Every Other Day Diet

I read an article in Oxygen yesterday about research done on a new diet. Its got many different names and everyone that comes out with a new plan for it just changes small details. Its sometimes call Intermittent Fasting (IF). But the basics are this:

- Every other day you eat only 500 calories. ("fast day")

- On the "feast" day you can eat whatever you want.

- You work out regularly whether its a fast or feast day

- You drink lots of water throughout.

The article states that fasting for half the week, essentially, is the optimal way to only take in the small amount of calories you need when you're dieting, without limiting yourself all the time. It found that the people that were eating this way would not overeat as much as you'd think they would on their fest days because they were becoming more aware of how it felt to be full and they'd stop.

I did something similar to this a year or so ago - it was called the 1-Day diet. It consisted of only protein waters (a specific concoction of protein powder, green tea, cinnamon, etc) drunk every 1.5 hrs throughout the day, with no other "real" food eaten on those fast days. You would do this every other day for a month for optimal weight loss. I lasted a week or so. I did lose the weight quickly, including inches, but I found that I became almost obssessive about food and would so look forward to my "days off" that I would binge on things that would make me sick. Then the following day, on my protein water day, I would feel sick from the day before and also be irritable because I was restricting my food so much.

So much of eating is psychological. Even if I wasn't hungry throughout the day, the fact that I couldn't actually chew food, real food, killed me! I had considered doing this diet again to see if I could stick it out, but I just hadn't gotten around to it.

I always wondered how healthy this approach was and I was happy to see that someone had taken the time to research the different ways to do it and had come up with compelling research to show that it actually was a healthy way to lose weight (as long as you aren't nursing, pregnant, ill, etc).

While 500 calories a day, every other day, seems crazy, I look at it this way: My salad at lunch is normally around 250 calories. I could eat a salad for lunch and then another salad at dinner. Sure, it won't be fun, and I won't like it. It will be a challenge. But what if it actually works? Now that I know its not detrimental to my health, I'm absolutely willing to try it again!

This week I have to go to training in Issaquah, which means I'll have to bring my food to work with me. This may be the perfect opportunity to try this. We'll see how it goes!

Monday Start-Over

When I was growing up I always thought of Monday as a start-over. I wanted to start practicing piano everyday - I'll start on Monday. I really should focus more on reading or my studies - I'll start on Monday. I want to give up meat - I'll start on Monday.

I'm not sure why Monday is the beginning for me. One wold think that Sunday would hold the same value since its the beginning of the week. But Monday has always been the beginning of my week.

And now I'm going to do it again - the last couple weeks have been really hard for me in terms of my fitness goals. I'm not sure why. But tomorrow is another Monday I'm starting over again.

No shame or guilt about the past couple weeks or what I didn't accomplish. Just a fresh start. Again.

What else are Mondays for anyway??

Biggest Loser

Speaking of the game.... Biggest Loser wrapped up a week ago. The results were to be expected- the person I thought was going to win did. But the amount of weight she lost was shocking. She started at 260 lbs and ended up at 105 lbs. The backlash was instant. At the finale she looked frail and guant, not the strong person she had been just the week before (4 wks in real time). 

The reactions from everyone, including a couple of the trainers, was that of shock:

The general reaction was that Rachel was much too thin to be considered healthy. Some viewers were enraged that the show would allow it- that in the future there should be a rule against someone being underweight. 

My opinion is that this was a game for $250,000 and Rachel wanted to win. On another level I think it's obvious that she had a problem with food before, and that's how she had intimately gained so much weight. Now... She still probably had a problem with food- but the opposite issue. She is afraid to eat and when she does, she feels the need to work off those calories immediately. 

I'm not going to judge her because I don't know the whole story. I am amazed at the transformation and inspired to keep on my journey- but I do hope the girl was determined to get this small for the money, and will ultimately add a little more lean muscle to her tiny frame. I think her being underweight for a short period of time is healthier than her being overweight for what could have been the rest of her life. 

Back in the Groove

My dad came to visit last week. It was great having him here. We tackled the office and renovated that room by taking out a closet and then putting up shelves and a desk in its place. Dad also put up a ceiling fan in the office and took down the ceiling fan in the dining room to put up a pretty light. After he left halfway through the week, I still had 2 days of painting and floor installation. All in all, the office looks so much better and this weekend I finished painting the trim so that I can finish the floors now. 

The downfall of all this is that my workout and eating routine was interrupted. Stopping work halfway through for a 2 hr period to go to the gym just wasn't an option. At all. And eating healthy was so difficult when I'm the only one that is watching my calories. So last week was a complete bust. 

I made it a point this week to really get back on the ball. I'm very proud of my efforts. I worked out 4 days and was very careful about my food all week. I even went out to eat on Wednesday night and still stayed within my calorie range by making healthy decisions. I didn't lose any weight this week, but I didn't gain any either. And since last week was so terrible, I'm just happy about that!

I'm trying so hard to remember that my goal is to get healthier and feel good about myself and that I don't have to put a date stamp on it. I don't need to be a certain size or weight by a specific date. I can just keep making good decisions and if I lose weight one week- that's great! If I don't, that's ok too. As long as I'm still in the game psychologically. 

Progress

As of last Sunday (1/12/14), I have lost 5lbs. It's not much, but to see any progress at all when you're starting out is a huge accomplishment. It makes me feel like I'm actually able to achieve some goals. It's feels amazing to look back at all my hard work these last couple weeks and to know that it wasn't in vain. 

Too often I think I get so caught up in instant gratification that even when I know my long term goals are the more important ones, I still become overwhelmed when I don't see the needle move at all. I have to remember at these times that progress will happen, but I have to be patient. The important thing is that I feel good about myself when I'm working hard. 

This week, there were days that I didn't want to go to the gym after work. I was tired, I was in a bad mood, I just wanted to stay home and relax instead of feeling like I go straight from work to working out, to coming home to shower, to eating and then straight to bed to do it all over again the next day. But a strange thing happened- about midway through the week, I wanted to go to the gym. (Now, I still WENT to the gym at the beginning of the week, I just didn't want to go.) I distinctly remember around 3:00 on Wednesday, I couldn't wait for the day to be over just so I could go to the gym. I've always heard that working out gives you more energy, makes you happy, makes you sleep better, etc. Now I haven't quite been feeling the benefits of energy and sleeping well, but for the first time this week, I made the connection between working out and lifting my mood. I was just on a grumpy mood this week during the day. But after I put in a good hour at the gym, I felt infinitely better. I didn't snap at Katie, I didn't become overwhelmed with my stir-crazy dogs, I didn't become emotional about how I looked and felt. In fact, I felt great! I was sore and tired and able to eat a small portion of ice cream even! I know it will only get better. And right now, I'm just really happy about that!

So now I have a 3 day weekend and how will I spend it? I'm very excited to hit the gym tomorrow- it felt almost wrong not going today! I want to get in a good workout and then take some laps in the pool- it's a great workout and it also relaxes me at the same time. Then hopefully the weather cooperates and I can take my crazy dogs on a walk or to the park or something. 

And since I owe myself a 5# reward- it's movie marathon weekend! We're gong to spend a day just relaxing and watching movies. Right now it's between a Twilight marathon and Disney movies. So excited to get a good workout in that morning and then do nothing else for the rest of my day!

Progress. That's all I need- progress!

Planning

Another week down and I'm feeling so good about myself. I worked out 4 days last week and 3 days this week. And that was at the gym. That doesn't even include the active stuff we did over the weekend with the dogs. I have been super careful about my calorie intake and I've only been over calories a couple times this week. So much better than usual. 

I also went to another gym today. My gym membership allows me access to all their facilities and I happen to be smack in between 2 of them. So I tried the one I hadn't been to yet. The layout was very simple and the other gym is definitely prettier structurally. But this one wasn't nearly as busy. I think I'll probably go back to this one at least until the January crowd does down.  

All in all, a great week and I'm gearing up for a great weekend!

Goals & Rewards

I've already discussed my reasons for wanting to lose weight. Now I wanted to share some ideas of how to keep myself motivated. I noticed that I always want to reward my good behavior with food, and this is clearly not a good idea. So what else can I reward myself with? Well, lots of things, turns out. So below is my list of gifts to MYSELF when I accomplish these weight loss goals:

5 lb - movie marathon night


10 lb - new DVD




15 lb - new pair of jeans






20 lb - piece of furniture for the home




25 lb - Pt Townsend trip



30 lb - clothes shopping trip



35 lb - spa trip



40 lb - Portland weekend



45 lb - piercing



50 lb - Vegas trip




55 lb - clothes shopping trip



60 lb - tattoo
 
          

Hawaii trip
 


GOAL WEIGHT - piece of jewelry (ring?) as a daily reminder of my journey and how far I've come


At 20lb, 35lb, and 50lb and of course GOAL WEIGHT - Katie and I are going to celebrate with dinner at our favorite restaurant, Adriatic Grill.




I'm also toying around with some rewards for the following goals:

- Run a 5k
- Run a 10k
- Run a Half Marathon
- Run a marathon
- complete a triathlon
- complete Insanity
- complete a fundraising bike ride
- become completely vegetarian (no meat for 3 consecutive months)
- no fast food (for 3 consecutive months)

Resolutions

This is the time that everyone makes resolutions. Studies show that a surprising percentage of us will not actually achieve the goals we set out with in January. I would love to be in the minority and actually look back a year from now and decide that I did accomplish my goals and stuck with my resolutions.

I don't like to make specific resolutions because then if I don't accomplish exactly, word-for-word what I had resolved, I feel like a failure. So my resolutions just happen to be rather vague. But for me, they're still very important:

1.) Make healthier choices. Live my life with purpose and make choices that are healthy for me. This means healthier choices regarding what I eat, my activity level, in my relationships, in my finances. Everywhere. Its not specific, but I think resolving to actually think through choices instead of just going with whatever is easiest is one of the more difficult things I could have chosen. So hopefully in a year I will look back and see that a change has definitely occurred.

2.) Take more pride in my appearance. A friend of mine and I had discussed this years ago. At the time, she felt that she always rushed through her morning routine, preferring to sleep in just 5 more minutes.... just 10 more minutes... just 20 more minutes, until she was running late and showing up to work with damp hair and thrown together outfits. She decided to take more pride in her appearance and now, years later, she's my most fashionable friend. She always looks put-together, as if she put some kind of thought into her outfit. At the time, I thought I tried just the right amount every morning. Now that time has passed, and I've put on weight, I can definitely see a big difference between me at that point and myself now. So another resolution will be to take pride (again) in my appearance. I will always wear sweatpants at home and ratty t-shirts to the gym. But there's no excuse for going to the grocery store, doctor, Target, etc looking like I just don't care. The truth is that I DO care. I just don't know how to dress this body anymore. And I don't really want people to look at me because I'm so insecure with myself. That is all going to change. Now that my Tiny Pride is starting to blossom, I'm going to be excited to look nice!

3.) Don't give up. I know at some point I'm going to want to throw in the towel. And this message is for the Me that will want to give up in a few months:
Don't do it. Don't give up. I know times right now may be hard. Maybe work has become difficult or relationships have soured. Maybe life is just overwhelming, with the dogs and cats, cleaning, laundry, making food. Maybe it seems like counting calories and working shouldn't be high on the priority list. Listen to me - these things matter. And eating whatever you want will not change the fact that you are busy, there are never enough hours in a day, and its always more fun to just sit and relax. Skipping workouts will not make you feel better. It will all make you feel worse. I promise you that. Don't make this mistake again - don't give up and slip into your old habits. Make all this pain that you've endured so far worth it. You deserve MORE than fast food and lethargy.

Tiny Pride

I'm going to just start off by saying that I am pretty darn proud of myself this week.

Not only was I especially careful about what I ate all week, but I also worked out 4 times this week - and here's the kicker - I worked out AFTER work. That shouldn't seem like the most difficult part of it all, but for me it definitely is. Once I get it in my mind that I'm tired, and just don't want to work out, it typically doesn't happen. I normally can justify ANYTHING to get out of a workout. But this week it wasn't even an option - I wanted to work out. So after work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and today I headed to the gym. I put in hard work and I feel really good about it. My body is so sore, but for the first time in a long time, I have this tiny little pride starting to build again.

I realized for me that part of actually making myself go to the gym is knowing ahead of time that I'm going to make every excuse possible to get out of it, and being ready to squash those excuses.

I don't have time: I've got nothing else planned. Katie's on board with my workout schedule, so she definitely won't stop me. I would just be sitting on the couch if I didn't go.

I don't have any clothes. Clothes, shoes, headphones, towel, etc are all laid out and/or packed in a bag ready to go.

I don't have a plan. I wrote out an entire plan for January for my workouts - including a rest day on Monday.

I just don't feel like it. Tough shit. You're going.

:)

Its like dealing with a 4 year old, I tell ya! I'm just glad its me I'm dealing with and not someone else because I'm already annoying myself.

So all in all, this week was good and it makes me really hopeful for the next couple weeks!