Wednesday, October 03, 2007

resolve, and accountability

I almost started another blog today. In fact, I started it, then deleted it. I came to my senses and realized I hardly had the creative juice for one blog, let alone two, let alone three.

That blog was to be about some personal changes I am striving to make. Most importantly, I want to lose weight. About fifty pounds. Yikes. I am not going on a diet; I already eat pretty well and, from what I've seen, diets just don't work. What I am doing is mostly increasing my physical activity. I have to get more serious about exercise. Also, I'm being selective about the kind of exercise I do; I've heard the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism. So I'm going to be this kind of metabolic goddess, eating away at my vast stored reserves. At least in theory.

The other blog was supposed to be my accountability, but I quickly realized I was setting myself up for failure by imposing yet another blogging time eater on myself. So I'll try to be accountable here. It doesn't fit in with the main themes of this blog (except maybe The Good Life) but as I've seen recently, I have a pretty good community of folks here who will encourage me. Right? I'll try not to bore you with excessive self analytic self improvement type drivel.

So here we go. I walked 2.6 miles today over my lunch hour. I felt like I could walk twice that far, if I had the time. I also previewed a Pilates DVD from the library in the morning and decided that this particular DVD was not for me, and maybe DVD's may not work altogether, but if I learned a few key exercises and practiced for ten to fifteen minutes in the morning, that just might work.

10 comments:

barefoot gardener said...

Good for you! I have been trying (just the last week or so) to do the same thing. Of course I won't be bored hearing about how you are trying to improve yourself. You do what you gotta, and we'll all be here for support.

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

I'm here to cheer you on no matter what you choose to do!! :)

Carolyn H said...

Good luck with your metabolic quest. I hope you succeed!

Carolyn H.

Anonymous said...

About 6 years ago I lost 45 pounds. Over the next 5 I gained 15 of them back. Now I'm working on losing 10 of those. Not too bad overall. I, too, do not believe in "diets". It has to be a life change. As you are much younger than I, your metabolism should spark up nicely once you ask it to. Personally I find Pilates to be the work of the devil. Have a go at it, but don't say I didn't warn you! ;-) Good luck and remember to be patient with yourself.

R.Powers said...

Not boring at all and the feedback will be helpful in urging you towards your goal.
I'm a great believer in the muscle burns more calories camp. I think the big thing is to not give up when your schedule causes missed exercise moments or if you splurge at Chili's.
Just pick it up again and don't stop.
I also think that activity like walking, weights, Pilates is more important than "dieting" as long as you're eating healthy stuff.
More power to you!! Good luck with it.

Deb said...

Barefoot Gardener- Good for you! I'll be there to support you too.

Lynne- And I need it!

Denise- That's so inspiring, hearing your weight loss story, even with the relapse and all. We're all human. :) I guess I was in denial that I could gain weight on what I was eating, although I do think certain *ahem* women hormonal things had something to do with it. I have a couple Pilates tapes and a couple yoga tapes, I'll see which is more friendly.

FC- That's the big obstacle, my schedule. It takes more than my "allotted" 30 minutes lunch to walk over two miles, which is what I need. And with winter coming on, there will be precious little daylight to do anything when I come home. I think I'll pick up where I left off with swimming last spring when daylight savings time ends.

My boss brought in a bunch of food today that was leftover from a meeting. Most of it was donuts, potato chips, etc. but I did find a bag of Haralson apples from southern Minnesota. That's what I had for my afternoon snack. I really am picky when it comes to food, and I'd rather starve than eat something bad.

Thanks for the support! My shins were aching today as I walked (2.4 miles), not used to that level of activity, but I kept my eyes on the goal and by the end of my walk I hardly felt them.

RuthieJ said...

OK Deb, if you're going to do it, I'll be your "virtual partner."

I turned 49 today and currently weigh 190 lbs. That's too much--especially for my feet and knees to work with anymore. Several years ago I went on the Atkins Diet and lost over 20 lbs, but it's all come back again as my eating habits declined. I know what's right, but I'm lazy.

So starting today, I'll be joining my spousal unit on his daily 2 mile trek up the road (instead of taking a nap after work) and see how things go.

There now it's out in public, so everyone knows. Keep me strong, girlfriend! (for I am an exercise slacker!)

arcolaura said...

You go girl! I hope it works out for you. I started belly dancing last fall, and the instructor said most women lose a dress size in the first six weeks, but I kept getting bigger. Odd. The only way I've ever lost significant weight was by following a strict vegan diet (eat as much as you want, but no meat, no dairy, no refined sugars or oils or such; just fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes - and even some of the richer whole foods were excluded, like nuts and avocados). I went from about 160 to my high-school weight of 135 in about a month (terrifying my friends and family) and then sat right there for the whole year that I followed that diet. Felt great. Then hubby started bringing home ice cream. Haven't felt bad enough to get back on track since. (Besides, I live in cattle country - can't exclude meat in good conscience!)

Just yesterday I was thinking about finding a buddy to help me work toward some goals (making the house addition liveable, and doing a demo of an album of recent songs). Maybe we could trade encouragement.

Anonymous said...

I'm rooting for you; hang in there.

Deb said...

RuthieJ- You go girl! I don't know exactly what I weigh right now (don't have a scale...I really should get one to keep track) but I think it's around 190.

Congrats on taking action!

Arcolaura- I was 135 in high school and college too...this is depressing. I don't think I could do the vegan thing, not with kids and a freezer full of beef and chicken.

Say, I was thinking...it seems like there are a couple of us who would like someone with whom to trade encouragement on various goals...and I have other goals myself...but don't have much of a support network in real life. Would anyone be interested in doing a group blog, where we could share our goals and progress (or lack thereof) and support each other?