Skip to main content

If only I had stuck with it

While we were in Los Angeles this last weekend we went to visit Paul's cousin Emily (Hi Emily!), her husband Nick, and their daughter Kate. She had asked me how the exercise was going and I told her that it was hard but I needed to stick it out. We ended up talking about all of the things we've started but quit somewhere along the way. And I started thinking about what it would be like if I'd just stuck to weight watchers or an exercise routine or any of the things I've started that would have had me looking and feeling better by now.
There's a book by Malcolm Gladwell called "Outliers". Gladwell talks about a study by Anders Ericsson that shows most people that have mastered a skill have had to spend 10,000 in their life up to that point practicing and working on that skill. I've always considered this relevant to my career but I've never really related it to my weight loss goals.

But now I am. If I want to not only improve and succeed at taking care of myself not only for now but for the rest of my life, I have to commit to the time. This has always been a point of contention for me. I hate tracking what I eat and I hate having to write anything down. Obviously I prefer just omitting food groups and having pretty basic limitations. But I don't think that's going to work. Obviously.

After a four day calorie fest in California it's time to throw in the towel and start counting calories. I'm not going to weight watch anymore, but I will be tracking what I eat and trying to stay within a calorie range. More on this to come.

In other news, I'm doing well on the challenge so far. I didn't set aside time for actual exercise while on vacation but I'm sure I've walked more in the last four days than I do in a whole month. So I think it counts. Today I went to Bikram yoga and it was rather challenging. I'm not flexible. I think this is something I need to accept before I'm going to enjoy these classes more.

How are you all doing on the challenge?
Labels:

Comments

  1. 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 BabyMay 13, 2010 at 9:08 AM

    So, are you still doing WW? How has that beein working for you? I'm thinking of finding the point book and using it, but I can't get to the meetings.

    Do you have a source?

    ReplyDelete
  2. 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 BabyMay 13, 2010 at 9:08 AM

    So, are you still doing WW? How has that beein working for you? I'm thinking of finding the point book and using it, but I can't get to the meetings.

    Do you have a source?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bethany Schweitzer GoshornMay 13, 2010 at 9:17 AM

    I am not still doing it, but I know you can buy journals that you can track for 3 months at a time in. I don't think you have to go to the meetings to buy one. The nearest center I know of is Cedar Hills. You'd have to look up the meeting times on their website to find out when it's open.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ShelliceMay 13, 2010 at 2:53 PM

    Hey Bethany - what "diet" or routine that you've done has made you the happiest? Weight Watchers? Exercising? Yoga? Vegetarian? Etc. Then that's the one you should do again :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Bethany Schweitzer GoshornMay 13, 2010 at 7:20 PM

    the easiest has been the vegetarian. the best one with the healthiest results has been weight watchers, but it's difficult to keep up on it because it costs so much for one and because you have to write down absolutely everything you eat and I hate having to spend the time obsessing over my food. I think the exercising is probably the best thing I could do for myself regardless of whether it gets me the results I want.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Round 2 Day 21

After my hangover day this last week, I did a bunch of searching to figure out why. There were lots of helpful thoughts and suggestions on the Whole30 forum. I think for me, I probably wasn't eating enough - especially for breakfast. The meal template (which I never even heard of the first round) suggests that your protein at each meal should be the size of the palm of your hand, or fit in the palm of your hand. For me, this means 3 eggs rather than 1 or 2. I also started to add more fat to my meals because I'm supposed to be using a thumb sized amount in each meal. That's really a lot when you think about it. Making some small adjustments to my meals has helped. I read through some of my blog posts about going through this the first time around this same time. It's interesting because it wasn't better. For some reason my memory has me believing that 20 days in, I was cruising. I'm so glad I had this record to look back on. It reminds me that it's not as m
Post a Comment
Older Posts >

Round 2 Day 16

I wish this post had as much positive enthusiasm as the last, but it's been kind of a difficult week. I woke up this morning with a mild headache feeling like I had a hangover. I couldn't think straight and  just felt worn out. I put in for a sub for the morning and went back to bed. After some cold brew and Tylenol I forced myself to teach my afternoon classes, but I'm tired and still feel the pressure on my skull. Yesterday I woke up in a rage. Rage over the grocery shopping I spent the ENTIRE weekend trying to take care of. Rage over the food I couldn't eat to calm the rage. Rage over how I can't control anyone but myself. Rage over the stupidly over-positive encouraging crap in the day-to-day book I've been using. Shut up book! I'm mad and I want to be mad! I don't want to be told how I can fix it! I just want to be mad! These seem to be the monologues that keep going around and around in my head. Angry Feminist Monologue When did all of the g
Post a Comment
Older Posts >

Oh why not?

I try not to post too frequently - like twice a day - because I don't want anyone to stop reading my blog! But I can't help myself. I'm watching the biggest loser. This is dangerous for me because it's so inspiring that I want to get out and do all this crazy stuff to get healthier. I think that what I'm doing is probably sufficient for the time being. However I do have some different things I want to try once I've gotten a bit further with my couch to 5k program. Here's my list so far: Water Aerobics - I started to do this once and I loved it, but then I had a bunch of snafus that prevented me from getting into it regularly. I think that these can be resolved now since we've moved and I got a card for the local parks and rec. Some form of Martial Arts - I did this some as a teenager and I really enjoyed it. Problem is that it's not cheap and it's a bit embarrassing to do as an adult in a beginner class. I'm sure they have classes for t
6 comments
Older Posts >