back off the couch

I'm in Austin for a couple of days to meet with some pastors around here. This is where my weight loss journey took a detour last October or November. I have been trying to recover from that detour ever since. It is hard to stay healthy here because there are so many new things to eat and do and I have friends here that I like to drink with and stuff. I have been pretty good so far... I ran today, which I never even thought of doing last time I was here. I really need to learn to just be healthy no matter where I am or what I am doing. That is my focus on this trip.

I started back on my couch to 10K running project on Sunday. I ran today around Dell and it started out really easy. I was proud of myself because of how easy it was... then I turned around and realized that I had been running downhill the whole time. The way back was pretty rough, but I made it! I'll be back home soon and into the gym and my regular routine again (or at least working on making the gym a regular routine :) ). I had a breakfast bar this morning and I'm gonna eat a salad for lunch so I can indulge a little bit tonight if I want. But... so far so good!

too much rev. todd

so I decided to go to the gym instead of weight watchers today. It turned out that it had to be one or the other so I hit the gym and will go to WW in Friday or Sat. I weighed myself on the scale at the gym which is usually higher than the WW scale and I did it after my workout which usually seems to be higher than before I work out. The scale said what I was afraid of... 260. I am going to work very hard and hopefully the WW number will be a pound or two less than that. I wanted to see as high a number as possible so that I will be as motivated as possible. It's always hard for me to get going again after taking time off. But I'm eating very well today and have already worked out so this is going to be a + day!

On another note… i have like 2 pairs of jeans that I wear most every day. One of them is a bit too small and the other is wearing out (my big toe got caught in a hole this morning and made a minor problem a bit bigger). So I have decided that I’m not going to buy any new jeans that are the same size as the ones I am wearing. I will wear these until I can fit into the next smaller size (which I think is a 36). So either i am going to drop a size pretty quick or I am going to wear increasingly deteriorating jeans along with my uncomfortable ones… or I will lose weight and my other jeans will fit better and I can buy some new ones that are smaller. Just another step in making health more comfortable than habit.

lesson learned and facing the music

well, I took it easy last week and it was probably a good thing. Halfway through the first church service on Sunday I was absolutely exhausted. I was still not feeling very well, but I never got sick enough to stop working or stop doing anything, I just didn't work out. So, on Sunday I felt awful and Monday was even worse. It's funny that worship services take so much energy out of me, but I always try to "leave it on the field" so to speak. Well I have been very intentional in my resting and I feel tons better today, so I'll be back at it tomorrow I think. I have come to a few realizations...

1. I eat very unhealthy when I'm sick. I don't know if it is the convenience factor or what but I have cravings when I am sick that I never have when i feel well. I seem to have less self control too, so I give into them. I never realized this before, but looking back on it this is why getting sick puts me so far back. Maybe it is memories of getting whatever I wanted when I was young and didn't feel well and so I treat myself the same way now... who knows!

2. I saw a video of myself today speaking at a conference last weekend. Ouch... nothing like that to give you a huge wake up call! I look terrible!!! I'm very motivated to go to the gym tomorrow, I just don't want to relapse or anything.

3. I'm gonna go weigh in tomorrow... I have eaten very badly and not done any excercise so I'm looking at a 3 - 5 pound gain I'm afraid, but I'm gonna face the music. I thought about using my week off coupon and not weighing in, but I really don't want to take it easy on myself. Being sick is no excuse... I made some very bad decisions and I need to break that pattern next time I'm sick.

this week

well this week my progress has been +++-- I had just a bit of a bad day yesterday because of Valentines shenanigans. I actually feel like I am going to do pretty well this week when i weigh in on Monday. I've been eating well so far today, but I've been feeling quite a bit worse, so i guess the whole lifting when i'm sick thing didn't work out for me. I did go to the allergy doctor and got some medicine that will hopefully help me deal with my allergies better so that I stay well more often. We will see how the weekend goes, I'm contemplating working out today, but since I felt worse after working out the other day, i'm not sure if i will or not. If I do, I can turn that last minus to a plus... but for now i am just going to assume that I will rest. Plus, my supervisor is coming to see me work on Sunday, so I'm a little nervous about that and i want to be on top of my game!

+ for yesterday and + for today I hope

I am going to give myself a + for yesterday even though I didn't workout. I did keep track of my points and I did stay within them so i think it was a positive day for losing weight. With some help from my friends I have decided to try to go lift or at least take a walk when I'm sick and at least see how that goes. Changing behavior is the only way to break a pattern, so it might now work, but at least I am failing at a different action! I am eating well today and I am about to go lift at the gym and will skip the cardio cuz of my cough. So far so good. Also, I am going to the allergy doctor tomorrow to see if there is something he can do. I think allergies are a big cause of my getting sick ever since I've been living here among the farmlands the last couple of years. So we will see what happens with that.

Breaking patterns

I’m running into a bad pattern right now. Many times when I begin to workout after not working out in a while, I get sick. I never know how much to do when I get sick and I usually don’t do anything except try to get better. I get behind in work and things in that time and then it is a while before I get back in the gym again. This kind of thing happens quite a bit. So my question to all of you is: Should you work out when you are getting sick or are sick? Does it make it harder to get better, or does it speed the recovery process by getting your body going? When I don’t feel well, it is easier than ever to make excuses why I shouldn’t work out. I really want to do what will work the best so if any of you have any advice, I’d love to hear it!

+ and -

So I'm going to try to post every day for a while till i get back on track. Every day i am going to give myself a + if I

1. Keep track of what I eat

2. Eat healthy

3. Work out

If I don't... I will give myself a - for the day

Today is a + I hope I get get a streak going! That seems to be the way i work the best!

I caved in

so... obviously I have done a terrible job at keeping up with the whole weight loss thing. I suck so bad at this! If I didn't... I wouldn't be in this situation I guess. I am going to keep trying and trying and since I am so bad... I caved in. I joined Weight Watchers with my girlfriend who only needs to lost like 10 pounds ( I think she's trying to support me more than anything, but she always talks about how she has to lose weight.) So at the first meeting... I hadn't gained as much back as I had thought... 10 pounds... but in the fist week I lost 3.5 so it's not too bad of a backslide. I am hoping that going to these meetings and paying every week and counting points like a little idiot, will help me in my miserable failure of weight loss. I'm just going to post last weeks weight and we will go from there... the last two meetings I have stayed at the same weight. I'm hoping for a loss this week. I went to the gym a couple of times and have been counting points a little better. I'm so bad at this! I hate keeping track of stuff but that's what I get for my unhealthy habits. More next week. I'll do better at the blogging I promise!