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Time for the Big Guns
Mar. 22nd, 2006 07:44 pmOkay, so yesterday I measured and saw that my waist is almost an inch bigger around than it's ever been in my life. And this is in spite of the fact that my current weight is a full seven pounds less than my highest weight ever. That's bad news. The belly is the least healthy place for fat to be.
In addition, I gained five pounds over the holiday season. Five pounds that took me a year and a half to lose the last time. And it's not just falling off now that the holidays are over.
It's time for the big guns. Except that all the advice says don't even bother trying anything that you're not going to be able to maintain for the rest of your life. So maybe just little guns. Lots of little guns.
I've been trying all these little tricks, ahem, techniques, but they're clearly not working. On the other hand, I've only been doing two of them consistently: 1) eat more fiber and 2) pace instead of standing or sitting while I am waiting for a bus. (Yesterday I got a whole extra 30 minutes of exercise that way. Stupid bus system.)
So My new plan is to try to do lots of these little things all at the same time, consistently. I'm making a chart, and I'm going to try to do everything on it every day for the next six weeks and see if that does anything. Or maybe just everything but the 20 straight minutes of aerobic exercise, I suspect.
So, here are my little guns:
1) Drink plenty of water. Eight glasses per day in addition to other liquids. This is supposed to help with weight loss somehow, plus it's good for keeping you hydrated and helping you get rid of poisons.
2) Take breaks from sitting. This is pretty easy when I drink that much water because I have to get up to go to the bathroom a lot. Every couple of hours, the break should involve climbing a couple of flights of stairs or doing calisthenics or something. My rationale is that even though it doesn't burn many calories in itself, it does get my metabolism up for a short while, and moving around is good for getting the blood back up into your system and out of your legs.
3) Bring lunch to work (except when I'm having lunch out with a friend). The lunch should have fruit or vegetables in it. This will probably have fewer calories and be healthier than a restaurant meal. Also, I might eat parts of it for a snack instead of my snack bars, and that's probably better for me, too. It's easier for me to eat fruit at work than at home because nothing else is handy.
4) Spend at least 60 or 90 minutes a day, total, doing some kind of exercise. This burns calories and exercise seems to be a big factor in keeping weight off.
5) Spend at least 20 minutes in a row doing something aerobic. This is also important for health (and burns lots of calories). This can be part of the 60 - 90 minutes of exercise.
6) Do calisthenics or other weight lifting every day. By this I mean do at least some lunges, push-ups, and tricep push-ups each day that I don't do weight lifting at the gym. Good muscles help you do stuff, are healthy, help keep your bones strong, and, yes, burn calories.
Today I'm going to accomplish all of the things except the aerobic part, unless somehow it happens during dance lessons. One day down, forty-one to go.
In addition, I gained five pounds over the holiday season. Five pounds that took me a year and a half to lose the last time. And it's not just falling off now that the holidays are over.
It's time for the big guns. Except that all the advice says don't even bother trying anything that you're not going to be able to maintain for the rest of your life. So maybe just little guns. Lots of little guns.
I've been trying all these little tricks, ahem, techniques, but they're clearly not working. On the other hand, I've only been doing two of them consistently: 1) eat more fiber and 2) pace instead of standing or sitting while I am waiting for a bus. (Yesterday I got a whole extra 30 minutes of exercise that way. Stupid bus system.)
So My new plan is to try to do lots of these little things all at the same time, consistently. I'm making a chart, and I'm going to try to do everything on it every day for the next six weeks and see if that does anything. Or maybe just everything but the 20 straight minutes of aerobic exercise, I suspect.
So, here are my little guns:
1) Drink plenty of water. Eight glasses per day in addition to other liquids. This is supposed to help with weight loss somehow, plus it's good for keeping you hydrated and helping you get rid of poisons.
2) Take breaks from sitting. This is pretty easy when I drink that much water because I have to get up to go to the bathroom a lot. Every couple of hours, the break should involve climbing a couple of flights of stairs or doing calisthenics or something. My rationale is that even though it doesn't burn many calories in itself, it does get my metabolism up for a short while, and moving around is good for getting the blood back up into your system and out of your legs.
3) Bring lunch to work (except when I'm having lunch out with a friend). The lunch should have fruit or vegetables in it. This will probably have fewer calories and be healthier than a restaurant meal. Also, I might eat parts of it for a snack instead of my snack bars, and that's probably better for me, too. It's easier for me to eat fruit at work than at home because nothing else is handy.
4) Spend at least 60 or 90 minutes a day, total, doing some kind of exercise. This burns calories and exercise seems to be a big factor in keeping weight off.
5) Spend at least 20 minutes in a row doing something aerobic. This is also important for health (and burns lots of calories). This can be part of the 60 - 90 minutes of exercise.
6) Do calisthenics or other weight lifting every day. By this I mean do at least some lunges, push-ups, and tricep push-ups each day that I don't do weight lifting at the gym. Good muscles help you do stuff, are healthy, help keep your bones strong, and, yes, burn calories.
Today I'm going to accomplish all of the things except the aerobic part, unless somehow it happens during dance lessons. One day down, forty-one to go.