12 May 2010
Helping Theodora with Her Rut 
Theodora emailed me because she’s been in a health and fitness rut. Hopefully my advice will help bust her out of it!
As I’ve kind of alluded to, I’m in a health-and-fitness rut. I busted my ass to lose 50 pounds. I entered my maintenance phase at the same time I started my new job. OMG, lots of changes at once much?? I e-mailed Nutritionista, who always has practical advice about how to stay healthy.
Here’s what she had to say:
I know EXACTLY how you feel. It happens to me every once in a while. Sometimes, for no apparent reason! During those times, it just seems so pointless to push yourself. But I think I do have a few tricks for getting back into the swing of things…
- Switch it up! Whatever you’ve been doing? Do something else! If you’ve been working out in the morning, see if you can work out in the evening. Or if you’ve been doing cardio on the treadmill, switch to the elliptical or take a class. For other fitness-specific advice, read Busting Out of a Fitness Rut.
- Get outside your box. When you’re in this state, it’s the perfect time to try something completely new and different. If you’ve always wondered about Zumba (I’ll admit, I’m curious), go ahead and sign up! If you’ve been eying that boot camp class at your gym, now is the perfect time to take the plunge. Having something new to try/look forward to will at least give you temporary motivation. This works with eating, too! I notice you tend to eat the same kind of foods every day… that can definitely get boring and unmotivating! So if you don’t want to cook, at least try new restaurants, etc. This is why the Outside the Box Challenge seemed to work so well for people!
- Get a friend to hold you accountable. I have a few friends who are my go-to motivators. I check in with them about everything from what I ate to my weight to how much I exercised. They’re there to keep me on track. Sometimes we’ll even set specific goals and check up on each other once a week. That’s why the Winter Shape Up Challenge worked so well! People felt like they had someone to be accountable to.
- Help a friend! If you know someone (either in real life or virtually!) that needs help getting healthy, make it your personal mission to help him/her. What you say and do to help your friend will put you back in that “health is new and exciting!” state of mind. Make them a workout or meal plan, take them to the gym, cook with them, etc. Anything you can do to let them know (and remind yourself) why being healthy is so great. That’s one reason I love blogging — I get to help people every day and it’s so motivating!
- Don’t stop setting goals. Sometimes when we feel like we’ve reached a big goal, we sort of stop trying. So even if you’re at your goal weight, you can still set goals (both big and small). It could be as simple as “try two new workouts this week,” or “cook one new dish.” This will also help with the first two suggestions! Don’t forget to incorporate rewards for when you meet your goals — even small things like a new nail polish or tickets to the movie you’ve been wanting to see can be motivating.
- Give yourself permission to move to the next phase. From what I know about you, you’re pretty solidly in the maintenance phase of weight loss/fitness. You’re allowed to have a slightly different mindset! No, that doesn’t mean you can just revert back to old habits, but it also doesn’t mean you have to be so vigilant all the time about what you’re doing. Think of it not as sliding back but as moving forward to the next phase in your health journey — one that requires a little less aggressiveness!
Hopefully some of that is helpful! But I think sometimes, you just go through these phases and you have to plod along until you’re out of them. They DO pass, trust me!
15 December 2009
Brieann: “I can’t believe the challenge is almost over! It has really kept me focused and given me a way to get back on track when I didn’t do so great.”
Tara: “Overall, I have lost more weight than I probably would have without this challenge - and I’m still in that lower jean size!!”
Ariel: “I did well this week! I made my 3 weight lifting and cardio sessions.”
Kendyl: “I lost another 2 lbs this week. I was able to get in a couple of runs, and a couple of stationary bike rides. I was careful about the sweets I indulged in without going overboard.”
Mariel: “I FINISHED MY VERY FIRST RACE! Not only did I finish, but I did the 4 miles in a little under 48 minutes, which was about 12 minute miles (my best pace!) for the longest distance I have ever run in one go.”
Claire: “I’m only 1.2lbs away from my goal of 15 for the challenge! I’m going to meet that this week!”
Kelly: “I forgive myself for not losing 2 pounds this week. It’s the holiday season, and I will indulge in a cookie and some popcorn, and then hop back on the treadmill and laugh it off. B A L A N C E…that word to me, equals peace.”
Nathalie: “Vegan Thursday: success!!”
Daphne: “One more [pound] lost. Yay. Small victories, small victories, small victories. That’s what I keep telling myself.”
7 December 2009
Winter Shape Up Week 8: My Goals, and a Confession
I have something to confess. I totally fell off the WSU bandwagon. Yup, while you all have been going strong, meeting your goals week after week (or if you don’t, persisting until you do!), I stopped setting goals a few weeks back. I was frustrated that I wasn’t meeting many of my goals and figured it’d be better not to set any at all.
Someone recently emailed me to say that she was happy for the people that had lost weight and had other successes as part of the challenge, but that she hadn’t been very successful and was contemplating if there was even a reason to continue.
I wrote her back and honestly told her that I’d been struggling with the challenge, too. And now let me be even more honest: I’m up three pounds from when this challenge began. Is three pounds life changing? Absolutely not. To the outsider, I’m sure I look absolutely the same. But I’m short with a pretty small frame, so three to five pounds on me is edging on “my clothes are starting to get tight” territory.
All this to say, for the last three weeks of the WSU, I’m rededicating myself to the challenge. I’m going to write about my goals and progress again, just like I’ve required all the WSUppers to do every single week in an email to me. Without further ado, my goals for Week 8:
- Work out five days this week (doesn’t matter what I do). I’ve only managed to work out two or three days a week these past few weeks, and I feel like it’s starting to take a toll on my health and well-being.
- Only ONE sweet treat per day. I’m going to count anything with refined sugar (or other sweetener) as a sweet treat. This will be a big challenge for me, since this is the time of year when coworkers regularly bring in goodies and friends host holiday parties with the sole purpose of serving delicious grub. I don’t want to cut myself off completely, but every meal of the day does not need its own dessert.
- Stay gluten-free, for now. Even though I’m not sure it’s the cause of my stomach woes, I haven’t had any problems since I cut gluten out of my life on Dec. 1 (I’ve definitely had a few slip-ups, though). I’d like to stay gluten-free until at least Christmas Eve. I’m sorry, I just can’t commit to being gluten-free at my boyfriend’s family’s annual Christmas Eve party… not going to happen. If my stomach acts up before then, gluten gets to come back into my life!
I hope this might inspire any other WSUppers who are struggling with the challenge (it’s a long challenge, I admit!) to rededicate themselves these last few weeks. A lot can happen in three weeks, and what better way to end the year than to celebrate your health?
6 December 2009
Dinner by Dad: Thai Chicken with Basil, Sauteed Green Beans, Spicy Mango-Green Apple Salad
I was over at my parents’ casa for dinner, and my dad cooked up an inspired Thai meal. Very easy, very healthy, very yummy.
- The chicken dish was a recipe from Cooks Illustrated. It was served with brown rice. Here’s a similar-looking recipe. I love anything Thai basil, so of course this was a winner in my book.
- The green beans were simply sauteed in sesame oil with garlic and fish sauce (plus salt/pepper). If you have sesame seeds, I’d recommend lightly toasting them and throwing those on as well.
- The salad was made with strips of ripe mango and tart green apple mixed with lime juice, fresh cilantro, crushed red pepper (or you could use chili pepper for a spicier salad), and crushed peanuts. This take on Thai papaya salad is a MUST MAKE. So delicious!
Winter Shape Uppers: Week 8 (wow, can you believe it?) starts tomorrow, so send me your updates by 11:59 PM tomorrow night! I’m so proud of all of you, for the progress you’ve made, but also your drive to stick to this challenge week after week after week — even if you fail some weeks! There’s really no other secret to health and fitness than that kind of tenacity and consistency.
24 November 2009
We’re in Week 6, and you all are still going strong! Here’s a sampling of your successes:
Meghan: “I managed to completely shatter my previous 5K PR yesterday. I ran the race in 26 minutes — almost TWO WHOLE MINUTES faster than my record.”
Brieann: “This week was really solid and I definitely made progress. It feels like making healthy decisions is getting easier each week.”
Mariel: “I was kind of in disbelief when I stepped on the scale this morning, but I checked it like four times, and it was true. That brings my total weight loss to 8 lbs!”
Ann: “That’s a total of 5 lbs lost since I started. Pretty awesome considering I would probably be 5lbs heavier than my starting weight by now if I had not joined this challenge.”
Kelly: “I am proud of my progress in the past week. I worked out most days, made wise decisions regarding food, and lost 1 pound! 1 full pound!!”
Sharon: “I definitely started Jillian’s DVD and it kicks my butt!”
Nathalie: “I had a successful Vegan Day on Thursday! It was a lot harder than I thought, but I did it! I think I’m going to have a Vegan Day once a week from now on.”
V: “I did a really good job serving myself (or only eating) a reasonable portion size at every meal. In particular, making sure I didn’t overdo it at dinner helped me feel less lethargic the rest of the evening.”
Maggie E.: “I ran a marathon relay yesterday - I ran about 8 miles, which is the farthest that I’ve run since I began my training for the half marathon.”
Kelsey: “I am addicted to green monsters. WOW. And…I got my boy hooked on them too!”
