if you have yet to meet our friend over at Feed the Birdies, you will definitely get to know her through today's post.
Here is a little bit about my routine. First of all, I can't diet. If I do, I tend to stick with it a few days, and then about the third day, I eat everything in the house, and it's mostly bad stuff that I craved while I dieted. After three babies and being close to 40, I found myself about 163 pounds (at 5'4", and once 188 lbs.) and needing to shed some extra for health reasons as well as for my own peace of mind. Here's what I did.
My eating plan includes these things:
- eat on a salad plate and don't go back for seconds
- I treat myself every day...no kidding! But it's all about portion control. Instead of a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies, or my favorite, Keebler Chips Deluxe, have two, and only two. Again, it keeps me from eating way to many a few days later. I grew up having dessert after almost every meal, and I'm just like my grandpa in that it's not an option!
- I try to bake lots of foods and not fry. Also, we have a vegetable or two with our meals.
- I eat a protein bar sometimes for breakfast. That sticks with me for quite a while! Which brings me to my next point:
- DON'T SKIP BREAKFAST!
- Buy whole wheat pasta instead of white. It's not that much different. Mix them if you need to transition.
- Trade empty calorie carbs for strawberries and bananas. I even top unsweetened applesauce with light whipped cream...yum.
My friend and I started working the C25K (Couch to 5K) app last year when a group of friends started meeting in the afternoons for a walk/run after school. We did pretty well! I think a turning point for me was finding out that I had herniated a disc in my neck (due to sitting at a desk on the computer teaching and posture wasn't so great; along with degenerative disc disease). The good part was, they had once thought I had a stroke, but found out later that the numbness and tingling in my face and left arm along with pain (that almost nothing could touch) was caused by the disc in my neck. So off to physical therapy I went. I spent the summer there last year, and learned lots of upper body strength training exercises that worked my back, abs, triceps, biceps, and pecs. My arms are looking leaner every day! Also, I do strength training with bands and with my own body weight, using Rodale's Belly Diet workout video (love it...you can probably find it at a resale book shop or thrift shop). I do this (or try to) twice each week, but I'd like to bump it to three. Then, I try to walk, run, or both at least twice each week. There's where I'm a slacker. I could do so much more cardio than I do. I am hoping this spring break week will get me back on track and I'll miss it if I don't go. That really does happen. After all the excuses in the world, it really does feel so good when you finish a good run.
OK, do I slack? Yes. Do I eat things I shouldn't? Yes. And I still have my Route 44 Diet Coke with vanilla every day. But am I a work in progress? Absolutely. And am I turning toward healthier options more often than not? Yes, that too. And, at 40, I've lost almost 20 pounds in the last year, and minus two or three, I've kept it off. Yay, me!
-Congratulations! What an accomplishment! Trina has some Free Printable Journal Pages here on her website that would be great for you to keep track of your goals and it's a fun way to keep motivated! Head over to see what she's been up to lately and make a new friend.
if you'd like to submit a routine you have been doing, please email us at bloglove at aol dot com
otherwise, link up and share your posts. it can be fitness goals, before and after shots, weekly weigh ins, meal preparation, anything that helps you get into shape-
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