Today was exercise reward day. Next up will be weight reward day when I finally get a new bathing suit, because the one I am using now is old and slowly getting to a point where it really needs replacing. But, it will be exciting to get a new one, since it will definitely be smaller than the last one was (since it is actually baggy now!!). Stay tuned!!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
How to stay motivated...
When it comes to weight loss, it can sometimes be very tricky to keep yourself motivated. This is especially true when temptations are around you or you have come to a standstill. This past week, my husband and I both hit a plateau at the same time. It was tough, and at moments I didn't really care anymore about the long term gain, but I still stayed the course. Here's a few things that helped me...
1. Have a visual reminder of your accomplishments. One of my goals back in August was to exercise every day. It didn't matter what I did, as long as I did something every day, be it running, hiking, swimming, biking, weights or whatever. I've been keeping track on a calendar and highlight in green, every time I exercise. Looking at the poster is pretty motivating since it has green highlights on every day of the month so far. I don't want to break this streak so that has been helping a lot!!
2. Talk to someone who understands what you are going through. In this case, Jeremy was awesome, since he's basically going through the same thing. We chatted about all the ways we wanted to cheat or give up, but then encouraged each other to stay on track, since there's been accomplishments already and there is sure to be more.
3. Read an inspiring book or blog. Find someone else out there who has succeeded in their goals and has words of inspiration to share. This has been instrumental to my success. By reading about others who have reached their goals, I am inspired to reach mine!!
4. Celebrate how far you've come. In my case, I've lost 20 pounds so far. That's pretty significant. No wonder my body slowed down for a bit. It's adjusting to a lot less of me!! And any moment you want to pack it in and give up, remember how far you've already come. Nobody said it would be easy, but true change requires a commitment and it's important to honour what you have set out to do.
5. Sign up for a race. When all else fails, sign up to run a race. The atmosphere at races is truly inspiring. And it's fun to get excited about a goal down the road, so pick something that's only a couple months away so you have time to prepare but it's still close enough that you have to start working towards it. Sometimes all the exercise can feel pointless without something to work towards. By having an event in your future, you put all those hours at the gym, on the treadmill, etc to good use and will feel the results of that effort on race day. And really, nothing is more motivating than the energy at a race. If you could bottle that energy, people could be motivated forever!!
So, when you are feeling lost and need some motivation, look around, there's things you can do to help you stay the course...
1. Have a visual reminder of your accomplishments. One of my goals back in August was to exercise every day. It didn't matter what I did, as long as I did something every day, be it running, hiking, swimming, biking, weights or whatever. I've been keeping track on a calendar and highlight in green, every time I exercise. Looking at the poster is pretty motivating since it has green highlights on every day of the month so far. I don't want to break this streak so that has been helping a lot!!
2. Talk to someone who understands what you are going through. In this case, Jeremy was awesome, since he's basically going through the same thing. We chatted about all the ways we wanted to cheat or give up, but then encouraged each other to stay on track, since there's been accomplishments already and there is sure to be more.
3. Read an inspiring book or blog. Find someone else out there who has succeeded in their goals and has words of inspiration to share. This has been instrumental to my success. By reading about others who have reached their goals, I am inspired to reach mine!!
4. Celebrate how far you've come. In my case, I've lost 20 pounds so far. That's pretty significant. No wonder my body slowed down for a bit. It's adjusting to a lot less of me!! And any moment you want to pack it in and give up, remember how far you've already come. Nobody said it would be easy, but true change requires a commitment and it's important to honour what you have set out to do.
5. Sign up for a race. When all else fails, sign up to run a race. The atmosphere at races is truly inspiring. And it's fun to get excited about a goal down the road, so pick something that's only a couple months away so you have time to prepare but it's still close enough that you have to start working towards it. Sometimes all the exercise can feel pointless without something to work towards. By having an event in your future, you put all those hours at the gym, on the treadmill, etc to good use and will feel the results of that effort on race day. And really, nothing is more motivating than the energy at a race. If you could bottle that energy, people could be motivated forever!!
So, when you are feeling lost and need some motivation, look around, there's things you can do to help you stay the course...
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