I’m a month in to my most recent get-fit-lose-b-school-weight regimen, and I’m happy to report that, though not as quickly as I’d like, I am making progress. To date, I’m at least 2kg down, and definitely feeling generally leaner and stronger. It’s been pretty challenging to keep within the 1600 cal/day limit, especially given that this beautiful country is full of incredible, affordable wines, and I definitely don’t always feel motivated to go to the gym EVERY day (I do, though — I’m afraid if I miss for a second, I’ll lose my momentum and be back in Fat Pants City within 24 hours…). However, I’ve been sticking pretty faithfully to my goals and lifestyle adjustments, and yeah, I also think that the distance from the MBPoW has been absolutely critical to my success — I can literally count on one hand the number of beers I’ve had since I started this project. Whoa. Talk about a lifestyle change!!
But here’s the thing — every time I recount to someone the trials, tribulations, and varied humiliations that go along with this project (28.75% body fat? REALLY?? — and let’s not even TALK about the mortifying arm jiggle that accompanies every freaking shoulder exercise I do, ugh — my roommate here calls them “Bingo Wings,” which is only hilarious until I see my own wings jiggling away in one of my gym’s nine million mirrors, and then it just makes me really, really sad), they invariably tell me that they feel inspired to get started as well. I have a girlfriend here in CT who’s planning to join a gym, I’ve got my roommate thinking about calories (taking a page out of Lauren’s book, when she kicked my a** so hard 3 summers ago!!), and Laura in Boston, Megan in NC, and Stella in MN are all threatening to start their very own MM(f)PF personal revolutions. Which, of course, I think is totally awesome.
What’s funny about this is that all I ever say is the same thing — this is hard, my body hates me, I miss pizza and beer, I was humiliated for xyz reason at the gym today, etc. But behind all of that, I guess my message gets somehow translated to: DO IT!! (Really? All my whining and complaining doesn’t just put you off and send you right back to the bar??)
Of course, as we know, I have a notorious problem with say/do ratio — I mean, how long have I been complaining about my pants NOT fitting?? (Um, yeah, that’s still mostly true, even if I am feeling leaner and stronger. A** fat is stubborn, man!) And obviously, I can now enjoy a total surplus of free time that really, really makes it easy to force my self to go to the gym (every. single. day.). But it took me the better part of a year to get really, really serious about this. And why? We KNOW I had the time in Spain, even if not in NY. And even in NY, I could (COULD!) have made it a priority (in fact, I still have a Bally’s membership in Brooklyn that I never ever used and that I keep forgetting to cancel — oops!!). But no. It’s much easier to whine, complain, bemoan an ever-diminishing wardrobe (due to an inability to FIT any of the clothing presently owned), and then have a second serving of pasta with cream sauce and another freaking beer. (Obviously, most of us LOVE the Path of Least Resistance, and I’m no exception!!) What it finally took for me to get serious was that even my so-called Fat Pants were on the cusp of not fitting, and I thought, wow, okay, I’ve let this go too far. Enough is enough, dammit!!
However, I know from my conversations with friends that I am far from alone in my frustrations with myself and my current state of fitness (um, lack thereof). My proposal is this: let’s set some collective goals for, what?, the end of the year? I mean, I’d LOVE to be bikini ready by the time I get back to the US, but, erm… Yeah. My trainer told me that it would be pretty unrealistic to drop from 28.75% to 20% body fat in just about 10 weeks, so… That’s not going to happen. But it could happen by, I don’t know, December? I hope?
Oh, and to any potential nay-sayers, let me just say: really, this is about feeling good and comfortable in my body. I don’t like to be squishy and pudgy and out of shape. As Megan would say, I don’t like to put on my favorite pair of jeans and feel like a stuffed sausage! So yeah, fine, women are always under a lot of pressure to be leaner, skinnier, more perfect, blah blah blah. But I think we can agree that MOST women (maybe all of them?) really, really like it when their favorite pair of jeans look kickass on their asses, right? And THAT is what I’m talking about. (My Citizens jeans, specifically, haven’t fit for about 2 years. And they’re my favorite and I love them and they WILL fit again!!)
Anyway, never fear, non-OMM(f)PF-participants. I am NOT going to convert Sin Logica into a weight loss blog, even if it is ALL I’m really thinking about at the moment (um, yeah — I think we know that I have a tendency to obsess… I can’t tell you how many times a day I think about how many calories I’ve consumed… and actually, I’m hoping that goes away before it becomes a real sickness — plus, it just sort of makes me uninteresting, doesn’t it?). I will continue to chronicle, as ever, my life as a b-school student/exchange student/etc.
Alright, so: who’s in? Who has a kickass, lose-that-ass, make-my-EFFING-pants-fit fitness goal to meet by the end of the year? And how are you going to do it? (Obviously, I won’t be able to keep up this personal trainer business for much longer. I love it, but man, even in SA it’s just not sustainably affordable…) And I’d love to hear some purple-faced, man-this-sucks anecdotes from those of you who are participating, because if we can’t laugh at this process, well… I think we’ll probably just cry.
Well, you already know I’m totally with you. When I realized I’d once again hit the weight I was when I moved to Boston (which is way too much weight) I knew it was time to take decisive action. The thing is, the exercise part isn’t the hard part, for me. Once I get into the habit I’m in the habit and it’s good. Winter makes that hard, because my exercise generally happens outdoors, but hopefully this coming year I’ll be able to keep at it.
The food part, though. That is tricky. I can’t count calories, it just takes WAY too much time. And I’m generally pretty ok about eating well…until the evening when I’m sitting around my apartment reading or watching bad television. Then I am a snack-o-holic. I can break the habit occasionally, but…wow, is it hard. I think, “Oh, a slice of cheese will be fine,” and then, “Some carrots and hummus, that’s healthy, right?” and then “One piece of chocolate is ok,” and suddenly my healthy dinner turned into a healthy dinner and a half. Sigh. Sometimes I wonder how ANY woman becomes a non-disordered eater. And can they teach me how they did it?
Yeah, the food thing is SUPER tricky, especially because eating is such a loaded habit — it fills time, compensates for boredom, nurses anxiety/sadness… Pfffffff, the list goes on. And I’m in a guilt spiral because I just ate a chocolate bar that’s 270 calories, even though I worked out today AND was vegan for the rest of the day (PB toast with coffee and soy milk for breakfast and minestrone for lunch). Maybe the trick is to get in the habit of really monitoring portion size, and only eating when you’re ACTUALLY hungry. (I believe Lauren famously said to me “and sometimes, you’re just hungry.” Which sucks, but is totally true.) Sometimes, I find that herbal tea can calm snack cravings, and is virtually calorie free (because even though it sucks, the calories are important — any calories we don’t burn in a day are stored as fat, ugh). And my trainer told me that in order to lose 1lb a week, you need to cut 3500 calories, or 500cal a day (which you can do with a combination of diet and exercise). However, it is smart to intelligently time 200 calorie snacks in between meals (assuming you confine your meals to 400cal) in order to avert snack cravings. And those 200 calories can be carrots and hummus, a chocolate bar, whatever. Also, I have to remember that if I know I’m going out in the evening, I’ll need to “budget” my calories throughout the day so that I’m not going WAY over my calories, just with alcohol consumption. (Actually, in all honesty, I’m trying to average <1 glass of wine per day, so <7 per week — which is tricky, but not impossible. Though this week? Yeah, I totally fail, since I had dinner out three nights in a row…) All of this sounds obnoxious, but it does get easier. Also? Just don't keep snack food in the house (says the girl who just ate the chocolate bar…). And seriously — try the herbal tea thing. It totally helps me. Or maybe chocolate (non-fat or soy) milk. Or cottage cheese with fresh strawberries. Anyway, you know what I mean. And I know it's super tough to get started, but I HAVE to believe that healthy eating and good dietary choices can, with time, become a habit!!
I know this sounds disordered and maybe it is but after losing 25 pounds i’ve learned that “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. To me that doesn’t mean “don’t eat!” but means making good choices and stopping myself from snacking at the end of the day because it is NOT about being hungry it’s about filling a void (boredom, sadness). I always remind myself that if i REALLY want a falafel or (insert your fav food here) I can get it tomorrow after the gym when my calorie count is back to 0. Then I treat myself but plan around it. I find blogging/drinking tea/reading can stave off night time munchies. It’s hard when your watching TV I KNOW so I keep almost nothing in the house that is a “snack”. That way if I’m really hungry I can make a meal but nothing easy and empty of nutrition. PS C my goal is to lose 5 more pounds by the end of june. I bought a scary string bikini to keep me motivated.
Yeah, the hurdle I’m having right now is SWEETS. I absolutely broke down the other night and HAD to have something more satisfying than chocolate soy pudding (only 110cal, and all soy, but yeah, just not the same as, like, cheesecake). Oh yeah, and wine. And cheese. I mean, mostly I’m cool doing the all-veg all the time, thing, and am eating healthy (e.g. hummus and carrots, rice cakes, non-fat yogurt with muesli, etc) snacks — but then, yeah, it’s super hard to overcome temptation, like carrot cake or a chocolate bar. Or shit, another glass of wine… But you’re right — the more often I make healthy choices, the easier it gets. And YOU, Miss Leger, are an inspiration — 25lbs!!! Wow!! That’s so impressive! I’ll bet you’ve been very busy buying hot new clothes, eh?
try lots of fresh fruit. as you cut out refined sugar in your diet (im suspicious of this soy pudding) things will be much sweeter. also a square or 2 of dark chocolate (i believe it’s supposed to be 72% cocoa to be healthy) is great and satisfying with some tea as a night time treat. the wine thing is sad. the truth is that you have to cut it out except for special treats. it’s not only the calories in wine it also lowers your inhibitions about food. also NEVER bake. until those baked goods are out of my house i’m a crazy woman either thinking about or eating them =)
i am NOT advocating giving up wine but on a day you have wine you need to eat a salad and skip the sweets. meditation shmeditation it’s really just calories in and out. that’s not to say that inner peace isn’t important and it might help you make better desicions but in the end you need to stop eating crap and move your sexy body!
Crystal bootcamp is SCARY. Last August 45 people in my office set out on the hundred push ups in 6 weeks program. A little over 10 weeks later, everyone had dropped out and no one had gotten close to 100. I bet a guy I could do it in a year, and then I didn’t do anything until April to prepare. Eeeep. I’m at 57.
HA! I’m not anywhere near 100 push ups. I think I’m closer to, eh, 40? Maybe? Pathetic. Let’s have a contest next time I’m in Boston — I hope I can do 100 by August…
Man! Why is it so challenging to be healthy? I also just learned today that it’s really important to have a natural rhythm — as in, eat breakfast at the same time every day, lunch, dinner, snacks — because that’s how the body functions best. Also, apparently it’s important to understand what’s the right mix for YOUR body, which is either going to want more protein, more carbs, or much much less of both (apparently, I’m in this camp, because I’ll take in and keep everything I ingest). In order to tune in to this rhythm and what’s right, according to my friend the Ayurveda guru, one must meditate and do lots of yoga. So basically, it’s a long path to well-being, and requires a degree of conscientiousness, at least to start, that is staggering. But I gotta tell you, Lauren, I’m a LONG way from substituting a half a kiwi for a slice of cheesecake. And wine? I don’t know — definitely harder than cutting cheesecake, because I have it WAY more frequently… However, I have cut WAY back (as I said, 3 beers in 4 weeks ain’t bad, and I’m drinking much less frequently generally) and am really liking how it feels.
Opps i commented on this above. Doh!