It's time again to recover my sight. I was doing so well, enjoying weight loss progress, and increasing my exercise when I got slammed by the summer heat (as in stress.) Yes, I know that exercising is a big stress reliever, but I had a hard time fitting my exercise "rules" to my crazy schedule the past few months. Exercise seems to be a big part of my weight loss process although I am convinced that weight loss is about 90% food choices. I have started exercising more consistently again, but I had to change my way of thinking a bit. This seems a little embarrassing to me, but it is a typical pattern of my life. I finally figure something out, get a new system, and create new habits then it suddenly doesn't work for me anymore. This happens to me when my thinking muscles become stiffened. I always stretch before I run or walk, but I forget flexibility is important with my thinking.
Did you know there is like 225 ways to wash the dishes? I heard that somewhere, and hardly can believe that someone actually did a study on that. Seems kind of useless, but the point is that there is definitely not just one way to anything. (Bear with me here...) If I only "wash the dishes" one way, then I am missing out on 224 possible experiences. I've realized now that the reason I "missed" out on so much fun exercising was because I am not flexible. I had made up my mind that I enjoyed getting up in the morning to walk/run. I threw in a minute or two of exercise or stretching every time I took a short break. I walked 15 to 20 minutes of my lunch break. This worked well for me. I loved it. These became my rules. I became rigid. I allowed these fabulous habits to create a box labeled "exercise" for me to hide in. Life suddenly didn't fit into my box, so I didn't either. My rules quit working so I did too. I couldn't walk during lunch because the summer heat made me too sweaty. I NEEDED to get more sleep to do a good job at work, so I stopped getting up so early. Now I see a little better and have tossed that box into the good ol' fire pit. I still love to wake up early to run/walk and have plans with my sister to do so tomorrow, but here are some ways I'm thinking outside the box:
- Instead of calling the friend on the phone for a long conversation while I sit on the couch, I just ask her if she wants to join me in a walk and talk then.
- I pack yoga pants and sneakers in the car with me and try to stop somewhere after work for a walk/run before I get home.
- I found a couple of play grounds that are fenced in so I can take my boys to play as I walk/run along the fence. It's a big treat for them.
- If I don't have an hour, I usually at least have 15 minutes.
- "You want to race?" is something I ask my boys more often.
- I really don't have time to get cleaned up twice, so I try to arrange my day where I can workout at least 15-45 minutes before showering.
- Dance 3 counts. (It's my favorite.)
- Stretch before I go to bed.
Nutritional Nugget
Somebody asked me today about bread. I'm for it. Try to choose whole grain. You should always look at the label though. Grains are such a great way to increase fiber, so I like to choose bread based on the fiber content. When you think we adults need about 25 grams or more of fiber each day, it is appealing to me to purchase Double Fiber Bread which has five grams per slice. That is 10 grams per sandwich. It really seems to be an easy way to boost up the numbers. I ate a lot of Fiber One cereal when I was a dietetic intern. It was just one flavor back then. One RD asked me, "Do you really like to eat that?" Without thinking I said, "Well, I like it about 10:00 the following day." She laughed. I was embarrassed, and now I'm announcing it to the world on my blog.
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