Keeping In Perspective

First off, let me say this- I LOST FIVE POUNDS!!!!

I stuck with my gym schedule (Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Tuesday and Thursday are optional) as well as eating more veggies with my meals, and the scale decided to show me something great this week! I am now a slender 315 pounds...YAY!

Yesterday, I was talking my nine year-old daughter, who thought two tears was an awful long time to be losing weight. I asked her what she thought would be reasonable, since she has been teased about her weight in school. She is not fat, by the way- she's just beginning to 'blossom' and her body is readying itself for some major changes which have already begun.

But that's another post for another time. :)

She felt a few months would be reasonable enough to lose over 150 pounds. So I broke it down for her. "How much in a week would be reasonable then?' I asked. She replied 'About ten pounds a week.'

Ten pounds a week is reasonable? I proceeded to set her straight before I had an anorexic/bulimic on my hands!

I explained that was more than a pound a day, which was way too much to expect anyone to lose, fat or thin. One to two pounds a week is reasonable, and after letting her do the math, she realized that it was a lot more reasonable to lose it in two to three years. Thank goodness!

She had an excuse to think that way though- sometimes I watch The Biggest Loser, where people are losing a lot of weight in a short amount of time. But that is to the extreme, and she is only nine years old. But that got me to thinking- how many times have we as overweight people done the same thing? (just not as extreme!)

Here are some other things I have heard people say (and some I have done myself!):

If I eat just salad, I'll lose so much weight!

Oh really? And just how long will that last? A few days? I know that if it was me saying that, I would start telling myself that tuna salad counted, them shrimp salad, egg salad...then I'd find a way to make a steak and french fry salad!

Nothing wrong with salad, but it needs to be balanced for your body, not just for the people on TV. My salads come with some kind of protein in it, whether that be pine nuts, boiled eggs, or roasted chicken sprinkled on top. I need that protein to keep me from being too hungry! Some don't, so you need to try different things to see what works for you.

If I go to the gym every week long and exercise three hours a day, I'll lose weight really fast! (after all, Biggest Loser people were doing six hours a day, so three isn't as extreme...right?)

Diving into a gym routine is the best way to end up burning out and wasting that gym membership money! Even I thought I could go every day, and found I was pretty sore from working out for only an hour! I would suggest starting slow, and go three times a week to start- but commit to that three days! Do the other two days if you feel good enough to do so, but promise yourself those three days, no matter what. That way you aren't setting yourself up for disappointment (because you didn't go each day), and you aren't hurting yourself by overworking your muscles.
Start with lighter weights on the machines too; doing ten reps (repetitions) with less weight is much better than doing three reps with too much weight!

I'll skip all the good stuff I like to eat, like junk food and dessert. I'll eat rice cakes and water, and have one meal a day.

The 'good stuff' usually isn't good, and we all know it. Chips happen to be my downfall, but have refused to deny myself chips if I'm really craving them. Feeling deprived isn't the answer to losing weight- moderation is. So instead of having a bag of chips (like a did in the past) I have a handful. I put it in a bowl and close the bag. That way I'm not tempted to take more, and my tongue is a happy camper. I've found that if I eat out of the bag, I eat a lot more chips that I thought I did- and the bag sometimes gets finished off before I realize it!
However, if I find myself finishing off the bag again and again, I'll either re-bag the chips in sandwich bags, or buy the snack bags instead.
And if it's ice cream, instead of a bowl I'll buy small cones- you can only put so much on a small ice cream cone!

What I'm trying to say can be summed up into one word. Moderation. Moderation in eating so we aren't stuffing or starving ourselves. Moderation in exercise so we don't flop on the couch or tear every muscle during a workout. Just remember that doing the same diet/exercise program as someone else might not be the best thing for you! Do what you can do, go a little farther than you think you can. There's nothing wrong with challenging yourself concerning diet and exercise- but doing anything without the proper perspective can hurt you- mentally and physically.

Ask me how I know.