So! YOU GUYS! I lost weight and then immediately started eating sugar again because I am an addict. AND THEN (and really this will surprise NO ONE BUT ME), I started feeling crappy again. Anxious. Moody. Jumpy. Dehydrated. It was like I forgot that I was trying to lower my BP and cholesterol and offset the effects of perimenopausal hormonal fluctuations not just lose weight.
SO. 5 habits I want to drag (kicking and screaming?) into the holiday season.
1. (Almost) no sugar. I feel better when I go (nearly!) sugar-free. So. BACK IN THE SADDLE FOR ME. I absolutely feel better with less sugar, no question. (Just last night, I fell asleep on the couch with all the kids but Minnie watching DMV (funny) and woke up to help everyone go to bed and ATE THE REST OF A BAG OF PRETZEL M&MS and fell asleep without brushing my teeth. Yuck on so many levels).
2. WATCH the saturated fat-- I see this consumption creeping up as I dive back into cheese glorious cheese, so I need to rein it in.
3. Run every single day. So far, so good on this one, and it is a major change for me since I always worked out 5 days a week and was happy to skip a couple. I have started jogging every day for at least 30 minutes and I love this habit. It really helps me have reasonable weekends instead of hedonistic free-for-all days, which has really helped with weight loss maintenance even as I eat more food. Plus! Running FEELS GOOD. I cut out all bed rotting, get up, and run in the dark every morning.
4. Keep eating 30 grams of fiber (mostly from fruits and veggies) every single day, and keep my protein consumption over 70 grams. This is starting to be really easy to do as I develop better habits, stock healthier food options on the regular, and develop easy go-to meals and snacks.
5. Strength training for 20 minutes 4 days a week. YES YOU GUYS, I know I need to increase this portion of my work out, but! This is up from 10 minutes a day, so yay me! I am doing a trial of the Apple Fitness app for better workouts because I was just doing free stuff on YouTube and it was a pain to find stuff that met my specifications, etc. So far, this is great and very searchable-- we will see if I get bored with it before I have to pony up for the whole year.
Strength training: so important but OMG so boring. For me anyway. I find it incredibly tedious and I am NOT at 20 minutes (more like 10-15 4x a week).
ReplyDeleteI am working on upping my strength to 30 minutes at least 2 days a week, maybe 3. The other 2 days I do 15-20 minutes. I’m older than you and OMG, it’s frustrating trying to build muscle when you are my age. Just added creatine to my regimen, will see if that helps.
ReplyDeleteRunning + 20 minutes of weights is great! I've had pretty good luck using ChatGPT to build a weight routine. Might be worth playing with?
ReplyDeleteDue to knee issues, I can no longer run. I loved it for the same reasons you do. I now subscribe to BODI and love their workouts. I am currently doing LIIFT 4 which is a combo of weight training and HIIT.
ReplyDeleteI want to say kudos to you for your light up vest. My husband and I wear reflective vest while walking out dog and are amazed at the number of people out in the dark with none of it on. They are so difficult to see.
I love your blouse in the bottom photo. So pretty. Great job on your healthy routine. I quit sugar for several weeks during the summer. I lost weight, and I've eased sugar back in. I try to keep from going overboard and I'm mostly OK. I do my strength workouts in the family room with my favorite morning news program on. It's news 'lite' and very entertaining. It keeps me from getting bored while lifting. I do Caroline Girvan videos on youtube. Really great classes - highly recommend.
ReplyDeleteI had so many issues with disordered eating in the past that when I consider cutting things out entirely (or even mostly) I start to veer into that territory and just...CANNOT go there, but my diet could definitely use some improvement. Meh. I think it's a good mix between healthy for my body and healthy for my mind (as in, I eat lots of fruit and veggies...but I also have lots of treats and nothing is off limits at this point because...life is really too short to me AND then I don't have crazy cravings...but I am also so bad at abstinence and moderation does tend to work for me).
ReplyDeleteYOU'RE A RUNNER. Love it and also still find it hilarious since you were grumbling about Ben wanting to run and now you're so into it! Love those early morning pics.