And the scale goes...up

I weighed myself on Wednesday and didn't like what she told me. How I hate her sometimes. Though I didn't see the ugly ugly 180 again, I did gain 1.4lbs. BUT, with the way things went while out of town - I'd say ok to that. Just need to step it up and be REAL good with my calories. I may sneak another weigh in on Mon - haven't decided yet. I'll do it only if I feel like she'll be nicer to me. If not, no way.

Have to get a run in tonight after it cools off. If I don't go in the morning, I have to wait until at least 8pm. I hate when I miss my morning workout time.

Crunching Numbers

I'm back. I did ok out of town. Not the greatest - well not great at all come to think of it. I was on "vacation" ya know. So I have to get back to it hard this week. I did two work outs on Monday and got my run/walk in this morning. I was supposed to weigh in Mon, but for some reason didn't - or today. I will do it first thing in the morning. I better not see the big 1-8-0 again.

While I was out on my run this morning I started to think about things I've read over the years. Some people say you shouldn't or don't have to workout to lose weight. I'm not sure how I feel about that. If you just play the numbers game, calories in calories out, then I guess you wouldn't have to workout if you kept your calories in check.
BUT, you would have to workout to change your body. That butt won't get off your thighs by just losing weight and your "bye bye" arms won't firm up by just cutting calories. You HAVE TO WORKOUT to change your body.

But hold the phone for a second. There is a gray line here. I know from prior experience that working out may sometimes NOT work in your favor. I'm talking about the gigantic hunger monster that shows up the night of or day after a really hard, long workout. It's that monster that can't be satisfied and needs to eat everything in the house - including the house. I've met with this monster many times. The problem is you end up consuming MORE calories by feeding him than you would have if you hadn't worked out. Get it?

So say I burn 800 cals on a nice long bike ride. That's awesome right? Well, that night (or the next day) the hunger monster shows up and DEMANDS I eat and eat and eat. I end up eating an excess of 1000-1500cals (depending on the severity) and therefore not only counter acted my ride, but now have a nice surplus for my body to store as fat. So, the question being - Should you exercise? The answer is YES. The success will happen if you can control that hunger monster - if you're strong enough to beat him and not feed him. And guess what will happen, he'll feed off your fat! Hooray.

But I'm weak. And if you're weak like me here's a plan I've done many times (actually on accident) that will still make working out work for you when you DO feed the hunger monster.

Work out hard. Real hard. For three weeks if you can. 5-6 days a week, hour long sessions etc. Then, take a week off. What this does is, for the weeks you're working out you're building muscle and increasing your BMR. Sure you may be feeding the hunger monster too so you may not see the scale going down much (just don't let it go up). But the beauty lies in the fact that you've built up some nice muscles that now require MORE energy.

So the week off your body will be requiring more calories to fuel itself, yet you won't be famished from working out and thus your body will turn into a fat burning furnace - all the while keeping your calories in check. I used to do this all the time and had no idea why when I stopped working out I'd lose like 4-5lbs. Keep repeating this cycle. Of course if you can work out and tame the monster then you're probably too skinny to be reading this blog anyway. ;-)

So that's my take on working out.

You don't need to work out to lose weight.

But you do need to work out to change your physique and build muscle - which looks better than "skinny fat" any day of the week.

Size Wize

Tomorrow I leave for 5 days. What makes this a difficult challenge is - my clothes. I don't have enough things to wear for 5 days! I pretty much wear the same thing around here day after day and if I'm going out in public I have my choice of about two outfits. So I made a trip to Wal Mart today, since I don't plan on being this size for long I didn't need fashionable and expensive clothes. Wal Mart will do. The problem is, you get to know your real size when you buy new clothes. *Sigh*
I fit into the large 12/14 sizes, and that's pre-washing so I'm sure if I really want them to fit me after laundering I'd need xl 16? So depressing. Now for some of you that may be your goal and you're happy with that size, but for me and my body that's NOT ok.
I have skirts and pants in my closet that are 4's. How did I get so out of control? And what's funny is I look at those "small" clothes in my closet and think they should fit a child. They look like they've shrunk. Mind games I tell you. It's a weird thing what your mind believes. I still feel like I did at 130lbs, but when I see my old clothes and look at pictures I can see what a crock of crap that is.
Didn't get my exercise in this morning. Whoa is me. But I still have hope tonight.

Quick Update

Have to be quick because I hear the little one stirring. She's been off schedule since we got home - and now we're leaving again on Wednesday. Oh summer. You're killing my schedule.
Anyway, I got an 80min walk/run in on Saturday. Sunday is my official day off and today I slacked. I'm having a really hard time staying motivated. I feel like a blob of jelly when I'm out exercising and it kills me to know where I've been, and where I'm at now. Nothing is fitting and I get down so easily. I have to keep going, but leaving town is not going to help with that. I plan to get up in the morning and get an 80min run/walk in again. That is if the little one will go back to sleep and STAY asleep.
Food wise I didn't count my calories today, but if I had to guess I stayed about 1800. Tomorrow I must be perfect. One day at a time. I'll weigh myself again next monday and then again around the first of every month. No measurements until the middle of August.
Have a good night.

I'm back

Back from a great ride. I do LOVE going in the morning...when I'm out there. Plus it's so much easier when you're meeting a friend. Rode for about 70mins and burned 530 cal. I will have to go on a walk or something later tonight to make up the rest. Now I'm enjoying a delicious bowl of oats. This girl is the oatmeal queen! I topped mine with toasted almonds and peanut butter today. It's really good. And I used to hate oatmeal - with a capital H. You should try it.

Good Morning

I'm off to get a bike ride in before it gets too hot. It's early for me, I don't really like being awake before 7:30, but you gotta do what ya gotta do. I survived going out of town. I didn't exercise at all while away, but my eating wasn't too terribly bad surprisingly. I have to get back on track today counting calories. I tried to keep a mental note of what I was eating while gone, but I know I didn't hit my marks like I want to. I aim for a 1000 calorie deficit everyday with exercise and calorie counting. I've figured my BMR is 2190. So I try to eat about 1500 - 1700 calories a day and burn 600 calories through exercise. Some days I make it, some days I don't. Over a weeks period, this would give me a 2 lb weight loss.

So like I said - no exercising or counting while I was gone will not show up pretty on the scale. But today I'm back at it strong.

I'll probably ride for over an hour to hit my 600 calorie mark. It's a great way to start the day - if I could just WAKE UP!!

Have a great day.

First Weigh-In

Today I did my first weigh-in. Now one thing I should mention is that I will NOT be weighing myself regularly. Unlike some people who get motivated by a 1-2lb loss a week, it totally discourages me. I know, it shouldn't, but it does. I expect more from my sacrifice all week. (please don't go off on how 1-2lbs is considered "healthy" and should be all that I lose and that it shouldn't be a sacrifice, but a way of life - I know all that) I'm a work in progress here, with everything, including my mind. But this is where I'm at now and hopefully I'll progress through my journey.
So back to the weigh in.
I haven't weighed myself for a few weeks, ever since I saw 180 on the scale. I couldn't see that number again. AND, I believe I may have gone over that considering how I ate after I weighed myself. But today I needed to see exactly where I'm starting and since Monday is going to be my official weigh-in day and I'll be out of town, I had to do it today. I was so happy to see 178! Can't believe I'm saying that, but it's sooo much better than 180. And guess what, it motivated me to go drink a green monster for breakfast.
So I won't be weighing myself every week. More like once a month, but I will be taking my measurements, then two weeks later my weight, then two weeks later measurements, then weight...get it? So I'll have some sort of "progress" every two weeks.

Today's breakfast:
2 C of Spinach
1 C Almond milk
1/2 C blackberries
1 banana
All mixed up in the HealthMaster....sooo yummy and filling, and only 250 calories.

Lots of packing to do today. Better get to it.