Game - Set - Match

So last weekend I continued my foray into getting more active.  I walked over 3 miles twice more and continued doing crunches. I also took advantage of an offer from my cousin to go and play some tennis. It felt so good to get out on the court and hit the ball around for a while. We ended up playing for 2.5 hours which made it great exercise as well.

I played tennis in high school but haven't played very much since then.  I'm not very good but I did manage to keep up with my cousin, who is a far better player than I will ever be. (Especially my backhand!) 

I share this to say that it is making me think about what other ways I can change up my exercise program. In the past when I try to exercise I have tended to get in a rut, doing the same thing every time.  Clearly, walking (and eventually running) needs to figure prominently since I am also training to trek in the mountains.  However, I'd also like to work in some alternative exercise such as tennis and yoga to keep things a little more interesting. 

I'm still struggling with my crazy, crazy schedule right now but I'm trying to work in the exercise when I can. I certainly feel better on the days when I can exercise and I also find that I'm sleeping better.

I also went back to Weight Watchers (finally!) tonight. I'm pleased to report that I'm up to a total of 12 lbs. lost so far! 

So how do you like to exercise? What motivates you to keep working out?

Week in Review

 

So I am heading here in just a few hours :).  But before I do I wanted to do a little bit of a week in review post to capture some of my current thoughts.

The Good:
**I walked 3 miles and did 100 crunches 3 times this week.  Up until now I haven't added in any coordinated exercise routine. It felt good to get out and stretch my muscles again.  I figure that since I'm losing weight and also training to trek in the Himalayas every step I take in training is a step in my journey!

**I took my  lunch every day this week.  I haven't officially started Weight Watchers again but I know that most fruit and vegetables are 'free' points now so I've been trying to get ahead and eat a lot of those with my lunch. They are filling and good for you!

**I have started working in drinking water to my daily routine.  I would say three out of five days this week I managed to drink an extra 16-20 ounces of water over what I normally drink.  Obviously that needs to go up, but it's a start!

Needs Improvement:
**Well next week my goal is to do for my dinners what I did for my lunches (ie. get them under control).  I continue to believe that the last 30-40 lbs. that I have gained are almost all related to my lifestyle.  Eating on the go, not cooking for myself, not exercising..etc.  So some of this weight will come off just by changing those things (clearly to take off all of it I will have to do more than that, though).  My dinners this week were a struggle as I ate out for four of five and the fifth one I cheated and got a ready to eat meal at Wegmans!

Goals for Next Week:
**Eat dinner at home at least 2 nights (with a real home-cooked meal).  Hopefully each week I can increase the amount of days I eat at home by one but this week we'll start with two!

**Increase my daily water intake.  I'd like to try to double what I am drinking now.

**Work out again 3 times and play tennis with my cousin!  I do realize that I can't always rely on walking for my fitness (boring!).  Tennis, yoga, fitness classes...something will have to be thrown in to change it up a bit!

All in all a pretty good week.  Coincidentally it was also a quiet week at work. We'll see what happens when that starts up in full speed again.  I weighed myself on Monday and was down a total of 11.4 lbs.  After my disastrous dinners though I gained a pound and a half back by Wednesday (now you know why it wasn't a weigh in Wednesday).  But this morning I'm back down again and actually at 11.8 lbs!

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

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Weigh-in Wednesday

Enough about perspective, it's time to update you on how I am actually doing.  Well...see that is why perspective is so important.  Strictly speaking I'm still down 3.2 lbs from where I started this journey (down at least 8 lbs from my highest weight) but that is a couple pounds higher than I was last time.

That is why perspective is so important and also why I'm not ONLY measuring my success by the scale.  See in the last few weeks I've traveled twice and when I was home, I had a very busy schedule.  That's one of my big problems right now, I don't always have complete control over what I'm eating (I can, of course, control portions though).  Looking back over the last few weeks and where I've been I am actually pleased that I'm doing as well as I am.

A couple other good things:

• I've been making healthier choices even when I go out.  I've been trying to skip fried foods if at all possible.  Today I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich. I love grilled chicken but usually when I go out that is when I give in and get a fried chicken sandwich. Today I restrained myself, and I didn't force myself to finish the meal. I stopped when I was full!
• I haven't been able to get on a regular walking schedule yet, but in LA and certainly last weekend in Michigan I had days with extensive walking. In fact, the day I got to LA I went out to explore the city on foot so I could work in a little exercise!
• Tonight I went for a swim when I got home. Swimming laps and treading water is great exercise!
• I've been taking my lunch almost every day (except today when I left it at home) and eating lots of fruit with my sandwich.

This whole move to get healthier encompasses more than just my weight. I also realize that I am just too busy. I'm trying to fix that but I'm involved in a number of things with commitments right now so it's going to take a little time to get my schedule evened out a bit.  It's easy as a single person to over-commit yourself. No one is waiting at home for me so I just keep saying yes.  Part of this process is realizing that its better to do a few things and do them well than to try to be all things to all people.

Next week I hope to have taken off those couple extra pounds and I see no reason why I won't do that. I'm taking this one day and one decision at a time...

Just for fun...a photo I took in LA.

Weigh In Wednesday

I've been a little distracted so I haven't had a chance to update the blog.  But I haven't been distracted from my goals.  Today is "Weigh-in Wednesday" and I'm pleased to report that since last week I've lost 3.4lbs! Yay!  I know that it won't come off that easily always but it's an excellent start.  (And actually from the highest weight I've lost about 10 lbs!)

Today I want to write a little bit about mission statements.  Mission statements are very common in business and organizations.  What do they do?  They outline the purpose of that organization and helps them to stay on track.  It also helps them to outline how they want to do something.  For example Nike's mission statement is:  To bring inspiration and innovation to every athlete in the world. 

Mission statements can be company-wide or project-specific.  Again, in my work life setting mission statements has been tremendously helpful in achieving success.  So I decided to set a personal mission statement to help me achieve these goals.  It encompasses all my goals in a succinct way:

I will work to combine the promise I made to my mom before she passed away (to lose weight) with my deep desire to travel off the beaten path while raising money and awareness to help find a cure for cancer.

More to come...

Goal #1

I promise I will share what my second goal is soon.  I'm trying to be deliberate in how I tell this story so you will know that this decision isn't just a whim.  That one will be a bit of a surprise for people...so I want to make sure I share my thought pattern behind it.

My first BHAG is to lose weight.  Well actually to 'lose weight' isn't really a BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal).  My BHAG is how much I want to lose.  I have a number, which I'll share at the end but to put it into a percentage, I am trying to lose 50% of my current body weight.  Yikes!  Yes, that's a lot of weight but it wouldn't be a BHAG if it wasn't Big, right?

I've given this a lot of thought and want to make sure that the process is healthy, realistic and attainable. I've been tripped up many times in the past by trying to do too much at once.  My goal is about 6 lbs. per month or 18 lbs. per quarter.  It will probably come off faster than that at the beginning and much slower than that at the end. I'm not too concerned with the exact timing as long as I trend that way over many months.

I want to say right now that I'm NOT ON A DIET! :)  I'm making a healthy lifestyle change.  A diet is a short-term thing and this is something that I'm doing that will impact me for a much longer term.  As such, nothing is off limits (so please...no food police - "are you supposed to be eating that?") as long as the portions are in reason.  Of course, over time I will naturally start to select healthier eating options but I'm not making any drastic cuts. I am trying to limit my intake of some things (ie. mochas only on special occassions-drink hot tea instead, and severely cutting down on pop).  In mid-August I plan to go back to Weight Watchers with my dad who is also joining me on this journey of weight loss.  I've had success with their plan before and they follow my theory of nothing being off limits as long as you account for it.

I do have some exercise goals as well but those are more related to my other idea so more on that later.  Since I'm doing this in honor of my mom, I've decided that every quarter that I reach my goal I will donate some $$ the American Cancer Society to help find a cure for that nasty, nasty disease.

So friends, I have a much more detailed plan, but I'll be weighing in on Wednesdays and plan to keep you updated. I'm pleased to report that the first week of this (which started before the blog) I lost 2 lbs! :)  Making healthy choices, taking one step at a time and having an undiminished faith that with God's blessing I can accomplish this I believe will bring me success.  Thanks for all the wonderful support.  More to come soon!