Hard Choices

There came a point about 3 years ago in my weight loss and fitness journey that I knew if I was going to progress any farther I would have to spend more time in the gym and cooking healthy foods.  And in order to do that, I was going to have to give something up.  After conducting a rather painful lifestyle self-examination, I realized what needed to go: Sewing.

I am a very good seamstress, if I do say so myself.  I have been sewing for about 30 years now.  Since I am a perfectionist, I wasn't happy turning out anything that didn't look positively beautiful.  And perfection takes time.  A LOT of time!  I figured as long as I was putting the effort in, it might as well be right.  And it was.  Here are photos of just a few of my beloved projects:

 

But I had to get honest with myself and reevaluate my priorities.  After some internal examination I decided the proper place to focus my energies and time was now on getting healthier for not only myself, but for my family.  Additionally, I wasn't able to spend the time helping others like I wanted because my  butt was stuck in a chair in front of a sewing machine manipulating fabric.  So I finished up the last of my important projects and put sewing on the back burner.  That was a couple of years ago, and I haven't regretted the decision since, although sometimes I do get a little melancholy about it.

This doesn't mean I don't ever sew, because in a pinch I do.  And I am grateful for my sewing skills.  For instance, I made a lovely fully lined wool trench coat for my daughter this winter- She is tall and willowy, and at almost 6 feet tall and 125 lbs nothing was fitting her. (This is not an exaggeration- literally NOTHING fit her even close to properly with those very long limbs.)  Marching practices for the high school band would have been miserable without a warm and properly-fitting winter coat.  I literally don't know what she'd of done if I couldn't sew. Here are a few of pictures of the project: 

But other than the rare project, my sewing maching sits neglected in it's cabinet.

Another thing I have just recently given up is baking.  This was an even harder one to abandon than sewing.  Baking gives instant gratification and makes my family very happy!  This in turn makes me happy!  But I eat what I bake, and the stuff sitting around, even if I do avoid it, gets me thinking in a direction that is not good for my health.  (I'm sorry, but my experience has been that even with healthier ingredients, it's very difficult to make baked goods that are truly good for you and taste good, too.)  So, like sewing, unless it's for a rare occasion, baking is pretty much out of my life.

When people say that living healthy is a lifestyle, they aren't kidding!  I'm not saying you have to abandon ALL of your time-consuming or bad-for-you habits right now.  I see skinny people who sew and healthy people who bake.  I just can't be one of them.  At least not for the time being.

Habits are formed gradually and new practices towards healthier living are best added little by little, as you feel ready for the the changes.  The truth is that if 5 years ago you'd of told me I'd of all but stopped both sewing AND (bigger shock!) baking, I'd of told you that you were talking to the wrong woman.  If you knew me back then, you are nodding your head in agreement. :-)

The moral of my story?  Don't be afraid to reevaluate and be honest with yourself about what needs to exit  your life.  I can pretty much guarantee that over time, as you progress into becoming fitter and healthier, your life will look a lot different than it does today.  And that's Ok.  Giving up things that slow your progress is not giving in- It's being mature and honest enough with yourself to say "This isn't in my best interest anymore".  Your family may balk a bit (my 15-year old is still asking for brownies), but eventually they'll come to accept and appreciate that you made the hard choices in not only your best interest, but theirs as well.

Video Blog Link: A Word About Maintenance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfQpfe6ZOfo
maintenance 

Video Blog: My Daily Supplements

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tr6yZ-XpPXA
Here's the breakdown:

With breakfast:

Multivitamin
2 CLA pills w/ Thermogenics
Fish Oil pill
Vitamin D pill
Daughter's Multivitamin

With food at lunch or a little after:
Iron pill
Super Citramax, if I am struggling with appetite control.

Before bed:
Calcium/magnesium/zinc supplement
Fish Oil Pill


With my protein powder (I add water and drink on the way out of the gym):
L-Glutamine powder
BCAA's (when I have them, which I didn't for this video.

A Surprising Supplement Rescource

Could you use another source for your protein-rich dietary supplements?  You might want to consider bariatric product suppliers.  They have become my surprising source for protein-rich supplements to aid in my quest to be leaner and more muscular.

Bariatric patients (who have had either gastric by-pass or lap-band surgery) have stomachs that have been surgically altered to hold very little food.  One of their primary concerns is getting enough protein.  They have to pack as much of it as possible into a very small stomach space.  Bariatric foods accomplish this.  So it follows that these protein-rich foods can also be very handy for weight lifters and people looking to raise their dietary protein levels.

Now don't get me wrong:  These supplements aren't cheap.  But most of us who buy protein bars and powders have come to accept the expense. 

There is a protein powder sold by our local bariatric doctor called Nectar.   It's made by the Syntrax company.  Per scoop Nectar is 100 calories, all of them from protein.   No carbs.  No fat.  Just protein.  And it comes in a dizzying array of flavors!  (I love the peach.)

Bariatric places also tend to stock protein bars that are less garbage and more good for you, because they are interested in keeping their patients as healthy as possible.  Generally these bars will have not only about equal amounts of carbs as protein, but also some fiber in them, which really helps with feeling full.  For bariatric patients these are meal replacements.  (Remember- their stomachs hold next to nothing!)  For the rest of us, they are between-meal snacks.  But they taste good (you aren't going to get an obese person who ate exactly what they liked getting that way to eat food that tastes like crap), and give a good balance of nutrients.

Don't be afraid to walk into your local bariatric doctor and ask if they sell powders and bars.  They won't mind having you for a client!  This is one avenue of revenue for them and they are happy to sell their products to the general public. 

Another thing I like about purchasing from our local bariatric doctor's office is that they have samples of the protein flavors.  So I can try out a single serving for $2, instead of spending $32 on an entire tub of powder I may not like the flavor of.

If you don't have a bariatric doctor nearby who sells supplements you can also order online.  Here is a site that I use:  http://www.dietdirect.com/wonderslim-crispy-protein-diet-bars.html.  Not only do I like the bars in the link (I've mentioned these a couple of times in my blogs), but they also sell the Nectar Protein powder.  And a lot of other stuff, too! They offer a surprising amount of vitamins and various tablet supplements, as well. Take a poke around to see!  (Although I would NOT recommend their entree mixes- Not only are they highly processed, but I don't think they taste all that great.)  If you order more than $49 you get free shipping, and check out the "discounts and coupons" tags on the left bar, under "Wonderslim", to see if you qualify for any discounts or special offers.

I know this isn't a practical resource for everyone, but thought it might be something some of my wonderful readers might like to know about.

Video Blog: Printed Rescources I Use!

Click here for a link to my video blog where I talk about the printed rescources I use to help me in my fitness journey!

Video Blog: Believe In Yourself!

This one is a little rough, but I was concerned if I re-taped I'd lose a lot of my sincerity in trying to get it "right".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDJYwo8nt5s

Video Blog: Organizational Tools I Have Used in my Quest for Fitness

Here is a link to my very first video blog.  It's pretty self-explanatory! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKSEWgllqDs

Binge Recovery

Okay, so you've done it- You ate way too much of the wrong stuff.  And in the middle of kicking yourself and wishing you could go back in time, you are wondering "Is there anything I can do to help reduce the negative effects of this?'  I have an answer for you, and that answer is "YES"! (And no, it does not involve the porcelain god and sticking a finger down your throat!)

This isn't going to be easy, no magic pill, but it will get most, if not all, of the garbage you just ate out of your system. There are basically three steps you will employ for the next 3 days:

1.  Drink water like it's going out of style!  This is NOT the time to shy away from water because you are afraid it will make you weigh even more in the morning.  It's time to guzzle.  It will give your cleansing organs a vehicle to carry all of that bad stuff (carbs, sodium, fat, chemicals) out of your body as fast as possible.  The sooner they leave the body, the harder it is for your body to store them as fat.  I'm not talking water toxicity levels, here, but make a concerted effort to drink more water than you normally would.  And water- not diet soda or any other kind of beverage you would rather drink. Water.  Water doesn't give your body one MORE factor to process and deal with.

2. Cardio like a mad person!  If you have any extra time for additional cardio over the next 72 hours, just do it, no questions asked.  I had a trainer friend of mine say that it takes the body 72 hours to turn unaccounted for carbs into fat.  You are trying to get 'em accounted for with cardio!  I have no idea if what he said was right or not, but putting as much time into cardio as possible for three days after a binge has helped me to keep the damage at bay.  Cardio uses glycogen, which is what the body turns carbs into, for fuel.  If glycogen doesn't get used for fuel, the body stores it as fat (future fuel).  You want to try to stop that from happening

As an aside- Don't abandon your weight lifting routine, though!  Lifting also uses glycogen, although not as much.  Keep up the lifting routine the same, but raise your cardio level. Two or three 30 or 40-minute cardio sessions a day is not too much right now, if you can squeeze that much in!

Oh! And expect the next day to have kick-butt cardio and lifting sessions.  With all of that glycogen now stored in your muscles you will be able to push harder than normal in your workouts.  (Proving that every cloud truly does have a silver lining!)

3. Focus your diet for the next day on protein, with only veggies for carbs.  It's Okay to have nonfat milk products.  My guess is that after the binge you aren't going to be wanting too many carbs, anyhow.  The next two days after that, go for small servings of things like oatmeal with breakfast and whole grains like 100% whole wheat or Ezekial breads and brown rice with lunch and dinner.

Why am I focusing on carbs?  Because I am almost certain you didn't binge on turkey breast.  You either binged on sweet carbs (cookies, ice cream, brownies), salty carbs (potato chips, crackers), or a combo (peanut butter, kettle corn).  None of these combinations is scale-friendly when done in excess, and the only way to get rid of the weight gain is to get rid of the carbs floatin' around in your body.

And the next time, if you can think about it before you immerse your head into that vat of peanut butter again, remind yourself that a binge is 3 days of hard work to (hopefully) undo the damage.  I've done this enough times that the thought of both the un-do process and the intestinal distress that is certain to arrive shortly after the binge has ended is almost always enough to stop me in my tracks.  It's taken a couple of years to learn my lesson, but now I can almost always say to myself "Ugh!  It's just not worth it!" and step away from the temptation.

Depending on your personality, when you get on the scale is up to you.  I make myself get on the scale the next morning because I can't stay in denial if I'm looking at the (temporary) damage I've caused.  Seeing a big jump motivates me to get right back on track!  I also like watching the numbers come down over the next couple of days- It's interesting to me.  But if you are the type it is just going to discouraged and want to dive into a bag of BBQ chips when the number is up, I'd advise waiting until after your 3-day recovery process is over.