I don't have a fancy graphic for this one. I'm just giving you straight up truth which is graphic enough.
Well, I'm on day five (well, six now I think) of concentrating on my water. I've hit my goal every day but I know I'm a long way from saying it's habit. We're taking this whole thing day by day. I'd be lying if I said from the time I mentioned the water issue last Thursday that we went back to all of our angelic habits but I'd be lying.
We did a lot of damage in a 2 1/2 week time period and this week is kind of a detox week for us. It will no doubt be the hardest week yet because we're used to having big sugar rushes daily and that chit is no joke to get the levels you became accustomed to out of your system. I'm not saying we're never having sugar again or anything unrealistic but we're getting back to pre-holiday weekday eating. Oh, this is where I have to caution people who are six full days into their new plan to please not try to sell me on your current weight loss voodoo. I've been at this a while...I know what needs done and how I want to do it. I don't mean to offend anyone who may just be finding me but trust me when I tell you there can be nothing more irritating than someone who has lost 10 lbs on a cleanse they've been on for 2 weeks to tell the woman who has lost 200+ pounds, how to lose weight. It happens every January.
If that sounded bitchy it's because it's the week before Aunt Flo and my fuse is shrinking so...
Anyhoo...
There are other plans in the works but that stuff will be revealed as our new approach is under our belts and there are actual results to report. Right now, I'm just looking forward to de-bloating, for my arms to not feel like tree trunks when I do speed bags, for the parts of me that filled out to deflate (though I will miss you, bloaty boobs. You can stay if you like) and to not feel like utter sluggish crap.
Do you have any post-holiday fitness success under your belt?
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I like the way things are going again. The key to success is bouncing back from failures and though we've had our share of failures, we have certainly learned how to bounce back from them. Also the fact that we continue to work out every day without fail is a testament to our commitment. How many people can say they worked out on Christmas day? We can!
ReplyDeleteYes we can! I'm proud that even though our eating went straight to the 7th circle of Hell that our exercise never wavered.
Deletehahhahaa bloaty boobs!
ReplyDeleteOh how I wish we could choose where our weight gain came back and stayed.
DeleteI love how honest you are about this. This is why your blog has been the first blogs I check every morning for months. I love reading your posts.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, no one has tried selling some diet plan to me. I'd laugh!
Thanks! You can always count on me to not blow rainbows up yer rump! ;-) Last year it was a woman telling me I should never eat sugar again because it was clear I was addicted (I won't argue that) and that included any fruits and not to buy anything with more than 2g of sugar in it. So basically I should eat dry oats and rocks. Mmm...satisfying.
DeleteIf dry oats and rocks works for her then let her eat them. Me? Nope, I need something with a little flavor to it and that won't break my teeth.
ReplyDeleteI'm trying very hard to get back on track and I'm kinda hoping my swollen sausage fingers will go back down to normal soon. I've done well on water for 4 days, but they still feel overstuffed.
*snort* - bloaty boobs
Word up. I need flavor as well and I'm not going to strike entire food groups off the list. Looks like we're both on the sausage fingers boat. I can't wait until my rings are loose again. We'll get there soon!
DeleteYes, need to get the sugar out. Only one day in but it was hard. I know it gets easier but I do believe today will be more of a struggle then yesterday then I should be good. Uggg it's to early to already by thinking like that.
ReplyDeleteI was expecting yesterday to be harder for me sugar wise than it was but I'm not going to lull myself into a false sense of security on that one. Sugar can be a real bugger and real it's addictive little head when you least expect it! Hang in there, we'll get through it together!
DeleteUmmm yeah... We're on day 7 of the New Year and I have yet to "get back on the wagon." I'm desperately trying to reel in the food, and doing ok with it, but forget the workouts... I need to get me arse in gear! Bloaty boobs! I wish I had that issue, HAHAHA!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to pep talk you or anything. All I'll say is ask yourself how you feel. For us, even though everything tasted SOOOO good, the feeling of sluggishness, lethargy, that gross full feeling all the time and bloating was enough to make us want to just get on with it. We looked like the Pillsbury dough couple. My gut feels like I have 10 bowling balls in it pulling down. Not fun. Oh I'm sure the bloaty boobs will be the first thing to go and they'll be back to their "helium balloon 5 days after the party" look! ;-)
DeleteI had my first post-holiday fitness sucess yesterday. I went back to the gym for the first time this year. I reduced my levels expecting to see a major loss in stamina, but the level I selected was almost too easy. It took me longer than expected to get my heart rate up. So, my first success was that I was in better shape than anticipated.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to post-holiday eating, I'm trying to reduce the number of times that I eat and the amount. Even if the quality of the food is good, I do not need a second breakfast or a mid-evening snack when I eat supper at 7:00 and I am in bed by 10pm. It has not been easy. I hate thinking I'm hungry!
That's awesome! Great job especially on being more fit than you anticipated. Always a nice surprise. Hunger, especially psychological hunger is the worst. I've been giving hot tea a go when I "think" I'm hungry. Works so far but we'll see how it goes long term.
DeleteI always love checking in to see how you've been doing - you're an incredible person to look up to and I love how honest you are about your journey - struggles, successes and all! Thank you for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Ashley! You're too kind. There are times I think I should maybe leave something out so as not to be a disappointment but I figure if I can lead by example even when it's hard, it might be what someone else needs to see.
DeleteStarted yesterday - back on sensible, healthly eating. 24 hours - so far so good!!!!
ReplyDeleteGood on ya! Keep it up!!
DeleteI'm on day 3 of getting back to exercising regularly. And also starting to try to cut out candy, etc. We'll see how that goes. My husband was on a 2 week vacay and when he goes on those I always gain 5-10lbs because I don't exercise like I normally do, and I seem to eat more sweets. Sucks, but there it is. :( Good luck with your new approach.
ReplyDeleteDarn those hubbies. Something about them being home makes you wanna be a little naughty! Congrats on day 3! Awesome!!
DeleteDay 6 starting here too. In the first 3 days I dropped 7 lbs., but haven't dropped a single ounce since then. I knew 7 lbs. was a lot in 3 days, but I also knew a lot of that fast weight I gained was bloat. Still fighting my stomach cramp episodes. Had some oatmeal for breakfast yesterday and added a little stevia for sweetening, and ended up with a terrific stomach ache. Do you think it's the artificial sweetener? I had given up diet pop, but in the last couple days, as the cramp-episodes have gotten fewer, I've had a couple Diet Squirts and even a couple of Diet Coke Zeros. I try to keep bottled water in my fridge (we refill our bottles--so it's not as UN-green as it sounds), but sometimes a cold glass of diet pop over ice just sounds so good. I remember when I first started, the changes I made were very gradual. I gave up sugared pop for the first 6 months and lost 20 lbs. That encouraged me, so I decided to try to eat better, but the changes were slow in coming. As the pounds came off, I started getting stricter with myself and that kept the pounds coming off. The last few weeks were really bad for me too, worse than they have been in the last four years, so the change this week is abrupt, but necessary. I don't have time or the patience to gradually work into a healthy lifestyle anymore!! I liked your description of feeling "doughy," cause that's how I feel. I don't even like looking in the mirror right now, I think my butt is bigger and I know my tummy is pudgier. Been walking at home with Leslie, due to the freezing cold temps, and feel good about getting back into the exercise routine. You are the smart one there, Anele, you and the Mr. NEVER quit the exercise routine. I just read something that said a skinny person who never exercises has a greater chance of a cardiac episode than an overweight person who DOES exercise. That is encouraging for those of us who are carrying too much weight, but still try to get our movement in. Glad you're back, you give me so much encouragement and motivation. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the loss! Bloat or not it's always good to have numbers off. I don't know what I've lost because the Mr and I agreed we likely would not be able to mentally handle the numbers right now. We know that we're not happy with our appearance and we know what ours bodies should look like when we're at a certain weight so we're focusing on those changes right now instead of the numbers on the scale. We have to approach this in a way that's best for our attitude and the scale's got no business in there for us right now.
DeleteI'm not sure if the Stevia is the issue or not but I don't care for it. It has a nasty aftertaste to me on it's own. So I will use one packet of that and one packet of Sweet and Low in my tea so I get up to 3 packets of the fake stuff and 3 of the natural stuff. They say it's not until you're consuming 20+ packets of the fake stuff that you should make a change, so I don't worry about it. I know diet soda is bad news all around. If you can get that stuff gone completely, it wouldn't be a bad thing. Good info to know about the exercise!
Here's the link to that article. http://www.sharecare.com/health/fitness-exercise/article/body-size-or-exercise-which-matters-most?eid=1010700142&memberid=33096403&_sid=0accb85e-696d-4b73-9222-324b5e3f4cf7&#cmpid=sceml00
DeleteLOL - I can't believe people try to tell you how to lose weight! I come here to get your advice and your encouragement!! Thanks again for the second post about water. I've been terrible, terrible, terrible with mine lately, so I really appreciate the motivation to make a positive change there by your example.
ReplyDeleteI found running a few years ago when I got serious about getting healthy, so this year I decided to do a running streak for the 34 days leading up to my 34th birthday. I promised myself I'd run at least one mile each day. I invited friends and family to join me, and they are either walking/running or are exercising a certain number of minutes each day. We have all commented on the fact that we are still hanging in there with the streak because we don't want to let each other down. Now, I just need to add my water intake to the streak! :-)
I'm glad I could remind you about the water. I know I need all the reminders I can get.
DeleteGreat job on the streak for you and your family/friends. Encourage them to jump on the water streak bandwagon too! :-)
You can have half of my boobs sister! I'll share! I have permanent "train tracks" in my shoulders from these dang j-cups! =o) Congrats on working on your water regimen. And I really liked how you said you guys were working on things "day by day". That is very much my philosophy...one day at a time. Planning is one thing, but you really do have to be in the moment and deal with one meal or one glass of water at a time. It can be too overwhelming otherwise. As for me, I've been sick for the past two days with a stomach bug of epic proportions and have been in the bathroom every 30 minutes for 2 straight days (including at work). I have no idea what it's from, but the hubs had it Saturday, but it only lasted that day. Mine is taking longer and I feel weak as a kitten. I can't drink enough without it coming right out of me (I know, tmi). But the nausea has passed for the most part, so that's a huge improvement. And my skin doesn't feel like it's on fire (odd since I never did have a fever). So I haven't done anything with my exercise routine this week. =o(
ReplyDeleteI'll take half those boobs lady, so you can stand up straight! ;-) Seriously, do you have back problems? That's quite the luggage to be carrying up top.
DeleteNo exercising while dealing with a bug? SLACKER! HA! Feel better!
I DO have back problems actually! My shoulders are rolled and wearing underwires helps a lot with the shoulder strain, but then the wires dig in to my skin underneath so then that hurts. To be a C or even D cup would be ideal for me. And oddly enough, with the weight I've lost (even at my lowest on this particular journey) the cup size never went down, only the band size. And I'm a stomach sleeper so I have to keep a pillow under me so my back doesn't sway. I'm a hot mess =o)
DeleteSpeaking of aunt Flo... do you have any strategies to beat her bloat? I gain 5 lbs of water weight every month thanks to her. Luckily it goes away, but still! Anyway, thanks for being real with us. I look forward to seeing what you guys have in store the next few months!
ReplyDeleteAll I've ever heard is to drink an obscene amount of water to help flush it out, eat bananas and other potassium rich foods and make sure to exercise even if it's the last thing you want to do.
DeleteI'm curious if you've ever tried any of the water concoctions that I see.... the sassy water - with cucumber, mint, ginger or the apple cinnamon water. Both tout that they are cleansing and help with weight loss.
ReplyDeleteI tried every kind of flavored water and none of it appeals to me. It actually makes me drink it less because I'm a weirdo. I can't get into flavored drinks in general. Like teas and stuff. I wish I could but if it works for others, drink up baby!
Delete