2014 turned out to be a massive failure for me to drop the 30 pounds I gained around my waist the last couple of years and to live a healthier lifestyle. I started an exercise regiment in July of 2014, after speaking with my doctor to put a plan in place. So I cleaned up my diet and starting eating fewer carbs and started working out on various cardio machines, but after two months, my ability to stay motivated went down the tubes. Some weeks I was only working out once a week and I allowed myself to start letting those carbs creep back into my diet.
So the week before Christmas, I made an appointment with my doctor and told him how my good intentions in July went down in a ball of flames by September. So I told him I needed to start looking at this boom and bust cycle of exercising and that I needed a new way of looking at all of this.
The first thing I did was acknowledge that whatever I was doing was simply not working and that I needed to change some things. But with the Christmas holiday approaching, I knew that was a lousy time of year to start implementing massive changes so I made a deal with myself - enjoy the holidays and all the foods that are associated with the holidays, but practice portion control. And it worked - magically! From December 23, 2014 to December 30, 2014, I gained less than 2 pounds - clearly a HUGE victory based on past performances.
So once I realized that something so simple clearly worked - portion control, I started realizing how uncomplicated the process of losing weight really is. It's really simple - burn more calories than you consume on a daily basis and your body drops the weight. But I am my own worst enemy - I let all these other things get in the way. I am an emotional eater - if I feel like I have had a really bad day at work, it's okay to go home and eat half a pizza with a kale salad.
So, that was the first thing I had to do was get a grip on myself at work. I work in a stressful environment at work, fast paced, and with some people who are absolutely toxic to work with. And I finally figured out that my reaction to these toxic people at work was what was causing some of my irresponsible eating patterns once I got home. I felt that since I was having to deal with them during the day that I needed to be rewarded at night by eating whatever I felt I deserved. So, after thinking about this, I came up with a strategy at work to deal with these people by setting boundaries with people and as well as simply ignoring them and it has made my life significantly better at work. And it also helped me stop a cycle of eating at night that was so self-destructive.
Once that part of the equation was out of the way, I knew I needed to mix up my exercise regiment. In addition to doing 30 minutes plus a cool down, I also do 15 minutes on either the treadmill, the bike or the stair master. I just constantly mix it up every time I go to the gym. Sometimes I do 15 minutes a piece on three different pieces of equipment, but whatever I do, I make sure I am getting an intense work out by doing each workout in intervals - I go really hard for two minutes to really get my heart rate up and than slow it down to bring my heart rate down, than back up.
I also started taking a boxing class and started it a week and a half ago. I felt like I needed to add something way outside my comfort zone to diversify my work out regiment to help stop boredom from setting in and getting into an exercise rut. I take the class with some friends of mine and it has been really fun. And it's also fun to spend time doing things like this with your closest friends. We see each other more now as a result of taking these classes together.
The boxing class meets three times a week - Tuesday night, Thursday night and Saturday mornings. I love the classes - they are so fun, the instructors are awesome - it's a brother and sister team. She teaches the Saturday morning class and he does the evening classes during the week. There is a lot going on in these classes - lots of different types of exercises in addition to the boxing regiment. It's really having an impact - I am using parts of my body that the cardio work has ignored. And so much of these workouts they tailor for me to zero in on that spare tire around my middle.
In addition to all the punching bags, etc., they have us throwing various sized medicine balls back and forth, working with those long heavy ropes, etc., as well as doing a lot of leg work and crunches. I love the class - they work with you at your pace, and increase intensity as they see you are able to move forward. They constantly push you out of your comfort zone a so you are constantly moving forward.
They also gave me some valuable nutrition advice. Stop eating carbs at night. Eat one in the morning and one at lunchtime. So I followed this advise and in a week dropped five pounds - most of this was probably water weight but I can't tell you what a motivator it has been.
I come up with my own eating plan and it's really easy. Coffee, some protein, and a carb in the morning, and the same at lunch. A handful of nuts in the a.m, as a snack, and a piece of fruit/berries for an afternoon snack. For dinner, it's some protein, usually chicken or fish with two veggies. One veggie is always steamed broccoli to get as much glutathione in my diet as well, and whatever else I want. Sometimes it's a kale salad, or steamed brusell sprouts or red cabbage cole slaw with rice wine vinegar and some sesame oil.
Glutathione is the mother of all anti-oxidants and if you are unfamiliar with it, I urge you to read this article about it.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
So, I have have a program where I do cardio work twice a week at the gym and attend the boxing class three times a week but clearly I needed to start working on some weight training. So I hired a personal trainer at the gym to assist me with that, but to also take a look at my cardio work to get input from him as to what he thinks I should be doing as opposed to what I am doing. My first appointment is this coming week so we will see how this goes.
So, there you have it. My battle plan for the battle of the bulge. So far so good. But we are into the early stages of this so I need to keep working to incorporate all of this into my lifestyle in order to achieve the long term success I want in living a healthier lifestyle.
So, what is going on in your world to live a healthier lifestyle? Share with us what you are doing below because what you are doing might help out some of us.