The Diet Naked Blog

I finished my first week

My exercise streak is well underway, even though I've been exercise-bike riding instead of running/walking.

I have stayed up too late--I work until at least midnight and it's unfortunately common to look at the clock and realize it's almost 2:00 a.m. So I've napped after taking my daughter to school in the mornings. And then it's too late to run/walk.

But there's rarely a reason why I can't use my exercise bike after dinner (between shifts).

So, it's a balancing act I have to figure out. Exercise, sleep, and food--all important.

How do you find balance?

Exercise update

I started the Couch to 5K program yesterday. I feel how I imagine an 87 year old feels, all rickety and sore and achey.

However, I know I will feel better soon and tonight I am going to ride my exercise bike--I plan to do that on days I don't run.

Also? I did ten pushups and so my upper body hurts today.

I'm a wreck but young enough to do something about that.

And now? Time to sweat.

And today I exercised against my will

If I don't exercise first thing in the morning (no matter what time my day begins), I really do not want to exercise later.  I have to force myself.  It's too easy to just promise that "tomorrow" I will exercise again.

But tonight, I had one hour of time between taking my daughter to the pool and working and I climbed onto the exercise bike for thirty minutes on the interval setting. 

I'm glad I did, but I really did not want to.  So, hooray me.

That is all for tonight.  It's very late and I'm taking the kids back to the waterpark for a few hours in the morning. 

You don't have to love it. You just have to do it.

Last night I did not want to run.  What's new?  I mean, I really, really did not want to run on this particular day of the month (if you know what I mean).  I had to take my son to the YMCA for his Judo class.  My husband said, "Well, just take a magazine and read during his class and you can ride the bike when you get home."  I said, "We'll see."  Because I really did not want to run.

We arrived at the YMCA.  He ran off to his class.  I checked in my purse at the front.  I walked upstairs directly to the weight machine that begins my work-out.  And I started, still thinking I do not want to run.  I finished the weight machines, looked at the clock and thought okay, I'll just check out the track. 

And then I ran.  I know.  I really did not want to run.  But I was there.  The track was there.  I had time.

I guess I've created a situation where I just do what I'm supposed to do because why not?   I did only run half a mile, though, and then rode a recumbent bike for another 35 minutes (on intervals).  Despite my initial misgivings and my inertia, I worked out for an hour, thus completing my seventy-first day of consecutive exercise.

What are you doing for exercise?  How do you fit exercise into your life?

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Need help with motivation or goals?  Check out this list of articles from the Reader's Digest website. 

The Bra and the Measuring Tape

I told myself I didn't have to run anymore until my new sports bra arrived.  I'd ordered an Enell bra on recommendation of a commenter here and it arrived within two days.  Alas, it didn't fit.  (Too big!  Ha!  That was pretty funny, considering that I only thought bras came in size "too small for me.")  Anyway, I returned it, asking for the next smaller size.

And that was when I said, "Until that bra comes, I'm  not running anymore."  And so, I used an exercise bike instead.  (I was not feeling very well that day, either, and couldn't stand the idea of running.)

Yesterday, as I waited for my husband to get home, I thought, Oh, goody, no running since that bra hasn't arrived.  And as I stood in the driveway chatting with my friend, the UPS truck drove up.  And the guy handed me the little yellow package and I knew I'd have to run again.

No more excuses.

Fifteen laps is a mile at my YMCA.  I ran the first seven laps, telling myself I couldn't, didn't want to, wouldn't . . . but I did.  Then, I walked three laps and ran three and walked the last two.  So, I ran ten out of fifteen laps.  And I have to report that the sports bra really did a terrific job of supporting me.  I felt quite comfortable.

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Do you measure yourself?  I haven't been a big fan of the measuring tape because it's so easy for me, as a squishy woman, to kid myself.  Pull that measuring tape a tad tighter and fool yourself into thinking you lost half an inch.  And if you measure ten different areas, you can add up the fractions of inches and fool yourself into thinking you're making progress, when really it's not so much.

But, I have to admit that a month ago, on September 25, I spontaneously whipped out the measuring tape and measured my bust, waist, thigh and hips.  I scrawled the numbers on my bathroom calendar on that date.  By then, I'd been exercising every day on my recumbent bike for ten days. 

Two and a half weeks later, I started working out at the YMCA in addition to my at-home cardio.  Two weeks after that, on September 27, I remembered to measure myself again.  As I wrapped the tape around me, I grimaced at the measurements.  I remember when my waist used to hover between 28 and 30 inches!  (And then, as a teenager, I thought I was fat!  Ha!) 

So, my 42-inch waist and my 44-inch bust measurements didn't impress me.  (I told you I was an apple!)    Until I looked back on the calendar and realized that I lost two inches from my bust, an inch from my waist, an inch and a half from my hips and a half inch from my thigh.  So, from those four areas, I lost five inches in a month.  (In that same time period, I've lost "only" 4.6 pounds.)

I'm aiming for at least a 34-inch waist, so I have much more work to do.  So, I'll keep the measuring tape near the bathroom and use it once a month, just to see my progress.  And I'll add an extra set of sit-ups.  Or two.

About Exercise

In my last post, I mentioned how important it is to not cram more calories into your mouth than you could ever hope to burn off.  I attempted to illustrate how easy it is to eat a tremendous amount of calories in a short amount of time.  In no way was that caution meant to imply that exercise is not vital to weight loss and maintenance.  In fact, unless you are completely paralyzed from the eyebrows down, you must exercise, preferably every day.

Check out this article by James Hill, PhD, one of the founders of the National Weight Control Registry.  He states: 

We could identify few commonly shared features of how these people [those on the Registry who maintained a weight loss of at least 30 pounds over a year] lost weight. The only common characteristic was that 89% of registry participants used both diet and physical activity to lose weight: only 10% used diet alone, and 1% used exercise alone.

If you really want to be a successful weight-loser, you must diet and you must exercise, unless you are like the elite one percent of people on the National Weight Control Registry who were able to lose over thirty pounds (and keep it off!) through exercise alone.  Likewise, diet alone might work, but not nearly as well as diet coupled with exercise.

The article describes "four types of behavior common to the National Weight Control Registry participants: 1) eating a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet; 2) eating breakfast almost every day; 3) frequent self-monitoring of weight; and 4) participation in a high level of physical activity."  In fact, " (o)nly 9% of registry participants reported keeping their weight off without engaging in physical activity."

I can tell you this.  I haven't focused on losing weight only to regain it all back next year.  So, I'm studying the characteristics of those who have done what I want to do--that is, reach my normal weight and then maintain it.

And my research tells me that daily strenuous exercise is in my future.  It's in my present, too, to speed me along to my future.

Which is why, last night, at 8:40 p.m., when my husband returned home, I drove to the YMCA so I could do my regularly scheduled work-out with the weight machines.  Then I jogged my half-mile on the track and did my push-ups and sit-ups.  I returned home an hour later.

I am committed to exercise.  I hope you are committed to exercise, too.  Find something that you are willing to do every day.  You don't even have to love it--you just have to do it. 

You'll love how you feel afterwards and you'll love being able to zip up smaller pants.

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I also want to note that yesterday, my husband and I took our four children, plus two others (age 2 and 4, almost), to the Western Washington Fair.  I intended to seek out Mexican food, thinking that would be my best nutritional bet, but as it turned out, I didn't have time to eat, so the only thing I consumed at the fair was a Diet Coke.  No scones.  No funnel cake (750 calories each!).  No giant cookies. 

And I had fun anyway!  Who knew?