DK's Training Journal

I had another great morning today. Like Monday, I got up at 5 and hit the spinning class. I followed the class with weights and swimming. I typically swim 20 lengths. Monday I did 22 and today I was able to knock out 24. I have eaten well today and really I don’t feel like I have faced a lot of temptations over the past couple of days. Hopefully this is a sign of getting into a routine. On Monday I ate well and finished off my day by heading out the door that evening for a 1.5m jog. I hadn’t run in a very long time and it felt pretty good. I want to try and do this more often on MWF nights. Of course, I played basketball on Tuesday morning and could feel the effect of the previous night’s run as I tried to get into the game.

Today I was thinking about why things are off to such a better start this time around than previous “life changes”. I think one of the key components is the fact that I’m trying to holistically improve my life. Also, I have really tried to make a commitment to myself that I can do this and that I can keep the long term goal in mind. I have been trying to journal every day. I’m tracking my calories and visiting the MFP site a lot. The site is amazing in that so many people are sincerely trying to change their lives for good. It is inspiring to read about daily successes. One of the best successes I have read about was from a woman who has lost over 150lbs. Seriously, you read that correctly, 150lbs. It is amazing to think someone can have that type of self-motivation and determination to accomplish such a lofty goal. When asked about her “secret to success” she replied with the following response:

“It really was quite a journey. I was 280 pounds on February 14, 1994. It took me about 2 years to lose 120 pounds. Which, at 5'9" and 160 pounds, I was happy with my weight! I became a gym goer about 10 years ago and REALLY enjoy it....before I knew it, I was in the 130's. I learned SO MUCH about myself and my inner strengths during the last 14 years, that I really do thank God for the opportunity to have had that journey to go through (although, it didn't always feel like that, then :-) I read a note that "Tamtastic" left on someone's log yesterday, and I have said it myself, at least a million times....when you're losing weight the right way (no pills, gimicks, etc.) by a good diet and moderate exercise, something really does "click" in your brain. It was KNOWING that the weight would eventually come off, that was the true exciting thing! I think almost more exciting than reaching my set weight goal~I even remember thinking, as I approached my weight loss goal, "OMG, what will I do now"? How I wish this site was available back then!!! I relied on my own charts and calorie books to keep track of things and I did a lot of studying on what foods did in the body. I ate between 1400-1800 calories a day, drank lots-o-water, and walked in my neighborhood. I never denied myself of things that I wanted, but I kept no "junk" in the house....if I wanted something junky, I would have to go out and get it. But I will say that I developed more of an "eat to live", instead of "live to eat", mentality.....sweet things tasted good, but I knew that they would mess with my insulin levels and make me ultimately hungrier in the long run. I made sure that each meal I ate had a combo of carbs/protein/fat~carbs for immediate energy and protein/fat would provide energy when the carbs "wore" off. I changed the way I looked at plateaus. My weight would remain the same for weeks at a time, sometimes even months. Now, if I had been starving myself, this really would be depressing. But I wasn't. I loved the food I was eating! So, a plateau meant that I was successfully maintaining different weight points instead of yo-yo-ing around a number. Really, the most difficult thing that I think people have with weight loss, is the time it SHOULD require to lose. I gave myself all the time I needed and made small changes in my life, every month, and those "baby steps" have turned me into someone I would not have dreamt of becoming when I was in my 20's!”

I can really relate with some of the items she points out in her response. First, I love to read about nutrition and learn what I can about food and the impact it has on our bodies. Also, I am a freak when it comes to setting goals and recording every final number. The final thing that grabs my attention in this is that I need to have faith that if I make good choices, the weight will come off. I just have to believe it will come off.  

It is Monday morning and I feel like I’m off to a great start following a good weekend. Friday was a solid day and I didn’t face much temptation. That evening my brother and I went to Batman and on the way home he asked to stop at a gas station to grab a soda. This isn’t uncommon for us, but I am trying to eat better and instantly began thinking “I can buy a diet soda”. Yet, as I went inside I realized I simply wasn’t hungry or tempted. Why do I even need a soda at all? As a result, I passed on getting anything. It felt great to simply pass. I got home and had a big glass of ice water.

Saturday was a good day. I have planned since day one to have one “free” meal a week. We were going to have a party that evening at a friend’s house and I knew they were going to serve dinner and dessert. As a result I planned on that being my free meal. That morning I got up and ate a great breakfast—healthy but very filling. We were heading out of town for a church event and I planned by packing healthy snacks and ensuring I wasn’t hungry. It was a good thing as the event I attended offered up cookies and they looked great! I was able to pass twice (once as they offered them and second as my two year old finished with over half left and tried to get me to eat it.

On the way home we stopped at a restaurant with two other families and I faced my first restaurant temptation. I literally felt strong but found myself justifying how a burger could be healthy. It sounded great and I stood in line thinking, I have eaten well, the burger isn’t terrible and my free meal for the week is in 3 hours—I can eat this. Fortunately—perspective prevailed as I begrudgingly ordered the salad and sat down and enjoyed that. Hopefully next time it will be easier.

Today I got on the scale and determined I was down 5 pounds from the same weigh in last week. That is a great feeling and it was very rewarding to look back and realize I won a lot of small battles. It is funny how that increases your self esteem in itself. This morning I woke at 5 am, I hit a spinning class, lifted and swam. I feel great right now and feel totally prepared to attack my day.  

It is Friday morning and as I review my eating over the week I can proudly state that it is the best week I have had in a very long time. Here is what gets me, I have tried me best to record every calorie I have eaten or burned into MFP. What is scary, is on some days where I feel I ate smart and healthy—I still pushed 2500-3000 calories. While that seems like such a high number to me (it is too high), I just think if I weren’t tracking the calories and limiting what I eat—I could be eating 5 or 6 thousand calories without batting an eye. Here is where insanity plays into my previous failures. I always looked at myself as genetically being disadvantaged for weight loss. After all, several people in my family are overweight and so am I. I would ask myself—why am I not losing weight when I so active. I exercise a great deal during a week. This week I have had an epiphany to realize that I’m overweight due to my choices not due to my genes. This week I’m exercising hard and eating clean and I’m getting the negative net calories I would want each day. Yet, if I were eating how I previously ate—scientifically it would be easy to see that I’m simply taking in more calories than I can burn. A coworker told me once that it is impossible to out work a bad diet. I have debated that statement for a long time but I’m starting to realize—yes it may be impossible. More importantly, I have learned that if I eat good (I emphasize good and not great or perfect), I’m going to lose weight. The challenge for me is to eat good.

Overall, I’m happy with my week. I had some really tough temptations that while appearing to be insignificant—they were big to me. My wife made cookies one day and those are my weakness. I have fallen off the wagon more than once thinking I’m eating well enough to justify a cookie. I eat one and it is like a slippery slope where I start finding it easier and easier to snack. To my wife’s credit she halved the batch so there wouldn’t be extras lying around. To my credit, I almost took one—and resisted and am thrilled thinking about that victory. There have been a few moments like that this week. Another small victory for me is that I have been pretty good at exercising. I have been to a couple of spinning classes and I have swum twice and lifted weights. I have also played basketball a couple of times and felt more energy during these games. In fact, on Wednesday I got up at 5am and went spinning, lifting and swimming and was back before 8am. That was the best feeling I had all week. If I’m to continue doing this—I have to get to sleep. The last two nights I was up past midnight.

The best part of the week is I have lost some weight. I’m down ten pounds which is not unusual for me when I eat well as I exercise so much. I’m making sure I continue to lift weight and drink a lot of water to ensure I feel full. Now my challenge is the weekend. Weekends have no structure and I’m not close to my PC. It is going to be hard to be disciplined for my first weekend and yet, I keep thinking—if I can be strong for a couple of weeks—it will become a habit. I’m going with my family out of town—so wish me luck.  

Well today I find myself again trying to change patterns in my life. I haven’t kept a journal like this before, so here I go. Yesterday I spent a great deal of time contemplating and recording the reasons I need and want to change. I also set some very specific and measurable goals. One of those goals was to get to bed earlier. I went to bed at a decent hour last night. I did complete my first goal of setting my alarm and getting up and going this morning. I woke up at 6:30am and headed up to my office and spent the better part of an hour this morning in personal reflection. I think one of the keys to my success is going to be treating my life holistically rather than compartmentalizing my issues and dealing with them one on one. Besides, I know I need the Lord’s help to overcome all things. I’ll be heading to the gym shortly and I will take my blood pressure measurements on the way. I’m going to eat better today. My plan is to use MFP to enter everything I eat in. I think I’m going to open up on the site and share more of my personal goals that I drafted yesterday.