Long Weekends and Train Rides...
Finally getting back into the blogging - the days are just flying by lately. Well this past long weekend, I decided I to visit my in-laws. Unfortunately my husband had to work, so I packed up my 3-year old and we took off!! I usually drive (it's about a 5 hour drive) but decided to take the train since my son is so fascinated with the trains and this would be his very first train ride. It was just an amazing experience seeing him so happy and excited for that train ride. I had taken the train many times prior but my son made this quite enjoyable with his pure enjoyment and excitement!! It was great.
Anyway, I decided that for this long weekend, i would not take my laptop along (boy, did I ever miss it). Once I got on the train I realized that I left my cell phone in the car so I was really "unconnected" for the weekend, but it was really nice..just pure family fun although, I am glad to be back and reconnected to the cyber world!
Okay, so as you may have noticed, I did not weigh myself this past Saturday, I was busy having fun and just enjoying family and the great weather HOWEVER, my eating and exercising WERE NOT comprimised. I ate very well while away - wonderfully healthy meals, grilled chicken and veggie skewers on the BBQ, salads, sweet potatoes..it was great. I also ensured that I got my workouts in. I will weigh -in on Saturday.
Ji-Jitsu and Kickboxing!!
Well, lately I feel like I've been channelling Bruce Lee!! Two of my colleagues from work convinced me to try out a kickboxing and Ji-jitsu (a form of martial arts) class during our lunch break. Well, I agreed!!! So this past week we went in for our "trial" classes.. HOLY MOTHER OF GOODNESS!! What have I got myself into this time??? AND I must be CRAZY because I am actually enjoying it, especially the KICKBOXING class. I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that I'd be taking martial arts classes!!!! What a workout that kickboxing class was!!! It was intense and I was drenched with sweat after the 45min class! I feel so powerful with the punching, kicking and sparring...awesome!! I'm definitely going to incorporate this into my training plan (awesome cardio).
As for the Ji-jitsu class....I'm not quite sure as yet. I think I'm going to take a few more classes before deciding. It's a great martial art form and so far I'm learning quite a bit as it relates to self defense moves and proper technique, etc. I'm learning the proper way to fall, flip someone...it's really cool but also a bit scary at times. Afterall, I still weigh about 200 pounds and there's still a little voice inside of me that whispers, "maybe you're too heavy to do that"!! One of my challenges is to silence that stupid voice once and for all - it's a work in progress!! I think that this may be part of the reason why I want to try so many different things!!! Things I would have never dreamed of even thinking of doing before!! I want to at least give it a try, you know???
Anyway, I will decide tomorrow if I will continue with both classes or just kickboxing. I still need to hear what my trainer thinks. I'm having fun, enjoying life and loving trying new things!!
Off to bed...where does the time go???
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Showing posts with label strong. Show all posts
Showing posts with label strong. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
SCALE ALMIGHTY - Harmful or Hurtful?
**** I just noticed something....THE TITLE of this post...when I wrote this yesterday, I could have sworn I wrote "Scale Almighty - Helpful or Hurtful"....looking at the post today, I noticed it's actually "Harmful or Hurtful"!! Well, if that isn't a subliminal message, I don't know what is!! LOL****
What is it about this little thing, that barely takes up any space in the corner of your bathroom, yet, it has the power to make you cry and/or do a backflip with happiness (or at least attempt to)?? Do scales or more specifically, weighing oneself, cause more harm than good??? What does that number on the scale tell you about yourself? It may as well just read "you are good" or "you are bad" once you step on it based on the way it makes you feel...
What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the word "scale"?? For me, when I think of the word "scale", I usually think success or failure. How do you feel when you think of weighing yourself and how do you feel in that very moment prior to stepping on that scale? Personally, I sometimes I wish I could go without weighing myself or maybe just weigh myself every 2 to 3 months!!
How do you feel after? The results of the scale holds so much power. If it's a loss, I usually feel great and just on top of the w orld, even if it's only a small loss. If it's a gain, I start questionning whether or not I should continue on the journey and start asking myself stupid questions like, "what's the point of this journey anyway?" or even the ever too common, "why am I doing this anyway?" - it's crazy!!! I then have to calm myself down, give my head a shake and let logic sink back in.
If you never weighed yourself again and only had indicators like the way your clothes fit or whether or not you could run up and down a flight of stairs without gasping for air, would stepping on that scale really matter? I don't THINK it should but IT DOES matter to me and my new goal is to take away from the importance of that number on the scale.
I truly began to give this some thought based on the way I felt this past Saturday. I woke up with great anticipation as I had a great week of healthy eating and exercise. I was so looking forward to the number on the scale as I felt it would some how validate my hard work and I was quite confident that it would be a nice loss. Well, to my surprise and complete disappointment, the dreaded scale showed that I gained 1 pound and in that second, I was disheartened!
It's absolutely insane when you think about it logically. I have been on this amazing weight loss/getting healthy journey since Dec 2008. I'm down 60 pounds and in arguably the best shape of my life, yet in that moment of looking at that weight gain, none of that mattered. Somehow, I quickly forgot about all of my success thus far and focussed solely on that weight gain. Why do we (I) do this? Why does or why should that number matter so much?? Well, I've decided that I don't want it to matter that much and I WILL NO LONGER LET IT MATTER AS MUCH!!
I thought this would be a good time to share these feelings and take a look at the whole issue of using the scale to measure our success. There are all sorts of alternate ways to measure success when on a journey as such but for some reason I (we) seem to put the bulk of the "weight" on the results of the scale.
Our weight normally fluctuates somewhat from day-to-day, and daily weighing can lead to discouragement and potential diet sabotage if you see a higher number on the scale than you saw the day before. From what I've read and from what my trainer (Rob) has told me, a once-every two weeks or even monthly weigh-in is a more accurate reflection of weight control progress.
That being said, there are a few studies that show that overweight and obese adults who were trying to lose weight as well as overweight adults who were trying to prevent weight gain found that those who weighed themselves more often lost more weight and prevented more weight gain over two years than those who weighed themselves less frequently. Some potential advantages of daily weighing include recognition of slow patterns of weight gain that may not be immediately apparent and the chance to modify lifestyle habits before the total weight gain becomes extreme and difficult to control.
I guess if you research hard enough you can find a study to support almost anything. I think the above study is true for some but not all. This issue of using solely or mainly the scale to measure or monitor weight loss will have to be an individual one. For me, I think weighing myself every 2 weeks might present a more accurate measurement of my progress however, part of me still wants to see that weekly or more frequent result (good or bad). I guess I just have to work on how I process those results.
I must remember that the female body is quite complex on a regular day and I will look to a few indicators prior to reacting to those results. Some of the alternate measurements I will use to measure my success on this journey are:
What is it about this little thing, that barely takes up any space in the corner of your bathroom, yet, it has the power to make you cry and/or do a backflip with happiness (or at least attempt to)?? Do scales or more specifically, weighing oneself, cause more harm than good??? What does that number on the scale tell you about yourself? It may as well just read "you are good" or "you are bad" once you step on it based on the way it makes you feel...What's the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the word "scale"?? For me, when I think of the word "scale", I usually think success or failure. How do you feel when you think of weighing yourself and how do you feel in that very moment prior to stepping on that scale? Personally, I sometimes I wish I could go without weighing myself or maybe just weigh myself every 2 to 3 months!!
How do you feel after? The results of the scale holds so much power. If it's a loss, I usually feel great and just on top of the w orld, even if it's only a small loss. If it's a gain, I start questionning whether or not I should continue on the journey and start asking myself stupid questions like, "what's the point of this journey anyway?" or even the ever too common, "why am I doing this anyway?" - it's crazy!!! I then have to calm myself down, give my head a shake and let logic sink back in.
If you never weighed yourself again and only had indicators like the way your clothes fit or whether or not you could run up and down a flight of stairs without gasping for air, would stepping on that scale really matter? I don't THINK it should but IT DOES matter to me and my new goal is to take away from the importance of that number on the scale.
I truly began to give this some thought based on the way I felt this past Saturday. I woke up with great anticipation as I had a great week of healthy eating and exercise. I was so looking forward to the number on the scale as I felt it would some how validate my hard work and I was quite confident that it would be a nice loss. Well, to my surprise and complete disappointment, the dreaded scale showed that I gained 1 pound and in that second, I was disheartened!
It's absolutely insane when you think about it logically. I have been on this amazing weight loss/getting healthy journey since Dec 2008. I'm down 60 pounds and in arguably the best shape of my life, yet in that moment of looking at that weight gain, none of that mattered. Somehow, I quickly forgot about all of my success thus far and focussed solely on that weight gain. Why do we (I) do this? Why does or why should that number matter so much?? Well, I've decided that I don't want it to matter that much and I WILL NO LONGER LET IT MATTER AS MUCH!!
I thought this would be a good time to share these feelings and take a look at the whole issue of using the scale to measure our success. There are all sorts of alternate ways to measure success when on a journey as such but for some reason I (we) seem to put the bulk of the "weight" on the results of the scale.
Our weight normally fluctuates somewhat from day-to-day, and daily weighing can lead to discouragement and potential diet sabotage if you see a higher number on the scale than you saw the day before. From what I've read and from what my trainer (Rob) has told me, a once-every two weeks or even monthly weigh-in is a more accurate reflection of weight control progress.
That being said, there are a few studies that show that overweight and obese adults who were trying to lose weight as well as overweight adults who were trying to prevent weight gain found that those who weighed themselves more often lost more weight and prevented more weight gain over two years than those who weighed themselves less frequently. Some potential advantages of daily weighing include recognition of slow patterns of weight gain that may not be immediately apparent and the chance to modify lifestyle habits before the total weight gain becomes extreme and difficult to control.
I guess if you research hard enough you can find a study to support almost anything. I think the above study is true for some but not all. This issue of using solely or mainly the scale to measure or monitor weight loss will have to be an individual one. For me, I think weighing myself every 2 weeks might present a more accurate measurement of my progress however, part of me still wants to see that weekly or more frequent result (good or bad). I guess I just have to work on how I process those results.
I must remember that the female body is quite complex on a regular day and I will look to a few indicators prior to reacting to those results. Some of the alternate measurements I will use to measure my success on this journey are:
- How I feel (energetic, good, happy, strong, healthy, lean)
- How my clothes fit (getting looser or tighter)
- My fitness levels (how far I can run/walk without needing to stop, how much weight I can lift, etc.)
Sorry for such a lengthy post, I just need to get this off my chest. Blogging is quite carthatic!!
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
Monday, July 20, 2009
Scale Neglect...and Loving IT!!
Hey guys,
First I just need to say how much I've missed blogging and reading other blogs this past week or so....I feel like part of my routine is missing and I can't wait to get back to it. I plan to spend all of Saturday (or as much as I need) reading blogs and catching up on what I've been missing. I will also be back to posting regularly...I've really missed it! :)
Anyhoo, it's been 2 weeks since my last weigh in. Right now, I have no idea if I've gained or lossed weight. All I know is that I feel great and really that should be all that matters!!:) I haven't seen the scale and I don't miss it one bit. For the purposes of this journey, I will continue to weigh my self regularly to be able to chart my progress but once I reach my set goals and I get to the point of just maintaining a healthy lifestyle, one of the first things I'm going to do is host a SCALE-SMASHING party!! YEAH!!! I'll invite people over with their respective scales and at some pivotal point in the evening, we'll gather in my backyard and smash away!! We may even do it to music - maybe somethng by ACDC (Thunderstruck, maybe) Sounds like fun eh?? :D
Seriously, I'm pretty certain that I haven't gained any weight because I've been working out regularly, including regular "pullup" attempts - still the most difficult exercise EVER and so far I still can only complete ONE full pull-up!!! My eating hasn't been perfect but it hasn't been terrible either. I would say, overall it's about 80-85%! So that's not so bad...
I will weigh myself on Saturday morning (July 25th --omg, that's my husband's birthday - must plan something fun- he's been so amazing through all this) and post the results and get back to business 100%.
On another note, I saw one of my colleagues today, who I haven't seen in about 3 weeks and I must say that he looked fabulous. He has been extremely supportive of my journey, and we often speak of my struggles, triumphs, etc. He was inspired to start losing weight and he has. I believe he's down about 30 pounds since April - just by making some healthy changes (including exercising and nutritious foods). He is also training for a 5K run. I'm so happy for him and could see the difference in him (both physically and mentally). It's awesome....he inspires me to keep going. I just wanted to say, "GO Rob Go!!!"
It's funny, just a short few months ago, I could barely climb my stairs in my home and now I'm training for a 5K run...it's amazing to me how quickly your body adapts to healthy changes and how strong one can get...
Anyway, that's all the ramblings for today.
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
First I just need to say how much I've missed blogging and reading other blogs this past week or so....I feel like part of my routine is missing and I can't wait to get back to it. I plan to spend all of Saturday (or as much as I need) reading blogs and catching up on what I've been missing. I will also be back to posting regularly...I've really missed it! :)
Anyhoo, it's been 2 weeks since my last weigh in. Right now, I have no idea if I've gained or lossed weight. All I know is that I feel great and really that should be all that matters!!:) I haven't seen the scale and I don't miss it one bit. For the purposes of this journey, I will continue to weigh my self regularly to be able to chart my progress but once I reach my set goals and I get to the point of just maintaining a healthy lifestyle, one of the first things I'm going to do is host a SCALE-SMASHING party!! YEAH!!! I'll invite people over with their respective scales and at some pivotal point in the evening, we'll gather in my backyard and smash away!! We may even do it to music - maybe somethng by ACDC (Thunderstruck, maybe) Sounds like fun eh?? :D
Seriously, I'm pretty certain that I haven't gained any weight because I've been working out regularly, including regular "pullup" attempts - still the most difficult exercise EVER and so far I still can only complete ONE full pull-up!!! My eating hasn't been perfect but it hasn't been terrible either. I would say, overall it's about 80-85%! So that's not so bad...
I will weigh myself on Saturday morning (July 25th --omg, that's my husband's birthday - must plan something fun- he's been so amazing through all this) and post the results and get back to business 100%.
On another note, I saw one of my colleagues today, who I haven't seen in about 3 weeks and I must say that he looked fabulous. He has been extremely supportive of my journey, and we often speak of my struggles, triumphs, etc. He was inspired to start losing weight and he has. I believe he's down about 30 pounds since April - just by making some healthy changes (including exercising and nutritious foods). He is also training for a 5K run. I'm so happy for him and could see the difference in him (both physically and mentally). It's awesome....he inspires me to keep going. I just wanted to say, "GO Rob Go!!!"
It's funny, just a short few months ago, I could barely climb my stairs in my home and now I'm training for a 5K run...it's amazing to me how quickly your body adapts to healthy changes and how strong one can get...
Anyway, that's all the ramblings for today.
Until next time...
Joania (2KMINE!!!)
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