Keeping It Up
Yesterday (Saturday), I happened to have about 90 minutes to myself during the day. That just never happens when you have a pre-school child, so when it does, you make the most of it. And what did I do? I leapt around the dining room (or it used to be, before I pushed the table and chairs back against the chimney breast so I could exercise) doing my Charlie Brooks routine and sweating buckets and puffing and panting and labouring in a most inelegant manner. Whilst I was doing this, I was wondering why on earth I wasn't doing something I really like. And the answer was: if I just sat around reading or knitting I would not achieve my fitness goals. As I've mentioned before, I don't want to be skinny - I want to be fit and feel good in my clothes, too. And when I'm tempted to use stolen time to do something nice, I give myself a pep talk. I remember that all the exercise I do - as well as getting my circulation going, and as well as giving my heart and lungs a good workout and boosting my metabolism and strengthening my muscles (even my bones) and releasing endorphins etc.- is actually burning off small amounts of fat right there and then. I visualize this happening and then I visualize myself as I might be if I just didn't bother. I think of my body inside and out, and of how I would feel, and it's not pretty. That is how I motivate myself to carry on. And getting fit, or staying fit, is not achieved without sacrifices. Unless of course the only thing you like to do in life is eat and exercise well. I feel great spiritually and physically during and after exercise, but that's not to say I would not rather be doing something else sometimes! But it's just not good enough to make excuses. Anyone can think of an excuse not to do something, but not all of us can resist the urge. The power is within all of us to do the right thing, but you have to want to make that change. And that is half the battle won - the decision to start fighting and to know what you are fighting for.
Yesterday my fat % was 26%. Today it's back to 27% but I'm hoping it's on the cusp between the two. I must admit that this weekend I've eaten a lot of ice-cream and some belgian chocolate and lots of nuts. By this evening I will have finished the bottle of wine I opened on Friday, and eaten an Indian take-away. But I'm not worried. The biggest experts have confirmed that when you're on a reduced-calorie diet, you absolutely must boost the metabolism every few days. I don't think they had ice-cream and golden syrup and take-aways in mind, but I'll gloss over that bit conveniently. It works. It honestly does. What could be more annoying than eating so healthily all the time, only to find your body slows its metabolism down and you get fatter eventually, rather than thinner? For more info a great place is Tom Venuto's site, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. He's brilliant.
Anyway:
Fat: 27%
Weight: 8st 5
Yesterday (Saturday), I happened to have about 90 minutes to myself during the day. That just never happens when you have a pre-school child, so when it does, you make the most of it. And what did I do? I leapt around the dining room (or it used to be, before I pushed the table and chairs back against the chimney breast so I could exercise) doing my Charlie Brooks routine and sweating buckets and puffing and panting and labouring in a most inelegant manner. Whilst I was doing this, I was wondering why on earth I wasn't doing something I really like. And the answer was: if I just sat around reading or knitting I would not achieve my fitness goals. As I've mentioned before, I don't want to be skinny - I want to be fit and feel good in my clothes, too. And when I'm tempted to use stolen time to do something nice, I give myself a pep talk. I remember that all the exercise I do - as well as getting my circulation going, and as well as giving my heart and lungs a good workout and boosting my metabolism and strengthening my muscles (even my bones) and releasing endorphins etc.- is actually burning off small amounts of fat right there and then. I visualize this happening and then I visualize myself as I might be if I just didn't bother. I think of my body inside and out, and of how I would feel, and it's not pretty. That is how I motivate myself to carry on. And getting fit, or staying fit, is not achieved without sacrifices. Unless of course the only thing you like to do in life is eat and exercise well. I feel great spiritually and physically during and after exercise, but that's not to say I would not rather be doing something else sometimes! But it's just not good enough to make excuses. Anyone can think of an excuse not to do something, but not all of us can resist the urge. The power is within all of us to do the right thing, but you have to want to make that change. And that is half the battle won - the decision to start fighting and to know what you are fighting for.
Yesterday my fat % was 26%. Today it's back to 27% but I'm hoping it's on the cusp between the two. I must admit that this weekend I've eaten a lot of ice-cream and some belgian chocolate and lots of nuts. By this evening I will have finished the bottle of wine I opened on Friday, and eaten an Indian take-away. But I'm not worried. The biggest experts have confirmed that when you're on a reduced-calorie diet, you absolutely must boost the metabolism every few days. I don't think they had ice-cream and golden syrup and take-aways in mind, but I'll gloss over that bit conveniently. It works. It honestly does. What could be more annoying than eating so healthily all the time, only to find your body slows its metabolism down and you get fatter eventually, rather than thinner? For more info a great place is Tom Venuto's site, Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle. He's brilliant.
Anyway:
Fat: 27%
Weight: 8st 5
posted by Alice at 11:47 AM
2 Comments:
I truly believe the whole thing about metabolism slowing down. When I was really ill I was barely eating one meal a day and yes, I lost a lot of weight but my metabolism must have slowed down a great deal as I didn't lose as much as you'd think for saying how little I was eating....
Well done for exercising in your spare time instead of knitting! That takes commitment and I like your visualisation techniques - might try something similar myself.
Thanks for all the blog comments Alice! It means a lot to me that I have someone keeping an eye on me!
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